A Key Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 Scene Throws The Entire Trilogy Into A Deeply Weird Moral Grey Zone

For many, the answer to this question is pretty cut-and-dry: yes they should. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a superhero universe, and in superhero universes, there is a clear-cut sense of right and wrong. There are heroes who are good and villains who are bad. If a villain kills someone, it’s an act of wickedness because villains do bad things. If a hero kills someone, it’s an act of righteousness, because heroes do good things. When it comes to violence in a superhero world, everything is permitted, so long as one has been clearly defined as a hero. 

When Thanos and his army kill heroes on the battlefield, it’s a horror. When Iron Man uses the Infinity Stones to wipe out thousands of soldiers on the same battlefield, it’s a triumph. And it’s a triumph because Iron Man is a “good guy.” Never mind that thousands of people are now dead by his direct actions. Also never mind that Iron Man could have wished for anything with the Infinity Stones, and actively chose to use them as an instrument of death. 

The Guardians of the Galaxy are, of course, the flippant “wise guys” of the MCU, so their comedic disregard for sentient life was initially part of the gag. Rocket Raccoon regularly stole the prosthetic limbs of disabled people and laughed at their misfortune. The Guardians weren’t necessarily good, upstanding citizens, but rascals and jerks forced into making good decisions by circumstance. Over the course of their multiple film appearances, however, the Guardians softened, becoming more sympathetic to one another’s plights. They were outsiders who, resentful of being rejected by society, huddled together for warmth in their strange, caustic found family. 

One might think this would instill in them an aversion to killing. No such luck.