Thanos (fictional character)

Thanos is a fictional character best known as one of the most powerful supervillains in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by writer-artist Jim Starlin in 1973, Thanos is a massively powerful and extremely intelligent alien being with strong nihilistic tendencies. He is obsessed with destroying all—or at least most—life in the universe, often as a gesture intended to earn him the affection of the living embodiment of death. A popular recurring villain in the Marvel Universe, Thanos’ story was developed through such works as The Thanos Quest (1990) and The Infinity Gauntlet (1991). Throughout his appearances in various comics, Thanos frequently did battle with such superhero adversaries as the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Fantastic Four, and even the X-Men. Thanos also featured prominently in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), appearing in such films as The Avengers (2012), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019).

Background

Thanos was the creation of comic book writer and artist Jim Starlin. Long before he actually entered the comics industry, Starlin developed a keen interest in drawing comics. As young man, he attended junior college and took a psychiatry class. It was in that class that Starlin learned about Eros and Thanatos, a pair of psychoanalytic concepts that represent humans’ drive for living and death. Inspired by these ideas, he scribbled out a design for a new comic book character and named his creation Thanos.

Starlin’s career in comics officially began when he was hired by Marvel Comics in 1972. The following year, got the opportunity to write and illustrate an issue of Marvel’s popular Iron Man series. In the resulting work, Iron Man #55 (1973), Starlin introduced Thanos as a new villain for the titular hero to combat. With that, Thanos formally became part of the Marvel Universe.

Starlin subsequently went on to become a creative force at both Marvel Comics and rival publisher DC Comics. Accordingly, Thanos’ standing within the Marvel Universe fluctuated in the decades that followed depending on Starlin’s own status with Marvel itself. Thanos first rose to prominence when Starlin became firmly entrenched as one of Marvel’s most influential creators in the mid-1970s. When Starlin began focusing primarily on his work at DC Comics in the 1980s, Thanos largely faded from view at Marvel. With Starlin’s return to Marvel in the early 1990s, Thanos once again became a major player. During this period, Starlin penned a series of sprawling space epics like The Infinity Gauntlet (1991), The Infinity War (1992), and The Infinity Crusade (1993) that reintroduced Thanos as one of the Marvel Universe’s chief villains. Although Thanos’ presence in Marvel comics again waned as Starlin’s influence subsequently declined once more, the character made another resurgence when he was featured in a major crossover event called Annihilation (2006–2007). After that, Thanos was definitively established as the Marvel Universe’s top villain, appearing in such works as Thanos: The Infinity Revelation (2014), Thanos: The Infinity Relativity (2015), and Thanos: The Infinity Finale (2016).

Overview

Thanos is a powerful being with an array of superhuman abilities, including enhanced strength, speed, and long life. He also has the ability to manipulate energy and is both telepathic and telekinetic. Thanos frequently heightens his natural powers through the use of weapons, bionics, and cosmic energy. In addition to all this, Thanos is known for being remarkably intelligent and particularly well-versed in science and technology.

In Marvel Universe canon, Thanos belongs to a race of genetically modified humans known as the Eternals. The original Eternals were a group of normal humans that were taken from Earth, imbued with superpowers, and scattered throughout the universe by godlike beings called the Celestials. Thanos hails from a specific colony of Eternals that live on the Saturnian moon of Titan. These particular Eternals are often referred to as Titans as a result. Likewise, Thanos himself is sometimes known as the Mad Titan. The Eternals have various superhuman abilities and are typically all but flawless in appearance. However, Thanos was born with a disease known as Deviant Syndrome that left him with a massive body, exaggerated features, and greyish hide-like skin. He also has an especially large chin with distinguishing creases.

Thanos’ backstory was definitively established in Thanos Rising (2013), a five-issue mini-series penned by Jason Aaron and Simone Bianchi. Thanos’ mother, Sui-San, tried to kill him shortly after his birth and was subsequently institutionalized. Young Thanos later experiences a severe childhood trauma when he and several friends become trapped in a cave. While Thanos spends day trying to dig his way out of the cave, his friends are eaten by lizards. Upon freeing himself, Thanos is falsely accused of killing his friends. Later, he meets a girl who leads him back to the cave and encourages him to kill the lizards in order to avenge his friends. He obeys, kills the lizards, and embarks on a campaign of murder and mayhem that takes him across the universe. When Thanos eventually returns to Titan to visit his mother’s grave, he again encounters the now-grown girl from his youth. She has since become an Elder of the Universe who is the embodiment of death. Thanos falls in love with Mistress Death, but feels he must earn her affection. To that end, he ultimately undertakes a mission to collect a series of powerful artifacts called the Infinity Gems—or Infinity Stones—and put them to use in a device called the Infinity Gauntlet that will allow him to extinguish half of the universe with a single snap of his fingers.

In the MCU, Thanos is still after the Infinity Stones, but his motivation is different. Rather than being driven by his romantic admiration for Death, Thanos instead seeks to wipe out half of all life in the universe simply because the universe itself has become dangerously overpopulated, its resources strained to the brink of disaster. Thanos’ actions eventually bring him into conflict with the Avengers, a group of superheroes determined to prevent him from carrying out his plan.

Bibliography

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Dean, Tres. “The Untold Truth of Thanos.” Looper, 2020, www.looper.com/116355/untold-truth-thanos. Accessed 3 Feb. 2020.

Estrella, Ernie. “Who Is Thanos? Why MCU Fans Have Reason to Fear the Mad Titan.” Syfy, 29 Nov. 2017, www.syfy.com/syfywire/who-is-thanos-why-mcu-fans-have-reason-to-fear-the-mad-titan. Accessed 3 Feb. 2020.

KHAL. “Everything You Need to Know (and Fear) About Thanos, the Villain from ‘Avengers: Infinity War.’” Complex, 21 Mar. 2018, www.complex.com/pop-culture/2018/03/everything-you-need-to-know-about-thanos-from-avengers-infinity-war. Accessed 3 Feb. 2020.

Low, Aloysius. “Here’s Why Thanos Is the Best Marvel Villain Yet.” CNet, 30 Apr. 2018, www.cnet.com/news/heres-why-thanos-is-the-best-marvel-villain-yet. Accessed 3 Feb. 2020.

Polo, Susana. “The Avengers’ Biggest Villain, Thanos, Explained.” Polygon, 25 Apr. 2018, www.polygon.com/2018/2/12/16995222/thanos-marvel-avengers-infinity-war-explained-backstory. Accessed 3 Feb. 2020.

Riesman, Abraham. “Everything You Need to Know About Thanos.” Vulture, 1 Aug. 2014, www.vulture.com/2014/07/thanos-guardians-galaxy-marvel-villain-explainer.html. Accessed 3 Feb. 2020.

“Thanos.” Marvel, 2020, www.marvel.com/characters/thanos. Accessed 3 Feb. 2020.