Thanos, the mad titan, does not give out his respect easily.
The purple big bad has spent years devastating and tormenting the Marvel universe in the
comics, and recently dusted the hell out of the MCU on the big screen - sorry, spoilers,
but you REALLY should’ve seen Infinity War by now.
Regardless of what form of media is your favourite way to take in the mad titan, it’s undeniable
that Thanos, a class A egomaniac with undiagnosed narcissist personality disorder, has a tough
time empathizing with his victims.
But there are a few exceptions - several superheroes have managed to earn Thanos’ respect, despite
him still viewing them as an enemy or a threat.
So today, we’re counting them down with our picks for the top 10 superheroes Thanos
respects.
We’re going to be bouncing between both the MCU version of Thanos and the comics for
this one friends.
So with that in mind, let’s get to it!
10 Captain America In the MCU, Captain America’s sheer persistence
and effort in the fight against the Mad Titan is not something that’s lost on Thanos,
certainly.
This is something that is taken directly from the Infinity Gauntlet comic - when Adam Warlock
rallies the superheroes of Earth to take on the Mad Titan, Captain America, despite knowing
he’s overpowered, still chooses to take Thanos on directly in order to save humanity.
In the comic, he tells Thanos, I quote, “as long as one man stands against you, Thanos,
you’ll never be able to claim victory.”
To which Thanos responds, “noble sentiments from one who is about to die.”
Cap replies with “I’ve lived my life by those sentiments.
They’re well worth dying for.”
9 Star Lord In the MCU, right before Thanos teleports
away with Gamora in search of the soul stone, Peter Quill aka Star Lord makes a mighty attempt
to prevent Thanos from getting his way by keeping his promise to Gamora - killing her
so that Thanos will never find out where the stone is.
Unfortunately for Quill, and Gamora, Thanos, having already collected a few of the stones
by then, including the reality stone, is able top warp reality and change Peter’s ammunition
into bubbles.
Despite not really seeing Quill as a threat, he definitely respects the fact that he had
the will to pull the trigger on the woman he loves - doing what is necessary even if
it was difficult, just like how Thanos sees himself in his own quest.
The hardest choices require the strongest will!
He also notes that he likes him, referring to him being Gamora’s boyfriend, before
disappearing altogether.
8 Namor The sub mariner is one of the biggest characters
in the Marvel comics to have yet entered the MCU fray.
While there’s been plenty of speculation online as to whether that will ever happen,
one thing is for sure - we definitely won’t be seeing him in Avengers End Game.
The character does have a history with Thanos though in the panels, specifically during
the Infinity story event - the 2013 crossover in which Thanos decides to attack Earth while
the Avengers have their hands full with the alien threat of the Builders.
It leads up to Thanos searching for his long lost son, Thane, who ultimately defeats him
in the end.
So how does Namor tie into this?
After Thane traps Thanos in a pocket limbo stasis, Namor is the one who frees the mad
titan, having joined his Cabal in order to destroy other worlds.
Unfortunately Thanos’ new lease on life doesn’t last long; he ends up getting killed
by God Emperor Doom on Battleworld shortly afterwards.
But hey, gotta hand it to the OG anti hero and sometimes villain Namor for helping out
a mad titan in need!
7 Spider-Man Peter Parker partook in the battle on Titan
in Avengers Infinity War in the MCU, and really held his own with the best of them.
And their plan would’ve worked too if it weren’t for that stinking Star Lord!
Aside from that interaction, Spidey hasn’t really had much one on one time with the big
purple lug on the big screen.
But, in the comics, Spider-Man has crossed paths with Thanos on multiple occasions.
n 1991’s Infinity Gauntlet, spider-Man literally kicks Thanos in the face, despite losing that
battle.
Spider-Man played a key role in Jim Starlin’s 2002 Infinity Abyss, fighting off several
clones of Thanos and distracting the Mad titan.
But perhaps the most significant Thanos Spider-Man encounter is their very first, in Marvel Two
in One Annual issue 2, in which Spidey and the Thing team up to rescue the Avenger’s
from Thnos’ space fortress.
Spidey catches the man titan by surprise and ignites a brawl, which ends with Peter finding
the soul gem and releasing Adam Warlock, who turns Thanos into stone.
Considering he’s been a reoccurring foe of the Mad titans, one who has managed to
hold his own in various different scenarios, it’s safe to assume that when it comes to
these characters in the panels, it’s very likely that Thanos holds some sort of respect
for the web slinger.
6 Doctor Strange From comics to movies, let’s take a look
at Doctor Strange in the MCU.
Another character who partook in the battle on Titan against the big purple threat, it’s
not just Doctor Strange’s skills in combat or mystical mastery that Thanos respects.
It’s the fact that he handed over the Time Stone to Thanos as a means of rescuing Tony
Stark’s life.
A man willing to barter with someone the likes of Thanos is ballsy, friends.
There’s no doubt that Thanos considers Strange to be a worthy adversary, despite still being
extremely more powerful than the Sorcerer Supreme.
Also, how can you NOT respect the Sorcerer Supreme?
That title just screams clout, friends.
5 Thor Another look at the MCU at this number!
At the end of Infinity War, right after Thanos snapped his fingers and turned half of all
living things to dust, he was still met with a fun little surprise - Thor’s brand new
toy, Stormbreaker, stuck right into his chest.
Bold move, god of thunder.
While the blow could have theoretically killed the Mad Titan, it didn’t, to which Thanos
grins and tells the Asgardian god that he should’ve aimed for his head.
He then uses the gauntlet to get the hell out of there, much to Thor’s dismay.
Thor has proven he can be a threat to Thanos, even if Thanos feels that, with all of the
stones, he’s a manageable one.
Plus, Thor WRECKED a huge chunk of his army in that final battle when he arrived on the
scene, and surely, the Mad Titan’s gotta respect a warrior with that kind of skill.
4 Scarlet witch Scarlet Witch is by far one of the most powerful
characters in the Marvel universe, not only in the comics but also in the MCU.
She hasn’t unlocked all of her powers yet, not having full control over them, and perhaps
that’s something we’ll see play out in more detail in her upcoming show on Disney’s
streaming service.
But for now, in regards to how Thanos sees the red witch, considering what she’s capable
of, there’s no doubt that he holds some sort of respect for her.
Thanos also straight up acknowledges her attempts to prevent him from getting the mind stone;
killing Vision proves she has major gusto, that’s for sure.
It’s that whole hardest choices require the strongest wills ideology of his coming
into play again.
And considering the scope of Wanda’s powers, despite her not fully being in control of
all of them, is something that thanos, surely, with almost all of the stones in his possession,
could sense and appreciate.
3 Iron Man This one shouldn’t be much of a surprise.
The two characters are integrally tied together in the MCU - Stark, being a futurist, has
long anticipated a threat like Thanos, and as Joe Russo, who co-directed and co-wrote
Infinity War has stated, I quote, “It’s lived in his brain even though he couldn’t
name it.
Tony is the most desperately driven, down to the core, to react against something like
Thanos.
I think that is intrinsic to Tony’s psychology, and because Tony started it all with Iron
Man, he has a special connection to the threat that’s facing him.”
This is something that definitely isn’t beyond Thanos.
Their existential connection of sorts comes to a head in Infinity War, to the point where,
after their fight on Titan and Tony almost giving his life to attempt to stop Thanos,
the mad titan says “You have my respect, Stark.”
He also respects that Tony and him have similar goals, despite having such extremely opposite
means - both want to save people.
Iron Man will do it by ending Thanos, and Thanos will do it by eliminating half of all
living things in order to ensure that the galaxy’s resources aren’t being depleted.
Two very different ideologies there.
2 Captain Marvel While we’re anticipating a major throw down
between Thanos and Carol Danvers’ Captain Marvel, which, surely, will lead to him at
least acknowledging that she’s the strongest superhero from Earth he’s faced off against
yet, Thanos (as of this recording) has yet to encounter her.
But there’s a different Captain Marvel he has encountered in the comics that he does
hold a lot of respect for.
We’re talking Mar-Vell, the first to wear the Captain Marvel mantle.
Thanos and Mar-Vell have a long history of being foes; when Thanos was attempting to
get his mitts on the Cosmic Cube, Mar-Vell was one of his fiercest opponents, and even
managed to defeat the mad titan.
Their history runs so deep that by the time Mar-Vell died of cancer in 1982, Thanos actually
appeared to him at the very end of his life in a vision, alongside death, coming to guide
him into the afterlife (with Thanos having been dead at that time as well).
He gives Mar-Vell the illusion of a final struggle so that Mar-Vell can die fighting.
He then walks with Mar-Vell and Death into a blinding light.
Don’t think there’s many previous foes out there that Thanos would do that for.
1 Adam Warlock Perhaps the only other foe that Thanos has
shown as much respect for as he has Mar-Vell is none other than Adam Warlock, who comes
in at our number one spot.
Adam Warlock, a cosmic being, is one of the only characters that manages to stand a threat
to Thanos in the comic.
The heroic onslaught on the mad titan in the Infinity War comic was birthed from Warlock
being the mastermind attempting to save the universe.
He had a plan, and he knew how to play Thanos.
It wasn’t just superheroes he managed to recruit either.
He had Eternals on his side and other cosmic powers and entities.
Hell, even the Watcher was so darn intrigued that he had to get a front row seat for the
show.
And when it comes to Thanos, Warlock has tangoed with the character many a time.
They’ve fought, a lot.
In addition to that, not does he prove that he can manipulate the Mad Titan in the Infinity
Gauntlet comic, but he also sees right through him, calling him out on his crippling self
doubt and the fact that Thanos knows, deep down, he isn’t worthy of the power he seeks.
He can get under Thanos’ skin.
No one else, with the exception of Death perhaps, can really, really do that.
And in recent times, they’ve even teamed up, like when they went to see The One Above
All.
Talk about a buddy comedy in the making there.
Needless to say, with power and abilities like Warlock’s, and the fact that Thanos
has even worked along side him, just go to show how much the Mad titan respects him,
even if they were to be arch nemeses for the rest of time.
There we have it friends!
What other superheroes do you think Thanos respects?
Give us a shout in those comments below and let us know!
If you dug this video, spread the love, hit that like button, and hey, why not subscribe?
We’d love it if you stuck around with us some more.
In the meantime, thanks for watching friends!
I’ll catch you all in the next video!