Jim Starlin Talks Thanos In Guardians Of The Galaxy, Avengers 2 & 3

Jim Starlin is the creator of Thanos, who appeared in the after the credits scene of the first Avengers movie. There have been lots of conflicting reports online about whether or not Jim Starlin confirmed that Thanos would appear in the Guardians Of The Galaxy movie and Avengers 2. In an appearance at the Nashville Comic & Horror Festival, Jim Starlin clarified what he knows about Thanos upcoming movie appearances. Starlin also confirmed that he came to an agreement with Marvel in regards to Thanos' movie appearances, and he will even be working on a new secret project for Marvel Comics. In regards to what he did or didn't know about Thanos appearing in Marvel movies, Jim Starlin said, "Well, I decided I was going to Google Alert myself on Thanos, so I basically don't know anything more than anyone else does. But I do get Google Alerts, and this past week Joss Whedon did an interview that said he was just going to have…apparently Thanos plays sort of a good role inside the Guardians, he has a minor role, like he's the backup players in Avengers 2, and he's going to at least be in Avengers 3. So they look like they are going to try to milk him for everything he's worth, as long as they can. So I know he's going to be in at least three movies." In regards to if he saw any benefits from Thanos appearances in movies, Jim Starlin said, "Marvel and I worked out an agreement this sort of thing. When the first Avengers movie came out, I had to go pay for a ticket like everybody else, because I didn't have any kind of working relationship with Marvel. Squawked a little bit in the press about that. Marvel looked into certain things, and for about six months we talked things over, and we finally came to an agreement. They're doing stuff with him in the movies, and I'm going to come back and do a little bit of work for Marvel. Working on a job that I wrote and now I'm penciling. I can't say who the character is I'm penciling. I'll tell you it's not Speedball. They don't want me saying anything more than I'm doing some work for them right now." When asked if Marvel might have signed an agreement with him because of the issues with Gary Fiedrich and Ghost Rider and because they wanted to avoid any issues with Thanos as he became a bigger character in the movies, Jim Starlin said, "You're getting into things that I contractually cannot talk about. It's just that we came to an agreement."