Crazy Fan Theories: Yondu is Peter Quill’s Father

Meredith Quill: You’re so like your daddy, you even look like him. And he was an angel, composed of pure light.

We then jump to the end of the movie where Yondu is trying to get the orb back from Peter.

Yondu Udonta: I may be as pretty as and angel, but I sure as hell ain’t one.

C’mon, how do you not fall in love with this angelic face?

On it’s own, it may not seem like much.  However, if we add in the stuff that happens between the lines, it adds up.  First off, Quill is abducted by a bright light, which turns out to be Yondu’s ship.

There’s an  important question to ask:

Why was Yondu waiting at that exact moment and location for Quill?  He has to pick him up and transport him to his father.  Why wait until Meredith had died?  If his dad was a jackass, why would he not just pick up the kid whenever he felt like it?  Maybe he felt a parental obligation after Meredith had passed away.

It should also be note worthy, Meredith may have got cancer from the radiation caused by interstellar travel.

Oh jeez, it just got awkward in here.

This leads us into the acting performance that Rooker did as Yondu.  He plays it as a father figure.  Yes, you can mask it as he’s the surrogate who raised Star Lord, or we can dig a little deeper and see him as being Quill’s actual father.

Here’s where some stretches and jumps are needed.

Whenever he tells the story of picking up Quill, Yondu tells it the exact same way every single time.

Yondu: When I picked you up on Terra, these boys of mine wanted to eat you! They ain’t never tasted Terran before. I stopped them. You’re alive because of me!

This wouldn’t be a big deal, if it wasn’t for the fact it’s always the same story.  It’s almost like it’s a dad joke, or an empty threat.  You should have cleaned your room, Peter.  I won’t let these boys eat you if clean your room.

Why would Yondu keep Quill’s lineage secret?  it’s simple, security and protection.  He is a pirate and a leader.  If word ever got out that Quill was his son, that puts his and Quill’s life in immediate danger.  No one will try and usurp power from Yondu by using his son as leverage.  Lying about Quill as a delivery is easy.  Pirates need money, sometimes deals go sour, and sometimes people are jackasses.

Let’s look more at the smaller quirks of Yondu.

The toys on Yondu’s dashboard are a bit odd.  It seems odd a Centauri would be a collector of terran knick knacks.  Unless it was a constant reminder of Quill and his mother.  The cosmos is a dangerous place, and Star Lord is all grown up.  He’s out on his own now.  That means he’s running into dangers Yondu can’t protect him from.  The toys are a small reminder of Quill.  It happens at the end when Quill switches the gem for a troll doll.  Yeah, Yondu got ripped off, but he got to keep something to remind him of Quill.

It’s revealed at the end of the flick that Peter Quill is half human and half something ancient.

Like father, like son?

That means the list of possible baby daddies is slashed.  What about our plucky Centauri pirate?  Centaurians are an old race, if you don’t think of time as linear.  If we go by current Marvel canon, Yondu was born in the thirtieth century.  Thanks to some wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff, he’s here in the current time line.  Ancient status is all in relation to where you’re measuring time.  Will the MCU stick with that?  I don’t know, but it’s easy to say that his race is antiquated.

Let’s jump to some information based in reality.  Screenrant.com had an interview with Rooker.  He talks about his role, and the question comes up, who is Peter Quill’s father.  Rooker responds with two lines, which I think he lets through who the father is.

Quote #1: My thought when I opened the orb and I see Peter’s trinket, I see it as, “That’s my boy. He’s done it to me again and I expected it.” I was somewhat taken back that he did it, you know?

Again, we can take this as Yondu acting as a surrogate, but I think he brings it home to being his biological father in the next quote.

Quote #2: My last words, Yondu feels that [Quill’s] father was a jackass. I would take Yondu at his word. Maybe a dangerous jackass, but still a jackass. Who knows? I mean because that was a very… I loved having that question being brought up by my first mates: maybe we should have taken him to his dad. That’s why Yondu kept him. Peter Quill, there’s something about this kid that really turned Yondu on. To take him in and raise him as his own kid was a big choice, big decision.

I believe Rooker answers the question here.  Yondu is a guy who makes self depreciating humour, he has the face of angel.  Would he consider himself a jackass?  From a who guy who threatens to eat a small kid, and then who teaches him to steal from everyone in the galaxy; yeah, Yondu is a bit of a jackass.  When Rooker says “Maybe we should have taken him to his dad.  That’s why Yondu kept him.”  I think that’s Rooker letting slip who his parentage is.

With sources from inside the movie and the movie, the identity of Peter Quill’s dad points towards Yondu Udonta.

You don’t have to take my word for it, so let’s leave it up to Maury Povich.

Oh snap!

What do you think?  Are we way off base, or right on the money?  Who do you think is Star Lord’s father?  Let us know in the comments below, or on our Facebook group page.