‘Avengers: Infinity War’ Greatest Villain Featurette Released

Avengers: Infinity War releases on Blu-ray and DVD today and Marvel Studios has released online a new featurette explaining why Thanos is the Avengers’ greatest villain.

“What makes Thanos so great is his conviction,” executive producer Louis D’Esposito says. “This is the only solution. He’s seen it first hand on his planet.”

“Tony knows just by the way Bruce describes Thanos it’s a different game now,” Robert Downey Jr. says.

“Just his sheer force is something that none of the Avengers has ever encountered before,” says Chris Hemsworth.

“Heroes are are only as good as their villain, but if the Avengers were built for anything for it’s for stopping Thanos from completing his goal,” director Joe Russo says.

You can see the full featurette above.

In interviews during the run-up towards Avengers: Infinity War, directors Joe and Anthony Russo discussed Thanos’ epic presence in the film.

“I think Thanos is a marvel,” Joe Russo told IndieWire. “It really reflects every level of nuance in Josh Brolin’s performance. You’re watching Josh as a giant, purple alien, and you’re seeing all of his movement, all of his facial expressions, on the most subtle level. I don’t know that we’ve seen that level of photo-real performance capture before. Maybe in the Apes films, but this is really groundbreaking.”

Anthony Russo added, “Even though he’s despicable on so many levels, there’s a part of Thanos that is very empathetic. He has a very complex inner life, and he’s not all bad. Josh is a performer who’s capable of delivering that kind of complexity, where you have that level of violence in him, but at the same time you have that level of sensitivity.”

On the film’s commentary track, Anthony Russo also noted how Thanos’ nobility factors into the character.

“That’s I think, one of the most unnerving things about Thanos, is that there is a nobility in him, you know? It’s not ego, it’s not power,” Russo explained. “He basically looks at himself as a servant and when he’s finished with his service, he rests.”

Do you think Thanos is the greatest comic book movie villain? Let us know in the comments!

Avengers: Infinity War is now available as a digital download and on Blu-ray and DVD.

Ant-Man and the Wasp is now playing in theaters. Other upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, the fourth Avengers movie on May 3, 2019, the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming on July 5th, 2019, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in 2020.