Thanos is a major MCU villain. I haven’t read the comics, so will stick to the films. He is a part of the Infinity Saga, in which the Avengers have to fight him.
Unlike other villains, he is not interested in ruling the universe - in fact, once he has done his dreadful deed, he retires to a farm.
He is a villain who thinks he is the good guy. Okay, most villains think they have the right to do what they are doing, but he really thinks he is helping! Never mind that nobody asked him to help in this way, or wants him to.
Thanos is on a quest for the six Infinity Stones. Once he gets them, he can put them on a gauntlet and snap half of the universe out of existence. His argument is that there are not enough resources for everyone, so why not get rid of half and then the rest can have enough. He has minions, of course, and an army, plus two adopted daughters, Gamora and Nebula, from worlds he has already cut down. He has encouraged them to fight each other and has punished Nebula savagely for every fight she lost.
In quest of one stone on Earth, he sends an invasion fleet to New York, led by Loki. Another stone, the Soul Stone, is on Vormir, guarded by Red Skull(see R Is For Red Skull). When Red Skull tells him the only way he can get the stone is to sacrifice what he loves most, he shoves Gamora off a cliff. Who wants that kind of love?
He finally gets them all and snaps his fingers. The result is devastating, of course. Among the people turned to dust are Peter Parker - Spider-Man - and Dr Strange. Both return after the Avengers’ Time Heist in the next movie, when they collect the Infinity Stones from the past - Thanos has destroyed them. Dr Strange returns to find, to his annoyance, that he has been replaced as Sorcerer Supreme.
Of course, Thanos gets a taste of his own medicine…
He appears in an episode of the animated series What If…? In that episode, Wakandan Prince T’Challa(hero of Black Panther) is accidentally carried off, as a child, by the Ravagers instead of Peter Quill(Guardians Of The Galaxy). T’Challa takes over the band of misfits and becomes a sort of space Robin Hood, much admired. Thanos is one of his band. T’Challa has talked him out of carrying out his genocidal plans, though he still thinks it’s a good idea. Nebula is whole, and they have a good relationship.
So, even a villain can reform, right?
2 comments:
Thanos is fresh in my mind -- Infinity War and Endgame just played on TV over the past couple of weeks, so I watched them again.
Hi Debra! I keep thinking of the actor, whom I remember as a teenager in The Goonies!
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