Thanos Gets MCU-Inspired Redesign in the Marvel Comics

To paraphrase Thanos: The Marvel Comics Universe and the Marvel Cinematic Universe are perfectly balanced, as all things should be. With Kevin Feige serving as Marvel Chief Creative Officer in addition to president of Marvel Studios, there has been an increased synergy between the comics and the movies. The Samuel L. Jackson-based Nick Fury from 2002’s The Ultimates, which inspired Jackson’s casting as the character in 2008’s Iron Man, in turn saw Fury’s son — Nick Fury Jr., who resembles his Ultimate/MCU counterpart — enter Earth-616 alongside S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Phil Coulson, the fan-favorite character portrayed by Clark Gregg in such films as The Avengers and Captain Marvel.

There are more examples: the retconned origins of twins Pietro and Wanda Maximoff as human mutates ratherthan the mutant children of Magneto after Avengers: Age of Ultron; an aged-down Agatha Harkness whose more youthful appearance resembles Kathryn Hahn’s centuries-old witch in WandaVision and Agatha All Along; and a new Avengers team that aligns with recently elevated characters like Photon (The Marvels), Shang-Chi (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings), Simon Williams (Wonder Man), and She-Hulk (She-Hulk: Attorney at Law).

This week’s The Avengers Annual #1 from writer Derek Landy (whose nine-part Infinity Stones saga spans issues of Amazing Spider-Man Annual, Incredible Hulk Annual, Wolverine Annual, and more ahead of the new Infinity Watch series) and artist Salvador Larroca (X-Men, Marvel’s Alien) continues the Mad Titan’s search for the six Infinity Stones.

After imprisoning his former love, Death, into a seventh Infinity Stone — the Death Stone — in Christopher Cantwell and Luca Pizzari’s four-issue Thanos limited series, the other Stones became embedded within a collective of Stone Bearers: Star (Reality Stone), Quantum (Space Stone), Overtime (Time Stone), Apex (Power Stone), Multitude (Soul Stone), Colleen Wing (Mind Stone), and Phil Coulson (Death Stone).

In his most recent appearances in Thanos Annual #1 and Incredible Hulk Annual #1, Thanos has worn the classic blue and gold suit of armor most famously associated with 1991’s Infinity Gauntlet, 1992’s Infinity War, and 1993’s Infinity Crusade crossovers that served as inspiration for 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War and 2019’s Avengers: Endgame.

The Avengers Annual depicts the villain clad in the sleeker, sleeveless battle armor and helmet worn by Josh Brolin’s Thanos in Infinity War and Endgame, and pits the Mad Titan against the Avengers Captain Marvel and Thor (who suffer worse fates than their MCU counterparts). But unlike the movies, there are resurrections this time.

Avengers Annual #1 (2024) is on sale now from Marvel Comics.