Marvel Royally Screwed Over an MCU Villain That Even Thanos Respected

No matter what Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom pulls off in Avengers: Doomsday, it’s going to be hard for him to top Thanos. Thanos goes on a legendary run in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, collecting all of the Infinity Stones and wiping out half of existence. Sure, he doesn’t go out like a champ, with Thor cutting his head clean off, but his variant makes up for that by giving the Avengers a run for their money during the Battle of Earth. Despite being very upset about all of his hard work being undone, Thanos shows the MCU’s heroes the respect they deserve, even going as far as to wait for Captain America to find his footing before attacking with his full army.

Good guys aren’t the only people that the Mad Titan shows his appreciation for. He entrusts the Black Order to hunt down the Infinity Stones on Earth, a mission he could have easily taken care of himself. However, there’s another MCU villain in Thanos’ corner that he spends even more time with, and the franchise doesn’t do them any favors.

Thanos Had A Partner in Crime During the MCU’s Early Days

Thanos makes an impact in the MCU before he shows his face. After Loki leaves Asgard behind at the end of Thor, he travels the cosmos until he runs into the Other, a mysterious being. The Other provides the God of Mischief with everything he needs to conquer, including the specter holding the Mind Stone and the Chitauri. It’s clear that Loki’s benefactor is working for someone else, but he’s plenty scary himself, causing the Asgardian plenty of pain just by touching his head and making threats he seems ready to make good on. Of course, Loki fails to conquer Earth and loses the Tesseract, which enrages the Other. However, the villain’s boss, Thanos, sees it as an opportunity, as there are finally people out in the galaxy with the potential to challenge him.

Read Next

An Upcoming MCU Release Is The Perfect Place to Revive This Forgotten Agents of SHIELD Storyline

A couple of years later, Thanos tasks Ronan the Accuser with acquiring the Power Stone. The plan doesn’t go well because Gamora, Thanos’ daughter, betrays Ronan and steals the gem for herself. The Other demands that Ronan visit Thanos, and he doesn’t mince his words once the Kree arrives. The two argue for some time before Ronan loses his cool and twists the Other’s neck, killing him instantly. The Mad Titan doesn’t seem to mind that his ally is dead, but that’s not much of a surprise, since he doesn’t care for many things outside of his goal to ensure the galaxy doesn’t end up like Titan. It’s a shame that the Other doesn’t get to live, though, because he would have loved the reality his master goes on to create.

The Other Didn’t Get to Witness Thanos’ Victory

After the Other’s death at the hands of Ronan, Thanos continues to sit on his throne. It takes Earth’s Mightiest Heroes claiming the Mind Stone to get him off his butt and ready to conquer. He first visits Xandar, where the Nova Corps is holding the Power Stone, and lays waste to the planet. That happens off-screen, though, with it taking until Avengers: Infinity War for him to throw punches on the big screen. The Mad Titan makes quick work of Thor and the Asgardian people, gets another Infinity Stone, and sends his children to do the rest. They fail initially, losing to Steve Rogers’ Secret Avengers and New York’s heroes before regrouping ahead of the Battle of Wakanda.

At that point, it would have been nice to have the Other around because he never missed an opportunity to scold someone who failed Thanos. Unfortunately, he ends up as nothing but a footnote because the MCU is a “What have you done for me lately?” franchise. The Mad Titan forgets about his old buddy and fails to mention him as he gets closer to his goal of snapping his fingers while wearing the Infinity Gauntlet. Maybe the Other still would have died like the Black Order if he had stuck around, but he would have been happy to go down swinging if it meant he was doing his job.

The Avengers is streaming on Disney+.

Did you remember Other’s appearances in The Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy? Do you think he had the potential to be something more than a lackey? Let us know in the comments below!