'Avengers: Infinity War' - Did Thanos Die Too?

Directors Joe and Anthony Russo made good on their promise that Avengers: Infinity War would be [...]

By Patrick Cavanaugh

Directors Joe and Anthony Russo made good on their promise that Avengers: Infinity War would be the most deadly adventure seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that brought serious consequences for Earth's Mightiest Heroes. In the time since the film came out, some audiences can't help but wonder if the film's villain, Thanos, could have actually died in the film along with some of the other characters. Joe Russo shed some light on the theory during a recent conversation with high school students.

***WARNING: Spoilers below for Avengers: Infinity War***

Throughout the film, Thanos' quest requires him to assemble all six Infinity Stones and place them in a gauntlet. When he obtains the precious gems and snaps his fingers with this glove, half of the universe's population dies. Given that Thanos himself is a member of the universe, some fans are wondering if he knew he could potentially die in his plan.

"You can ask if he allowed himself to be apart of that random process," Russo shared at the Iowa City High School. "He does have a very interesting look on his face. When we come back to him after the snap before he disappears, a look of surprise."

One interpretation of Russo's response is that Thanos is just as surprised as the audience that he survived the universal genocide, as he knew that he had a 50/50 shot at surviving the ordeal and wasn't expecting to be spared. With the gauntlet being a magical item that can wreak universe-wide destruction merely by snapping, we shouldn't really expect Thanos to have had a rule book that could have explained the intricacies of his methods. Did he have to snap with a specific finger? Did it matter how loud the snap was? Clearly, eradicating half of the universe's population with magical stones isn't entirely a scientific process.

Another interpretation of Russo's comments could be that, when audiences see Thanos at the end of the film, he has actually died and is surprised at what he sees in the afterlife. Fans of the "Infinity Gauntlet" comic book series may have recognized Thanos' fate in this film as being similar to the one he suffered after being defeated, though it's possible the filmmakers decided to switch things up a bit and possibly have Thanos enter a different realm after achieving his goals.

We can assume more answers await us when the next Avengers film hits theaters next year.

Avengers: Infinity War is in theaters now.

Other upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe films include Ant-Man and The Wasp on July 6th, Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, and the fourth Avengers on May 3, 2019. The sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming hits on July 5, 2019, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 lands in 2020.

What do you think happened to Thanos at the end of the film? Let us know in the comments below!

[H/T Reddit]

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