While the Avengers are a well oiled machine due to the leadership of Captain America, the Guardians of the Galaxy have suffered from a list of arguments between its members due to hardly any of them respecting Star-Lord as their leader. It even seems as if Thor could vie for leadership in the next film.
There’s a general sense of wondering as to why Gamora wasn’t the leader, seeing as she’s the opposite of who Star-Lord is, and, on paper, there doesn’t seem to be anything stopping from her being in-charge. For this reason, we’ve come up with 5 reasons each as to why Gamora really would be a great leader for the Guardians, and why Star-Lord actually is the perfect man for the job.
Gamora: She Was Trained By Thanos
Thanos personally oversaw Gamora’s training into becoming the greatest assassin in the galaxy, but you’d be naive to think that Thanos focused solely on the fighting aspect, because he definitely had Gamora in mind to lead his army in the future.
This was evidenced when he had Gamora work under Ronan in Guardians of the Galaxy, where one of his intentions was for Gamora to learn how to do the heavy lifting in decision-making. This makes Gamora someone with the skills to carry out plans on extreme levels, meaning she can lead the Guardians in missions they might not even have dreamed of.
Star-Lord: He Knows How To Handle The Guardians
Then again, Gamora could never be trained, even by the likes of Thanos, to lead such a group of freaks like the Guardians of the Galaxy are. She grew up around armies that were taught to be ruled by an iron fist, while the Guardians tend to stop listening when they are ordered around.
This makes Star-Lord the man for the job to rally this group, seeing as though talking to them in a normal, civil, manner doesn’t do the trick. Star-Lord himself has a similar type of mentality, so it comes naturally to him to use the right words to get the others listening to him.
Gamora: She’s The Most Mature Member
At some point, the whole comedic schtick of Star-Lord does run thin, and it is during these times the Guardians suffer. This was best seen in Avengers: Infinity War, where none of them listened to Star-Lord when he instructed them not to charge in at Thanos.
Gamora has the right kind of maturity needed from a leader. If her direction is followed, then the Guardians can easily avoid disastrous confrontations, such as when Ayesha sicced her forces onto them in Vol. 2. It was also due to Gamora having a mature attitude that Thor got to talking to the Guardians in Avengers: Infinity War, rather than continuing to butt heads with Quill.
Star-Lord: He Can Talk The Guardians Out Of Bad Situations
Gamora is too much of a straight shooter to know how to negotiate with people who don’t speak the nice guy talk, and her style will easily fall short in situations where being a fast talker is the only way to survive.
In fact, Star-Lord was the one who saved Gamora from Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy because of his ability to change someone’s mind through his fast-talking nature. He was also able to get the Guardians off the hook from the Nova Corps as well as the Ravagers. In a business where things get very messy, Star-Lord knows how to get things cleaned up.
Gamora: She Has More Fighting Experience
Although the Guardians don’t always jump into battle situations, that doesn’t mean they can always avoid them. In these instances, improvisation is simply too big of a gamble and there needs to be someone who knows how to fight.
Since Gamora had her training by Thanos, where she invaded many worlds in his name and fought through the defenses of those worlds’ forces, Gamora is established as a tactical mind in large scale battles. This is something the Guardians do desperately need to learn.
Star-Lord: He Knows How To Pilot The Ship
Generally, being a pilot doesn’t automatically make you the leader, but it does in the case of the Guardians of the Galaxy. This is because a majority of their problems circle around their travels through space, and there’s no way someone can be a leader and not know how to pilot the ship.
Star-Lord is able to get the Guardians out of compromising situations due to him being a hands-on captain (despite what Rocket likes to say against him), and escaping or fighting these situations just isn’t possible if the leader isn’t at the helm.
Gamora: She Knows When To Separate Her Emotions From Big Decisions
Yes, we’re going to be pointing toward Star-Lord’s infamous blowout during Avengers: Infinity War, where his rage caused half of the universe - and Star-Lord himself - to die in Thanos’s Snap.
On the other hand, we saw Gamora make Quill promise her that he would take her life if Thanos was to apprehend her, showing clearly how Gamora knew when emotions just weren’t important enough in the grand scheme of things. One of the big weaknesses of the Guardians is that they react rather than think, and Gamora is invaluable for being the exception here.
Star-Lord: He Can’t Be Anticipated
Gamora played right into Thanos’s hands in Avengers: Infinity War, when she arrived at Knowhere and was caught by her father. Even the greatest leaders can be predictable, since there’s always a pattern in their plans. However, Star-Lord is too all over the place with his tactics and attitude to be predictable.
By his account, the assault on Thanos on Titan was his plan, meaning Star-Lord was able to best the greatest warlord there was in the universe. Star-Lord also led the Guardians in their killing of Ronan, when his dance-off to save the universe caught Ronan completely by surprise.
Gamora: She Can Read A Situation Before It Occurs
If you go back and watch Gamora’s scenes, you’ll notice she always seems one step ahead of others in pressure situations. In Avengers: Endgame, Ebony Maw had intentions to kill Nebula, and there’s a shot of Gamora subtly reaching for the gun in her holster had Maw attempted to complete the move.
In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, it was Gamora who picked up on Ego’s evil plans, when she confronted Mantis for concealing important information and brought it to Quill’s notice that something was very wrong about Ego’s planet.
Star-Lord: He Taught The Guardians How To Love
Yes, love is a deciding factor for leadership where the Guardians are concerned. This is because all of these guys were ready to kill each other before they learned to love one another. Gamora herself was prepared to kill Quill upon their first interaction, which means without her character development through Quill she would never have had the Guardians in the first place.
Star-Lord’s knack for being very likable and having a solid connection with all the Guardians, and ultimately bringing in love all around, is the most valuable contribution that he brings. It is for this reason that Gamora allows him to take charge; for the Guardians, love is the ultimate motivating factor.
