Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 star Chris Pratt breaks down Peter Quill’s journey of self-discovery throughout the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy. Peter Quill has been the focal point of Guardians of the Galaxy, beginning with the loss of his mother and abduction when he was a child. He’s grown from a loner and thief to the leader of his found family, who have helped save the universe on more than one occasion.

Screen Rant attended the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 press conference, in which Pratt explained Peter Quill’s journey throughout the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy. Pratt revealed that the core mission statement of his story has been finding himself. Check out Pratt’s full quote below:

Chris Pratt: He’s lost. There’s a wonderful monologue that Bautista gives that comes from Mantis; that Quill is a guy who needs to learn how to swim. He’s been hopping from lily pad to lily pad, woman to woman, relationship to relationship. I think that’s a pretty human condition. Oftentimes we find ourselves in our relationships or in the affiliations we have with a team or a family.
And he has been lost. In the beginning he was running away from the death of his mother, but he got to pretend to be this character based on these pop culture icons of his childhood of the late ’80s. He was dancing around, but all of that was really [just that] he had found himself there. But it was kind of BS. Then he found himself with the Guardians of the Galaxy. Then he thought he could find himself with who his father was.
He’s a guy who’s constantly been searching for who he is, and then he found it again in his relationship with Gamora. When that is stripped away from him, he’s the guy who’s realizing that all of these various people that he’s found that are Quill? None of them have been the real him. He’s lost, and that probably does mean that he’s sad.

Will Peter Quill Find Himself In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3?

Peter Quill began as a sarcastic thief who was only out for himself. However, over the course of the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, he has evolved, and with that, his projected personality has fallen away as well. Peter Quill has been searching for identity through others, with his admiration of Kevin Bacon, his desire to be known as Star Lord, and even his relationship with Gamora and his fellow guardians. His entire life, Peter Quill has been running from his past while searching for his place in the world.

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Peter finally seemed to find himself with the Guardians of the Galaxy, falling naturally into the role of leader and found family member — even discovering that Mantis is his sister. However, he suffered a devastating loss when Thanos killed Gamora and an alternate version, who neither knows nor loves him, returned. It seems this loss may have led Peter to once again lose the sense of identity he has found through his relationships.

While tragic, this could lead to an even deeper journey for Peter Quill in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Peter Quill will need to discover who he is apart from his relationships and learn to swim on his own. This could tie into even more tragedy in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, or it could bring his journey of self-discovery to fruition in a truly satisfying way.

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