Thanos Marvel: Who He Is, Who Plays Him and What He Wants

Thanos is a warlord in the Marvel Cinematic Universe who hunts the six Infinity Stones so that he can wipe out half of all life in the universe. In the films he commands an alien army, and he has an adopted daughter, Gamora. Josh Brolin plays him in the two films where he takes center stage, and the cast lists place Brolin fourth in Avengers: Infinity War and seventh in Avengers: Endgame.

Which Marvel movie is Thanos in? He is credited in five of the saga films, in release order: The Avengers (2012), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Avengers: Age of Ultron, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. In The Avengers (2012) and Age of Ultron he appears in credits scenes, and the last two films are built around him.

He is also felt in films where he is not credited. In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Nebula makes peace with Gamora but still chooses to leave and keep hunting Thanos. In Thor: Ragnarok, a mid-credits scene has a huge spacecraft stop the Asgardian ship, which later films link to him. If you want the stones themselves explained, our page on the infinity stones covers them, and the wider cast sits on marvel characters.

Thanos' closest relationships are with Gamora, his adopted daughter, and Nebula, her sister, and the films use both to show what his plan costs. On Vormir he sacrifices Gamora to get the Soul Stone. Zoe Saldaña plays Gamora and is listed in both Infinity War and Endgame.

Nebula, played by Karen Gillan, is among the heroes left grieving after the snap in Infinity War. Her hunt for Thanos in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 shows that the family wound was open long before the Avengers met him.

Who is Thanos most afraid of? The films do not frame it as fear, and no single person is named. What stops him is collective effort. In Infinity War, Thor lands the heaviest blow, yet the defenders in Wakanda cannot hold back his alien army. In Endgame the heroes take the stones from the past and bring everyone back together.

The Other answers to him, and Loki loses the Space Stone to him. Tony Stark is the man who finally ends him. Among the heroes, Thor and Loki have the most direct history with his campaign.

My pick for Thanos' best moment is the Soul Stone sacrifice on Vormir, and in my opinion he is evil rather than broken. Infinity War lets him look like a loving father and a mass killer in the same scene, which is why it works.

The smile at the end of The Avengers (2012) is, in my view, the best piece of villain marketing in the saga, because it asks a question the next six years answer. It could be argued that Age of Ultron's gauntlet scene turns the question into a promise, since Thanos says he will do the work himself. The final image of Infinity War, Thanos watching a sunrise on a quiet planet, sure that he has finished his task, is the most unsettling frame of the saga for the same reason.

So, is Thanos evil or broken? Perhaps a bit of both, but the films mostly support evil. He kills the survivors of Asgard, sacrifices Gamora and tears the Mind Stone from Vision's head. Certainty is not the same as damage, and Thanos is never uncertain. Endgame's past Thanos, who attacks the Avengers' base the moment he learns of their plan, only confirms it for me.

If you are new to him, start with Infinity War, then watch Endgame. For the full path, our marvel movies in order page lists every film in sequence, and the marvel movies hub links to the rest.