In honor of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which opens on Friday May 5^th, here is a look at the journey of Star-Lord.

MASSIVE SPOILERS

Peter Quill aka Star-Lord is the leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Peter has been through a lot during his life. He lost his mother (Laura Maddock) to cancer when he was a child. He was abducted by Yondu (Michael Rooker) and his crew, the Ravagers. The Ravagers were thieves and smugglers. They were hired by Ego (Kurt Russell) to abduct and bring Quill to him. Yondu decided to hold on to Quill and raised him as his own. Quill learned that Ego was his father, and that Ego was responsible for the death of his mother by giving her a brain tumor. Ego was also a powerful celestial. Besides losing his mother, Quill also lost both his biological father and the father who raised him Yondu who died while saving Quill in the process of defeating Ego.

Star-Lord started out as a thief and someone who was in it for himself and has grown to be a hero and a Guardian of the Galaxy. He found a family among his fellow teammates, other outcasts including Drax (Dave Bautista), Rocket (Bradley Cooper), Groot (Vin Diesel) and Gamora (Zoe Saldana). Eventually Star-Lord and Gamora fall in love and become a couple. Star-Lord helps save the Galaxy by having a dance off with Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace). It is served as a distraction while the Guardians take the Orb from Ronan. Nova Corps along with Nova Prime (Glenn Close) and Rhomann Dey (John C. Reilly) became grateful to the Guardians for saving the galaxy. Nova Corps takes the Orb which is the Power Stone and holds it for safekeeping. In the process of trying to stop Ronan, Star-Lord loses Groot who then becomes reborn as Baby Groot.

Star-Lord deals with father issues in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 when he learns that Ego is his father. After learning that Ego is a monster, he and the Guardians fight to stop Ego from destroying the galaxy. Nebula (Karen Gillan) and Yondu become members of the team. After once again saving the galaxy, there is a time jump from the first two movies.

Four years later, the Guardians unite with the Avengers in Avengers: Infinity War after running into Thor (Chris Hemsworth). Thor reveals that Thanos (Josh Brolin) is after the Infinity Stones. The Guardians try to stop Thanos by going to see the Collector (Benicio Del Toro). They learn that Thanos has the Power Stone which he got from Nova Corps and the Reality Stone which the Collector was holding onto. In trying to stop Thanos, Thanos kidnaps Gamora who he needs to fulfill his plan to wipe out half the universe. Star-Lord, Drax, and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) meet Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), and Spider-Man (Tom Holland) while trying to find Thanos and Gamora. They unite to fight Thanos on Thanos’ home planet Titan. Nebula catches up with them where Star-Lord learns that Gamora is dead after it is revealed that Thanos has the Soul Stone which he could only get by sacrificing Gamora. While Mantis, Drax, Iron Man, Spider-Man, and Doctor Strange have Thanos and are close to removing the Gauntlet from him, Star-Lord is overcome with emotion and lashes out at Thanos. In that moment Thanos, who was in a trance from Mantis’ empathic abilities, breaks out of the trance and hold from the Avengers and Guardians. After a huge battle, Doctor Strange gives Thanos the Time Stone and Thanos leaves for Wakanda to retrieve the final Infinity Stone. Thanos gets all six Infinity Stones and with the snap of his fingers wipes out half of the universe. Star-Lord and the Guardians get blipped out along with Doctor Strange and Spider-Man. Only Iron Man and Nebula are left standing.

In Avengers: Endgame Star-Lord and the Guardians are brought back and have a final showdown with Thanos on Earth along with The Avengers. While fighting Thanos and his army Star-Lord sees Gamora unaware that it is Gamora from the past and his Gamora is still dead. After defeating Thanos, Star-Lord and the Guardians head back to space after attending Iron Man’s funeral. Thor joins the Guardians, and they head off for another adventure.

After having many adventures together Thor parts ways with the Guardians while he heads off on his own adventure in Thor: Love and Thunder.  In the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special Star-Lord feels down around Christmas time as he continues to mourn Gamora. Drax and Mantis head to Earth and kidnap Kevin Bacon as a present for Star-Lord. Star-Lord also learns that Mantis is his sister. Ego is their father.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is the final chapter in James Gunn’s trilogy. Will Star-Lord survive the movie, or will Vol. 3 mark the end? Chris Pratt has said that he wants to keep the role and stay in the MCU. Even if Star-Lord dies since there is a multiverse there is always the chance an alternate version could show up or he could simply get resurrected. Time travel is also a major part of the MCU now after being introduced in Avengers: Endgame. I think out of all of the Guardians, Star-Lord has the best shot of having a future in the MCU. Maybe at some point he could return to Earth and spend some time there. I can see Star-Lord being a part of the Avengers in their fight against Kang. Whatever the future holds, I think this is not the end for Star-Lord and that he will be around for many more years to come.