The greatest victories of Thanos (and how the Avengers stopped him)

By Matt Purslow

Thanos won. At least that's the situation at the end of Avengers: Infinity War. With just a snap of his finger, he has eliminated 50% of all living creatures in the universe, including more than a handful of the most powerful heroes of the Earth. With that kind of power, how can you defeat it?

Well, apparently, it's not that difficult. Thanos has been messing around with the Marvel comics since 1973, and although he's had a lot of wins, he's rarely won. Avengers: Endgame is about to show us how the Avengers of Marvel Cinematic Universe beat Mad Titan. So we thought we'd take a look at some of Thanos' biggest stratagems and the way the heroes had thwarted him. Perhaps in these colorful pages, there is even some clue as to how the Avengers could end the decimation test in Endgame?

There is a simple reason behind almost all the destructive actions of Thanos: craze. The Mad Titan is obsessed with the incarnation of Death and, like a boy with a crush on the clbad who has found several branches too high in a dangerous tree, will do almost anything to impress him.

One of Thanos' earliest attempts To seize the endless power that he believes seductive, the death is found in the pages of Captain Marvel, published in 1973. This story sees him traveling on Earth to the Cosmic Cube Chase (which, in comics, is "simply" a powerful blue box developed by AIM, rather than an Infinity Stone). The power of the cube makes Thanos omnipotent and uses it to take on a new form similar to that of God, as well as to remove all the inhabitants of the Earth.

Believing that the cosmic cube is emptied of all its power, Thanos defeats it. This turns out to be an incredibly stupid gesture as this allows Captain Marvel – the original Mar-Vell, not present Carol Danvers – to infiltrate and destroy it. The destruction of Thanos is then completely canceled and the Titan fled shamefully in the center of the universe. Death, as you can imagine, remains unimpressed by its strong purple interest.

Unfortunately, the situation will probably not be so easy in Endgame, even though the Avengers now have their own Marvel captain. If she managed to crush the stone in Tesseract's space, it would seem unlikely that the destruction of one of the six Infinity stones would negate the effects of the breakup. In addition, the MCU Thanos is certainly not stupid enough to leave his glove defenseless.

What is the probability of this happening in Endgame? 0/10

Every good villain has a plan B, and Thanos returns in a story of 1975 with an attempt to woo death again through the use of gemstones. soul. Better known these days under the name of Infinity Stones, Thanos embarks on a cosmic crusade in search of the six. The top five are easily found, but Thanos struggles to claim the sixth because of one of Marvel's most powerful heroes: Adam Warlock.

Perfect synthetic man, Warlock is in possession of the sixth gem that he can use to capture souls. The mere idea of ​​this terrifies Thanos and therefore seeks a non-confrontational way to seize the gemstone. His research leads him to discover the existence of Magus: a potential future version of Warlock that governs a tyrannical galactic religious order. Using this information, he manages to form an alliance with Warlock, which ensures that the scenario of Magus will never happen.

By working closely Thanos manages to secretly siphon the energies of the pearl of Warlock's soul and then combine them. with the other five in a new mega gem. He intends to use this new super weapon to extinguish all the stars of the universe, which is big enough for romantic gestures, although it eliminates the possibility to make beautiful walks at home in the moonlight.

Of course, things are not. do not go as planned; Adam Warlock discovers what Thanos has done and asks Captain Marvel and the Avengers to help him infiltrate his ship and destroy the machines that harness the power of the soul of the gems. In the inevitable showdown, Thanos kills Warlock, but the remaining heroes manage to destroy the stars' snuff weapons.

Fortunately, hope is not lost: the soul of Warlock is locked in his gem, and the mystical Lord Chaos and Master Order help Spider. -Man free him. Transforming the comic power of his death, Warlock turns Thanos into stone.

But turning Thanos into an oversized garden gnome will it be a trap to solve Endgame? Well, there is a chance that Adam Warlock can arrive on the scene; he was teased in Stinger credits at the end of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, created by Ayesha to destroy Star Lord and his crew. But adding another character at this point is probably not part of Marvel's plan.

It is possible, however, that the remaining Avengers may recall their deceased friends from the Stone of Souls. And maybe Dr. Strange could turn it into stone too. He would certainly make a good trophy statue for the Avengers HQ.

A chance this will happen in Endgame? 5/10

Well, that's the one that deserves our attention. In the 1991 Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos makes a glove-like super-weapon and uses it to eliminate half of the living creatures in the universe in a misguided attempt to impress Death. Adam Warlock and the Silver Surfer form a team of heroes and cosmic entities to neutralize Thanos, including Wolverine and Hulk, who were specifically chosen to kill Thanos without question if given a one in two chance.

Thanos turns out invincible. enemy, defeat all that the heroes can throw at him, including the planet devouring Galactus. Discouraged by his power, even Death joins the war against him, but that in no way dissuades Thanos. He ends up winning the battle of reality, becoming an incredibly powerful cosmic being. The transformation, however, leaves its physical form unprotected, allowing Nebula to easily steal the Gauntlet Infinity and use the Infinity Gems to undo any damage caused since the breakdown. In search of revenge, she transports Thanos to Adam Warlock.

During his confinement in the gem of the soul, Warlock learns a lot about Thanos, including the Titan's worry about ultimate power. Together, they come to an agreement to team up and seize the Nebula Gauntlet, which has become incredibly powerful thanks to Infinity Gems.

Adam Warlock uses his connection to the world of souls and joins the jewels of the infinite, "Gauntlet". causing him to separate from the nebula. Thanos tries to get it back (because obviously), but Warlock reaches it first. Rather than face imprisonment, Thanos … uh … blew himself up with a nuclear device. The five gems are divided and given to five people who become the Infinity Watch, a new team of superheroes because the galaxy could still make one.

Later, it is revealed that Thanos is alive and leads a quiet life. as a farmer. Warlock gives him the jewel of reality, recognizing that after three failures, he became wise enough not to use it and inscribed it in the infinite.

The Infinity Gauntlet cliché is the inspiration behind the most iconic scene of Infinity War, but it seems likely that Marvel will not stop there. During the events of Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2, Nebula has developed a lively hatred for Thanos, and her quest to kill him might well see her in possession of the Gauntlet of Infinity.

The version of the character by MCU is very humanized, and the treatment of his inner turmoil could offer a more meaningful resolution than a simple fight. It takes three hours to complete after all; why not have Tony and Thanos chat for a moment? After all, Mr. Stark knows a little about self-doubt.

A chance this will happen in Endgame? 8/10

Following the events of the Infinity of 2013, Thanos has his own band of minions: the black order. Led by Ebony Maw, the group traveled the universe asking for a very specific sacrifice: the head of all children aged 16 to 22, or the annihilation of everything. When the Avengers are forced to fight an alien army known as the Builder, the Black Order quickly visits a now unguarded Earth and demands payment.

The Inhumans – The Marvel X-Men-ish Metahuman Race – Refuse to Comply with the Requirements. . They learn that the sacrifices are a cover of the plot to kill his son Inhuman by Thanos. Oh yes, it turns out that the big purple has spread its genes throughout the universe, to the point that the location and even the identity of that specific son are unknown (d & # 39; 39, where the approach of King Herod).

The refusal of the inhuman to submit his results. in Thanos, they fight against their leader, Black Bolt, and the battle ends with the detonation of a bomb that spreads Terrigen mists across the planet. The mists provoke the transformation into metahumans of latent inhuman DNA, thus creating a whole new generation of inhumans, including the son of Thanos, Thane.

The Illuminati – a dark chapel of heroes including Reed Richards and Dr. Strange – discover Thane is in Greenland. However, it is revealed that Dr. Strange is under the control of Ebony Maw, who erases Strange's memory and travels to Greenland to find Thane himself. Ally, he offers Thane a suit to control his newly developed powers, then traps him and calls Thanos.

The Avengers finally return to Earth, where they face Thanos. The battle weighs heavily on the team: Thor, Captains America and Marvel, and Hulk are all defeated. But as the victory seems close to Thanos, Ebony Maw doubles him and frees Thane. Using his newly developed powers, Thane locks Thanos into an Amber prison, leaving him in a state of living death.

Infinity's major battle, featuring the defeat of several prominent Avengers, gives the impression of being able to take advantage of Endgame. The final of Infinity War is incredibly dark and it looks like things will get worse before they get better. All signs suggest that Thanos will fight against his opponent.

As for The Black Order, while they are key players in the penultimate chapter of the Infinity Saga, Ebony Maw was thrown into the void by Spider-Man and Iron Man. It does not appear that he will soon be there to double Thanos. It is also certainly too late in the day to introduce a mystery son into the equation.

However, Thanos has children in the MCU, and one of them is really angry. Could Nebula play the role of Thane and be the one to eliminate Thanos? Do the Infinity stones have enough power to trap a single bulky boy in amber, baduredly?

The risk of this happening in Endgame? 4/10

And here we are: four of Thanos' greatest victories and how Marvel's heroes thwarted them. The original comics have been a vital source of inspiration for the Marvel film universe. So it makes sense to find at least one of these stories in Avengers: Endgame. Which one, however? Well, Marvel being as quiet as possible, we'll just have to wait until April 25 to find out.

Matt Purslow is the editor of IGN UK for news and entertainment. He's been studying how to kill Thanos since 2007. You know, just in case. You can follow him on Twitter .