﻿‘Infinity War’ had dozens of heroes in the spotlight,
but somehow, Thanos completely stole the show.
This video is going to contain heavy SPOILERS,
because I want to talk about what the movie gets so right about the Mad Titan,
and how he compares to,
and sometimes improves on,
his comic book counterpart created by Jim Starlin.
I’m Kya,
and today we’re talking about
Thanos vs. Thanos: A Tale of Two Titans
Let’s break them down bit by bit, starting with their
Origins
So what do we know about the MCU Thanos?
He came from Titan,
a paradise planet that was pushed to the brink of extinction by overpopulation.
He tried to warn his people,
kinda like Jor-El,
but unlike Superman’s dad,
Thanos’ plan involved a lot more bloodshed.
His proposal to murder half the planet’s population was met with horror,
but after Titan’s destruction,
he grew even more convinced of his twisted logic.
Fun isn't something one considers when balancing the universe.
But this... does put a smile on my face.
Thanos carved a path of destruction across the galaxy,
devastating worlds and adopting all kinds of kids from the wreckage.
Adopting... Kidnapping... Whatever.
But beyond that, we don’t know that much about how he came to be.
Granted, this is the first time we’ve seen the MCU Thanos besides stingers and cameos,
and Josh Brolin has hinted at a deeper past in interviews,
but in such a packed movie,
there wasn’t really a lot of time to devote to Thanos’ origin.
In the comics, Thanos’ parents were Eternals,
a race of perfect beings created by the godlike Celestials.
A Celestial like... a god?
Small 'g,' son.
But Thanos was born with a mutation that made him resemble the Deviants,
their sister-species of hideous monsters.
His mother was driven utterly insane when she saw her little purple baby,
and actually tried to kill him in his crib before his dad put a stop to it.
Thanos would get his revenge a few years later,
killing his mom and nuking his homeworld,
but that rejection haunted him for the rest of his life,
and led him to crave attention from a deadly source.
There’s still time for the MCU Thanos to reveal more about his past,
but for now, the 616 version has a more fleshed-out origin.
Let’s move on to
Motivation
At the end of the day,
everything comics Thanos does is driven by his love for Mistress Death.
MY LADY! PROTECT MEEE!!!
Well, I mean, it’s a little more nuanced than that.
He’s not interested in saving the universe,
or conquering it.
He’s just a nihilist who believes that life is ugly, chaotic, and destructive,
compared to the peaceful, beautiful simplicity of Death.
They were nihilists, man. They kept saying they believed in nothing.
Nihilists... I mean, say what you will about the tenets of National Socialism, at least it's an ethos.
That’s tough to fit on the back of an action figure box,
so I can understand why the MCU picked a different philosophy for their Thanos.
While the whole ‘killing half the universe’ thing comes from the comics,
it’s Death who gave him the idea.
Once the amount of living beings outnumbered the amount who ever died,
she asked her really good friend Thanos to restore the balance for her.
But the MCU Mad Titan is more of an environmentalist.
He’s not just an emo kid trying to impress a girl,
He’s acting on his own accord to solve a very real problem,
But in the worst way possible.
That’s what makes him so appealing.
The best villains are the ones who genuinely believe they’re doing the right thing.
Hi, Auntie!
Like how Killmonger hates Wakanda for keeping their wealth and power hidden away,
while Black people around the world suffered for centuries.
Or how Ozymandias just wanted to achieve world peace,
even if it meant dropping a giant squid monster on New York City.
Compare that to Zod, who wanted to terraform Earth to make it more like Krypton.
or Steppenwolf, who wanted to… terraform Earth to make it more like Apokalips.
They're looking for... boxes?
Sure. DC...
I'm sorry, I feel like I'm betraying my people.
They're betraying you! They did you dirty!
This is my villain origin story, DC made so many bad movies that I'm now a villain against them.
That's how it happens!
Do you feel a sense of confidence that we're not doing something horribly wrong and macabre here?
Thanos has a vision,
and he’s convinced that snuffing out trillions of lives is the only way to achieve it.
That’s what makes him so terrifying.
Well, that and his unlimited cosmic
Power
Alright, I’m just gonna come out and say it,
comic Thanos is OP.
He’s broken Galactus’ helmet,
Shattered Captain America’s shield,
and survived a full-blown scream from Black Bolt.
He’s literally defeated the entire Universe.
Various writers had characters like Ka-Zar, Squirrel Girl, and even the NYPD take him down,
but those are almost always retconned as a clone or an illusion or some shit like that.
The only thing that can stop Thanos is himself,
and his own insecurity.
Also the friend zone.
You know, with the benefit of hindsight...
Thanos is kind of Jim Starlin’s Marty Stu.
Now, MCU Thanos is still a powerhouse.
He kicks the Hulk’s ass so hard he’s scared to come out of Banner,
and Iron Man throws everything he can at him for a single drop of blood.
But in the movies, he’s very much killable.
Gamora thought he was dead from a simple stab wound,
and Thor damn near chopped him in half with Stormbreaker.
Granted, Thanos survived,
but it could have been a very different story if he’d gone for the head.
Now, Thanos can die in the comics, too,
at one point Drax literally punched his heart out of his chest,
but the more grounded MCU required a more grounded, vulnerable villain.
His (slightly) lower power level only makes him more human,
and more relatable.
Which brings us to
Personality
This one is a little more subjective,
but I just like Thanos’ style in the MCU.
He’s more subtle, more nuanced,
and, I can’t believe I’m saying this about a giant purple space man,
he’s a little more down to Earth.
In the comics, he’s a badass, no doubt,
but he’s kinda over the top.
Don’t get me wrong, I would have loved to hear Josh Brolin growl out lines like
‘Tread carefully. You address omnipotence,’
but in a live-action movie surrounded by real actors,
The movie Thanos needed to be a little more restrained.
He’s calm and strategic, more like an army general,
rather than a guy who floats around in space ranting to Mephisto about the friend zone.
I’m not saying comics Thanos is bad or simplistic,
he’s actually extremely complicated,
almost too complicated.
He walks the line between ultimate villain and anti-hero,
something very few writers besides Starlin ever really address.
He’s an awesome comic book character,
but I’m not sure the operatic, omnicidal maniac would have worked in a movie.
He’s loud, outrageous, and honestly, kind of ridiculous,
I mean, his hilarious feud with Deadpool over Lady Death is literally one of the best things in his comic appearances.
Movie Thanos is much deeper than he appears,
it’s even a plot point.
Gamora has no idea that he truly loves her,
and her death makes his quest for the Gauntlet even more personal and painful.
He’s not a cackling madman,
or a quippy robot.
He’s just a scary-ass dude who says he’s going to do something and does it,
even if it means sacrificing possibly the only person he loves in the universe.
Look, I love the MCU for not being afraid to embrace the insanity of the comic characters,
but that doesn’t mean they have to be a carbon copy.
The movie Thanos does lose some of the crazy spectacle from the comics,
but in exchange we get a believable, almost sympathetic villain,
who was strong enough to basically carry ‘Infinity War’ on his big purple back.
I personally prefer the movie version,
but I can absolutely understand everyone who loves 616 Thanos more.
Honestly, why do we even have to make a choice?
With a few exceptions, the MCU characters are pretty damn faithful to the comics,
just streamlined and fleshed out in ways that suit the movie medium,
and appeal to every kind of audience.
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter which Thanos is better.
Whether you’re a die-hard comics fan,
or someone who was introduced to Marvel through the movies,
the MCU has made true believers of us all.