As a PS, I thought this was interesting, from the HuffPo interview. The Russos defended Peter Quill's and Thor's actions:
“His mother was dying of cancer when he was kidnapped by pirates at the age of 10. He was raised by pirates. He had to murder his father to avenge the death of his mother. His girlfriend, who he was in love with, was murdered by another corrupt paternal figure ... He made a very emotional choice,” said Joe Russo.
Anthony Russo reiterated that the shock of Gamora’s death just lets Star-Lord’s emotions get the better of him, adding that Thor also makes this mistake.
“Thor also let his emotions get the better of him. Thor could’ve killed Thanos more quickly than he tried to with the ax. He showed up, and he took a moment — because of his anger, because of his motivation — to tell Thanos that he told him he would die ... and finish him off in a very deliberate way. Thor sort of got lost in his emotions in a similar way as Star-Lord and could also have been responsible for Thanos.”
According to Joe Russo, the mistakes the characters make are all about relatability.
“They make very human choices. I think if we learn anything from narrative is to put yourself inside the POV of someone — or the character itself — you should be able to empathize with that character, understand the choices that they make,” he said.
(Like I said before, I can see how that works for Peter, because he's had that pattern of emotionally reacting with impulsive violence. It really doesn't work for me for Thor. But I did think it was an obvious parallel they set up, like with Steve's emotional connection to Bucky overpowering him, the same way Tony's emotions about his mother did, in Civil War.)
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“His mother was dying of cancer when he was kidnapped by pirates at the age of 10. He was raised by pirates. He had to murder his father to avenge the death of his mother. His girlfriend, who he was in love with, was murdered by another corrupt paternal figure ... He made a very emotional choice,” said Joe Russo.
Anthony Russo reiterated that the shock of Gamora’s death just lets Star-Lord’s emotions get the better of him, adding that Thor also makes this mistake.
“Thor also let his emotions get the better of him. Thor could’ve killed Thanos more quickly than he tried to with the ax. He showed up, and he took a moment — because of his anger, because of his motivation — to tell Thanos that he told him he would die ... and finish him off in a very deliberate way. Thor sort of got lost in his emotions in a similar way as Star-Lord and could also have been responsible for Thanos.”
According to Joe Russo, the mistakes the characters make are all about relatability.
“They make very human choices. I think if we learn anything from narrative is to put yourself inside the POV of someone — or the character itself — you should be able to empathize with that character, understand the choices that they make,” he said.
(Like I said before, I can see how that works for Peter, because he's had that pattern of emotionally reacting with impulsive violence. It really doesn't work for me for Thor. But I did think it was an obvious parallel they set up, like with Steve's emotional connection to Bucky overpowering him, the same way Tony's emotions about his mother did, in Civil War.)