Marvel Just Insulted The Best MCU Villain For The 7th Time Since Endgame And Completely Rewrites The Avengers' Loss In Infinity War
In the six years since Avengers: Endgame marked Thanos' defeat, Marvel Animation's What If...? series has, time and again, proved just how weak the Mad Titan really is in the MCU, which has massively discredited the Avengers. Thanos made his mark on the MCU as the most infamous intergalactic warlord of the Infinity Saga and the adoptive father of Guardians of the Galaxy's Gamora and Nebula. While Thanos hasn't officially returned to the MCU, the Mad Titan has made frequent appearances in the Multiverse Saga, but these have just delivered insult after insult.
Thanos is widely considered to be the best villain in the MCU, having posed a huge threat to the universe in the Infinity Saga, and even being successful in his mission to eradicate half of all life. However, the regular appearances of Thanos' variants in Marvel's animated What If...? series, which ran for three seasons between 2021 and 2024, have seriously insulted the Mad Titan. This, in turn, has made the MCU's live-action Avengers team look bad, as not even they could defeat Thanos, who now looks like a weak antagonist.
Thanos Is The MCU’s Best Villain So Far
Thanos Was The Infinity Saga's Biggest Threat
Thanos first appeared in the post-credits scene of 2012's The Avengers, which began to lay the foundations for him to become the most significant villain in the MCU's Infinity Saga. Few villains have posed the same kind of danger that Thanos did, as the warlord sought to collect the six Infinity Stones, becoming the most powerful being in the universe, and use them to wipe out half of all life. This made him truly terrifying, especially since his reasoning kind of made sense, and he proved his salt when he was actually successful.
Aside from being an intergalactic warlord known across the universe for his heinous acts, Thanos was also a pretty despicable father. He adopted a number of children over the years during his conquest of various worlds, and raised them to be formidable warriors, known as the Black Order. Gamora and Nebula managed to break free from their father's bounds, but the likes of Ebony Maw, Proxima Midnight, Corvus Glaive and Cull Obsidian weren't so lucky, and they paid the price. Thanos' might seemed insurmountable in the live-action MCU, but What If...? has made this null.
What If…? Has Insulted Thanos On Numerous Occasions
What If...? Has Featured Many Variants Of Thanos
Josh Brolin's live-action Thanos was finally defeated by Earth's Mightiest Heroes in Avengers: Endgame, but several versions of the Mad Titan have since been introduced in Marvel Animation's What If...? series. The majority of Thanos' appearances in What If...?, however, have included the powerful supervillain being killed in new and often-easy ways, which continues to insult Thanos' power and make him seem much weaker than Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame suggested. This happened most recently in What If...? season 3, episode 4.
What If...? Episode | Release Date | Thanos' Role |
|---|---|---|
"What If... T'Challa Became a Star-Lord?" | August 18, 2021 | Retired |
"What If... Zombies?!" | September 8, 2021 | Zombie |
"What If... Ultron Won?" | September 29, 2021 | Killed by Ultron |
"What If... Nebula Joined the Nova Corps?" | December 22, 2023 | Killed by Ronan |
"What If... Iron Man Crashed into the Grandmaster?" | December 25, 2023 | Killed by Gamora |
"What If... Hela Found the Ten Rings?" | December 28, 2023 | Attacking Gamora's World |
"What If... the Avengers Assembled in 1602?" | December 29, 2023 | Fighting Captain America |
"What If... Strange Supreme Intervened?" | December 30, 2023 | Killed by Killmonger |
"What If... Howard the Duck Got Hitched?" | December 25, 2024 | Killed by Byrdie |
"What If... What If?" | December 29, 2024 | Wolverine Variant |
After he was talked into being a hero and giving up his plan, turned into a zombie, sliced in half by Ultron, melted by Gamora and snapped away by Killmonger with the Infinity Stones, it seemed What If...? was running out of ways to belittle Thanos. What If...? season 3, however, saw Thanos feebly join the fight for possession of Howard the Duck and Darcy Lewis' egg, only for him to be killed by Byrdie. What If...? has never treated Thanos with the respect he earned in the Infinity Saga.
What If…?’s Treatment Of Thanos Changes The Avengers’ Infinity War
The Avengers Failed To Beat Thanos In Avengers: Infinity War
If Thanos really is as weak and beatable as What If...? has routinely suggested, then the Avengers failing to stop him in Avengers: Infinity War takes on a whole new meaning. This implies the Avengers may simply not be as strong as they think, as they couldn't even kill Thanos, whose variants are constantly in the habit of dying in weird and wild ways. Previously, Thor not going for the head was a huge deal, but now it seems as though this was sheer incompetence, and that any other Avengers team across the multiverse could have easily taken Thanos down.
This argument is also supported by the brief appearance of Thanos in 2022's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The Illuminati managed to kill Earth-838's Mad Titan before he even made it to Earth, which really showed up the MCU's official Avengers team. The fact that Thanos was easily killed by Ultron, Ronan, Gamora, Killmonger and Byrdie, who were all acting alone, makes the Avengers' combined efforts in Infinity War seem inconsequential, which isn't a good look for the MCU's primary superhero team.
How Marvel Can Redeem Thanos In The MCU
Thanos Could Still Have A Bright Future In The MCU
The magic of exploring the multiverse is that Marvel Studios still has the chance to redeem Thanos, as there must be universes where the Mad Titan was successful in all his endeavors. This could be proven in the Russo brothers' upcoming Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars, which could bring the likes of King Thanos and more into the live-action MCU. Theories have also emerged suggesting Robert Downey Jr.'s twisted Doctor Doom may come from a reality ruled by Thanos, which would give the Mad Titan the redemption he deserves.
Thanos plays an important role in Marvel Comics' Secret Wars event from 2015, as he fights as a member of the Cabal to destroy other Earths and stop incursions from destroying the multiverse, before then finding himself on Battleworld, ruled by God Emperor Doom. This could inspire Josh Brolin's teased return as Thanos, but could lead to yet another death for the Mad Titan. Doctor Doom brutally kills Thanos in Secret Wars, and after his repeated deaths in What If...?, it wouldn't be surprising to see this scene play out in Avengers: Secret Wars, too.
What If...?
- Release Date
- 2021 - 2024
- Showrunner
- Ashley Bradley
- Directors
- Bryan Andrews
- Writers
- Ashley Bradley, Matthew Chauncey
- Franchise(s)
- Marvel Cinematic Universe
Cast
Stanley Tucci
What If… ? is an animated anthology series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe which features fan-favorite characters, including Peggy Carter, T’Challa, Doctor Strange, Killmonger, Thor, and more. The new series, directed by Bryan Andrews with AC Bradley as head writer, features signature MCU action with a curious twist. The show sees Uatu the Watcher, an omnipotent being that observes the events of multiple universes from afar as they unfold, unable to interfere. However, things shift when an entity peers beyond the veil, jeopardizing the multiverse.
- Seasons
- 3
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