Bradley, A.C. (October 6, 2021). "What If... the Watcher Broke His Oath?". What If...?. Season 1. Episode 9. Disney+. O'Neil, Luke (December 11, 2019). " 'I'm Inevitable': Trump Campaign Ad Shows President as Avengers Villain Thanos". The Guardian. Archived from the original on February 16, 2022 . Retrieved May 19, 2021. Thanos was born approximately 1,000 years ago on the planet Titan to A'Lars, along with his brother Eros. [1] [2] Thanos deems the growth of Titan's population to be unsustainable, so he proposes to arbitrarily kill half of Titan's population. However, his people reject the idea and Thanos is subsequently ostracized. Over time, Thanos' prediction comes to pass, with him and Eros being the only surviving members. [2] [3] [4] Balancing the universe [ edit ] Fallon, Sean (September 12, 2019). "Funko's New Avengers: Endgame Pops Are All About the Memes". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on September 28, 2020 . Retrieved May 9, 2022. Fallon, Sean (April 3, 2018). "Hot Toys Unveils the Ultimate Avengers: Infinity War Thanos Figure". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on May 6, 2022 . Retrieved May 6, 2022.

Flaherty, Keely (May 18, 2018). "Here Are the 9 Jokes Deadpool 2 Makes About Infinity War". BuzzFeed. Archived from the original on May 31, 2018 . Retrieved May 9, 2022. Roberts, Tyler (June 12, 2021). "Rebuild the Avengers: Endgame Final Battle with LEGO". Bleeding Cool. Archived from the original on June 17, 2021 . Retrieved May 9, 2022. Hutchinson, Sam (December 11, 2019). "10 Best Movie Villains from the Past Decade". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on December 12, 2019 . Retrieved April 21, 2020.

The 3rd Annual Hollywood Critics Association Awards Nominations". Hollywood Critics Association. November 25, 2019. Archived from the original on April 23, 2020 . Retrieved July 25, 2020.

Brolin's portrayal of Thanos was inspired by Marlon Brando's performance as Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now (1979). In an interview in October 2020, Brolin said "[Kurtz] is very elusive and insane but what he is saying makes sense and is poetical ... I started seeing the parallel which I liked for me. I loved being able to resort to a film like Apocalypse Now when I was doing something like Avengers". [48] Reception [ edit ] Josh Brolin's performance as Thanos has been praised by many critics. [49] A popular tongue-in-cheek fan theory regarding Thanos' defeat in Endgame before the film's release claimed that Thanos would be killed by Ant-Man entering his anus and expanding himself within Thanos' body, jokingly referred to by the portmanteau "Thanus", going onto become a widespread Internet meme. [73] After the film was released and proved the theory wrong, Christopher Markus revealed that due to the strong nature of the Titans, Ant-Man would have been unable to expand himself as he would be crushed by the walls of Thanos' rectum. [33] In 2022, The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke confirmed that a character introduced in season three, Termite, was a parody of Ant-Man, and his actions of killing people by shrinking to enter their bodies and expanding was partially inspired by "Thanus". [74] Sometime later, Mister Fantastic revealed to his fellow teammates of the secret group called the Illuminati that he had been collecting the Infinity Gems, and hoped to collect the remaining gems with the aid of the other Illuminati members. Despite a general apprehension, the group managed to acquire all six gems. Upon doing so, Mister Fantastic attempted to will the gems out of existence, but he was unable to do so. Faced with this failure, and a reprimand from Uatu, the Watcher, he made the controversial decision to give each Illuminati member one gem to hide so that they would never be combined and used again. [9] Raymond, Charles Nicholas (August 6, 2020). "How Old Thanos Is in All Infinity Saga MCU Movies". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on September 27, 2020 . Retrieved February 3, 2023. a b c d Elderkin, Beth (July 9, 2018). "Thanos Has Snapped His Fingers and Killed Half of a Subreddit". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on April 29, 2022 . Retrieved May 8, 2022.An alternate version of Thanos, "King Thanos", will serve as the main antagonist of a multiverse-centric attraction at Avengers Campus at Disney California Adventure. [91] One thing the Infinity Gauntlet cannot do is be used to destroy itself. [ citation needed] Alternate Reality Versions Image

Thanos is a key figure in the 23 films that make up the MCU's Infinity Saga, having appeared in five of its films, most notably Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019). Several versions of Thanos from alternate realities in the MCUmultiverse also appear in Endgame, the Disney+ animated series What If...? (2021–present), andthe Phase Four film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness(2022). Orange, B. Alan (September 5, 2019). "Thanos Before Brolin: Avengers Set Photos Show Original Mad Titan Actor". MovieWeb. Archived from the original on September 8, 2019 . Retrieved March 26, 2023. Quinn, Heather; Cancino, Erin (December 8, 2021). "Partners, Am I Right?". Hawkeye. Season 1. Episode 4. Disney+. Thanos made his MCU debut in The Avengers (2012), in which Damion Poitier portrayed the character and was only credited as Man #1. [25] It was Joss Whedon's idea to include Thanos in the film as his only instructions from Kevin Feige were that the film's villains should be aliens, and the rest was up to Whedon. [26] In May 2014, Josh Brolin signed a multi-film contract to portray Thanos, debuting in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). Thanos was originally going to have a larger role in the film, but Whedon felt that the character needed to be introduced to the franchise gradually. [27] Screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely stated that Thanos' previous appearances in the franchise helped legitimize him as a threat prior to Avengers: Infinity War (2018). Despite this, little screen time had been devoted to Thanos' history and motivations. Markus stated, "We don't get an element of surprise [with his introduction in Infinity War]... You can count on a lot of scenes where we illuminate a lot about him very early", with McFeely adding, "It is incumbent upon us to give him a real story, real stakes, real personality, and a real point of view". [28] Patches, Matt (October 6, 2021). "What Happened to What If 's Missing Gamora Episode". Polygon. Archived from the original on October 6, 2021 . Retrieved February 3, 2023.

Outlaw, Kofi (March 16, 2018). "Russo Brothers Reveal Marvel Comic Influences on Avengers: Infinity War". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on April 20, 2018 . Retrieved March 31, 2018. Nordyke, Kimberly (June 17, 2019). "MTV Movie & TV Awards: Avengers: Endgame, Game of Thrones Among Winners". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on June 18, 2019 . Retrieved September 24, 2023. Ajak, leader of the Eternals, informs Ikaris that the Blip delayed an apocalyptic event called the Emergence, saving many planets from destruction. [2] [11] However, when the Avengers reversed the Blip, the Emergence continued. Ajak feels the Earth should be saved and recruited the Eternals to stop the Emergence, doing so successfully. [2]