The last Marvel Studios film, Ant-Man and the Wasp, premiered early last July. It’s been half a year since fans have gotten a new movie set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and needless to say, it’s given fans ample time to begin hatching out fan theories on how Avengers: Endgame will reshape the MCU for years to come.
One recent fan theory that’s causing some controversy online claims that Thanos (Josh Brolin) will eventually be redeemed and become an anti-hero of sorts in the MCU.
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First posted to /r/MarvelStudios by /u/RealBugginsYT, the theory states that Thanos could follow a path similar to that of Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and be redeemed before the character’s time is done in the MCU. While Loki was the villain in his first two appearances, the character slowly turned into an anti-hero into a flat-out superhero by the time he was killed at the hand of the Mad Titan.
Of course, for a redemption arc for Thanos to be worthwhile, the character would have to appear in several more movies past Infinity War and Endgame. Loki ended up appearing in all three Thor flicks, The Avengers, and Infinity War and if the Mad Titan, who just killed half of all life in the universe, was redeemed by the end of Endgame, you could bet it would cause an uproar with fans and critics alike.
The theorist makes sure to point at that Thanos’ backstory was retconned to make him an Eternal, saying the Titan could appear in The Eternals, a franchise rumored to be in development at Marvel Studios. In a previous interview, Brolin said he wouldn’t mind playing Thanos past the last two Avengers films if the studio would have him.
“You know what, I don’t know what the future brings and who knows, but [I] love the idea of something infinite like this,” Brolin told ScreenRant. “I’ve never been involved in sequels. The fact that we’ve done some of Avengers 2, oh sorry, Avengers 4 but Infinity War 2, I’m going back. I’m going to do more, and we’re going to do some re-shoots and all that. So, I’m excited about all that. I love the Russos. I love working on the Avengers. I didn’t think I was going to and I actually loved it. I didn’t even like it. I loved it. I like playing that character. It’s a Brando-esqe, Apocalyptic Now character and it’s fun, but you know, I don’t know. I don’t know what the future holds. I’ve been surprised my entire career so we’ll see.”
Would you want to see Thanos be redeemed before he’s shelved by Marvel Studios? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments below or join the conversation online by mentioning me (@AdamBarnhardt) on Twitter to talk all things MCU!
Avengers: Endgame opens on April 26th. Other Marvel Studios movies out this year include Captain Marvel on March 8th and Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5th.
