Thanos isn't as lame as the MCU has made him seem
Thanos is kind of a joke, isn't he?
Marvel's been building up to the Mad Titan's big, knockdown assault on the universe in Avengers: Infinity War for almost 10 years. But in all that time, across 18 movies, we've spent only a handful of minutes with the new movie's villain.
For those who have no background with Thanos beyond how he's been portrayed so far in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it's hard to take him seriously. He's CG Josh Brolin, rendered in deep purple hues that almost make him resemble a walking, talking raisin.
Fans of Marvel Comics, on the other hand, know Thanos well. He's been a sinister presence for decades, and his pursuit of a fully powered Infinity Gauntlet is the basis for some of Marvel's most significant and popular story arcs.
If you've been scratching your head over Thanos, wondering how this dude that looks like a low-rent Grimace could possibly terrorize the entire MCU, read on. It's time for an abbreviated history lesson. Needless to say, spoilers ahead for various Marvel Comics stories.
His mother tried to kill him at birth
Although Thanos first debuted back in the '70s, Marvel documented his origin story in 2013, with a (great) five-issue miniseries called Thanos Rising. The story starts with his birth, and we quickly learn that the sight of a rough-skinned, misshapen Baby Thanos was too much for his mother to bear. It drove her instantly mad, and she tried to kill her newborn at first sight.
He's obsessed with Death
There's always been a tragic side to Thanos's story: He's deeply in love with Death. That's capital-D Death, a cosmic being and the personification of life's end. Although his love is frequently unrequited, it's led Thanos to declare, more than once, that he would wipe out all life in the universe as a gesture to his lady love. The roots of their relationship are also explored in Thanos Rising.
He wiped out literally half the universe
When Thanos finally did collect all six Infinity Gems and assemble them into a fully powered Infinity Gauntlet in the comics, his first act was a statement for his beloved Death: He wiped out half the population of the universe. NBD.
He teamed up with, and swindled, the devil
While the Marvel comics haven't ever told a story about Christianity's Satan, the extra-dimensional demon known as Mephisto presents himself as such. He and Thanos joined forces during the Infinity Crusade story arc to derail a threat to all reality. When it was all over, Thanos then burned Mephisto on a deal they'd struck, forking over an object of great power as promised... but only after said object had been stripped of its power.
He picked a fight with a universal threat, because boredom
When Thanos found himself between schemes during a mid-'90s run of comics, he started hunting for a worthy adversary out of sheer boredon. His search led him to Tyrant, a living machine and the created "son" of a cosmic being known as Galactus, who eats entire worlds in order to sustain himself. So Thanos picked a fight with the son of Galactus because he had nothing better to do. And he won.
He really goes the extra mile when he's bored
As if picking a fight with Tyrant wasn't enough, Bored Thanos later chose to side with a universe-threatening force during the Annihilation arc of comics. He later revealed that he threw his lot in with Annihilus and the Annihilation Wave because he wanted to see what a new cycle of life in the universe might look like.
Charming fellow, right?
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
