The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron writer-director Joss Whedon admits he didn’t “really understand” Thanos, who would emerge as the ultimate villain of the Marvel Cinematic Universe after his mid-credits cameo debut in Whedon’s 2012 team-up crossover.
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“Honestly, I kind of hung [Thanos] out to dry. I love Thanos. I love his apocalyptic vision, his love affair with death. I love his power. But, I don’t really understand it,” Whedon told IGN during San Diego Comic-Con.
“He’s had a lot of power, and he was cool in the comics. And I’m like, ‘Thanos is the ultimate Marvel villain!’ And then I was like, ‘I don’t actually know what I would do with Thanos.’ So, I liked what [Avengers: Infinity War directors Anthony and Joe Russo] did so much, and I thought [Thanos actor] Josh Brolin killed it. And they did an amazing job of keeping that performance on-screen. But it wasn’t like I was like, ‘Here’s a set of directions.’ I was like, ‘I’m gonna get through Ultron, nap for four years, and then I’ll come to the premiere.’ Which I did! It was like, ‘This is so cool!’”
Whedon, Marvel’s go-to creative consultant in Phase 2 of the MCU, teased Thanos without knowing how the character would pay off in subsequent films: the purple-skinned war monger was teased in both the credits of The Avengers and Ultron after making an extended cameo in James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy, setting the stage for his philosophically-driven warfare later seen in Infinity War.
“I thought they did what they needed to do. [Thanos’ comic book story of falling in love with Death is] not a concept that will necessarily translate,” Whedon said.
“It’s sometimes also an easy out for a villain. To say, ‘I love destruction! No, really, I’m in love with it.’ And yet, you’re still just a nihilist. Whereas they gave him an actual perspective and made him feel righteous to himself, which is always a better idea. So I liked what they did very much. I did not know about it, I certainly didn’t come up with it.”
Brolin returns as Thanos in Avengers 4, out May 3, 2019.
