Thanos Declares War on the Illuminati in New Marvel Series

The four-issue Thanos miniseries is written by Doctor Doom writer Christopher Cantwell.

August 12, 2023, 10:04am

Marvel is putting the spotlight on Thanos with a new limited series launching in November, and this time Thanos is targeting the Marvel Universe Illuminati. Chris Cantwell will write the new Marvel Comics miniseries, having previously written Invincible Iron Man and another major Marvel villain series, Doctor Doom. Lucas Pizzari, who worked on the recent X-Men: Before the Fall — Heralds of Apocalypse #1 one-shot, will draw all four issues of the series. Per Marvel’s synopsis for the Thanos series, “The saga will follow Thanos as he rockets to Earth from the darkest depths of the cosmos to undertake his most ambitious conquest yet. The only ones that can quell his passionate fury is a new Illuminati. Mr. Fantastic, Doctor Strange, and Iron Man have reunited to guide the superhuman world from the shadows and joining this new incarnation are Emma Frost and Blue Marvel. This cabal composed of Marvel’s greatest minds have wasted no time in sharing a secret that will shatter the heavens and provoke Thanos’ deadly wrath like never before! THANOS VS. THE ILLUMINATI! The Mad Titan descends upon Earth to retrieve something he has lost. And the Illuminati must band together to stop him, because they’re the ones who hid it from him!”

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Leinil Francis Yu provides the first issue’s main cover. Phil Noto created a variant paying homage to George Pérez’s Infinity Gauntlet #1 cover.

“I’ve had the honor and joy of writing some of Marvel’s greatest villains, so you can imagine how excited I am to not only tackle the Mad Titan himself, but pit him against some of the most powerful brains and fists out there—this latest lineup of the Illuminati,” Cantwell said in a press release. “But I think folks will find the backdrop of this story quite unexpected, mischievously funny, and heartbreakingly human, for what has drawn Thanos back screaming into the universe is a singular pain and desire for connection that he believes only one essence in existence (and non-existence) can give him… while this being is in turn grappling with some deeper questions about what they are, and what they want to be. Plus, Thanos hot-wires a pickup truck.”

“I could tell right from reading the first panel description that this book was gonna be something else,” Pizzari added. “I never even met Chris before and yet it’s like he wrote this book reading my mind; there are a lot of characters I’ve always wanted to try my hand on. Thanos himself is, of course, unbelievably fun to draw, I’m constantly telling myself to make him bigger and bigger!”