With the upcoming Avengers Infinity War film on the horizon, it should be no surprise that
the super villain everyone is currently obsessed with is the Mad titan himself, Thanos.
He’s serving as the biggest threat the MCU has seen to date in the cinematic adaptation
of the Infinity event, which has left some people wondering – in the comics, how could
someone as immensely powerful as Thanos be defeated?
Well fear not, we’ve got you covered with our list of the top 10 Marvel characters who
single-handedly beat Thanos.
10 Zombie Hulk Nothing like Zombie Hulk to start off a list.
In Marvel Zombies 2, penned by zombie expert Robert Kirkman, things get a little heated
between zombie Hulk and zombie Thanos.
When Thanos calls out the Hulk for over eating their resources, Hulk reacts the only way
his zombified self knows how – to smash.
Smash Thanos’ head, that is.
He justifies it by saying that “now Hulk can eat for two – eating Prune chin’s
food.
Problem solved.”
9 Drax the Destroyer In the comics, Drax is literally created to
defeat Thanos.
He was a human named Arthur Douglas whose family was killed by Thanos when the Mad Titan
was scouting Earth.
The being Kronos took Arthur’s spirit and placed it in a new body, and he became Drax.
He first appeared in 1973 in Iron Man #55, and would battle Thanos on multiple occasions.
But one in particular, he brutally bested the Mad Titan by ripping his heart out.
This took place during the Annihilation event, when Thanos sided with supervillain Annihilus,
the lord of the negative zone.
Thanos has kidnapped Moondragon and used her to lure Drax to him.
8 Adam Warlock Back in 1977’s Avengers Annual volume 1
issue 7, Thanos had returned in a new story where he tries to snuff out the universe.
With the Avengers and Captain Marvel, Adam Warlock battles the mad titan, which results
in him falling and being sucked into his Soul Gem.
Flash forward to Marvel Two-In-One annual #2, Spider-Man unknowingly frees Adam Warlock
from the gem, and Adam ain’t happy.
Lucky this goes down during another battle with Thanos, and out of revenge, Adam turns
him into solid granite.
This would be the end to Thanos for 13 whole years until the Rebirth of Thanos story arc
in 1990.
7 Thane At the end of the Infinity story arc, Thane,
Thanos’ son who he had low key been searching the universe for, is found by one of the members
of the Black Order – Ebony Maw.
Maw betrays Thanos and the Black Order by working with Thane, which results in a climatic
battle that has Thane freezing Thanos and Proxima Midnight into an amber casing that
leaves them in a state of living death.
Thanos feared Thane and wanted him dead.
Thane was the key to saving Earth from Thanos, so many are curious to see what will go down
in Infinity War without the character’s presence – assuming that he isn’t in it,
that is.
Nothing like being put down by a family member though.
6 Thor In Thor Vol 2 issue 25, Thor hammers the life
out of Thanos.
Seems a little harsh, eh?
Well, as the story goes, Thor is on an unknown icy planet and encounters Thanos, and gets
some new weapons endowed with Odinpower.
Which he uses to bash Thanos in.
But turns out that the Thanos he battled was just a clone who had been given some of Thanos’
powers.
5 Deadpool Thanos and Deadpool share something in common
– they both have the hots for Death.
So in Deadpool vs Thanos #4, the two hash it out, with Death watching.
Deadpool has been endowed with the power cosmic, and persuades Death to ditch Thanos, because
he argues that Thanos also serves life.
4 Squirrel Girl Squirrel Girl has pulled off some pretty impressive
feats, especially when you consider that she has been a severely underrated character for
quite some time.
In GLX-Mas #1, a Great Lake Avengers holiday issue, Squirrel Girl defeats Thanos with the
help of a squirrel, and it’s witness by Uatu the Watcher, who confirms that in fact
it was the real Thanos she defeated.
The attack itself was off panel unfortunately.
But considering the success rate that she’s had with other heroes like Doctor Doom and
Galactus, I trust that Squirrel Girl definitely did him in.
3 Captain Marvel The original Captain Marvel, Mar-Vell, had
some serous beef with Thanos when he was alive.
While the Captain Marvel we’ll be getting is show stopper Brie Larson as Carol Danvers,
her predecessor was a fearsome foe for Thanos in the comics.
In Captain Marvel #33, Thanos has the cosmic cube in his possession, and he’s managed
to make the entire Earth population disappear.
Alongside Drax and Mantis, Mar-Vell goes after Thanos, and the two have a struggle over the
cube, with Mar-Vell risking his life to destroy it.
It’s destruction reverses everything Thanos did, and makes his life forfeit to Death.
2 Lady Death Speaking of, Death is the reason why Thanos
does everything he does – he wants to be worthy of her.
So of course, that meant acquiring more power, which meant invading and conquering.
But that slowly turned into the annihilation of the universe.
She’s the only one he’s ever really loved.
After his loss to Mar-Vell, the Mad Titan was rejected by Death due to his failure.
Death defeats him in a different way than the other characters we’ve discussed on
this list, yet perhaps, Death’s dejection is the most impactful and damaging to Thanos.
1 Himself Thanos’ biggest obstacle is himself.
He has a sub conscious desire to lose, and often has set himself up to fail.
During his reign with the Infinity Gauntlet, the character had managed to pretty much squash
any threat.
Except he ignored Nebula, his grandniece in the comics and ‘daughter’ in the MCU,
who managed to remove the Gauntlet from his hand.
Adam Warlock would later realize that Thanos’ met his end and lost the gauntlet due to his
own self-doubt and anxiety.
He also has a habit of just giving up; he just doesn’t deem himself worthy.
There we have it friends!
Which of these fights is your favourite?
What do you wish would make the MCU?
Let us know your thoughts in those comments below!
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