Avengers: Every MCU Hero Thanos Personally Fought In Infinity War & Endgame

Here's everyone Thanos (Josh Brolin) personally fought in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Marvel Studios had been teasing the existence of the Mad Titan since 2011's Thor, but the character won't debut until 2018 via Joe and Anthony Russo's Infinity War. In the seven years between that, he appeared in several films with varying degrees of involvement just to keep people aware that he's coming.

Marketed as the biggest villain the Avengers have ever faced, there was a lot of anticipation regarding Thanos' debut in Infinity War; there was massive pressure to deliver, and fortunately, Marvel Studios didn't disappoint. The purple villain quickly became one of the best bad guys in the franchise despite having significantly lesser screen time than some of the universe's most prominent antagonists. Thanos was a departure from MCU's typically one-dimensional villains and while his plan was ultimately wrong, it was fascinating to watch him implement a random genocide genuinely believing that he was doing the universe a favor.

Thanos didn't see himself as a villain, however; he didn't have anything against the Avengers. For him, everything he's doing was simply part of his life's mission — nothing personal. So unlike previous MCU villains who relished in partaking in an intense battle, the Mad Titan carefully chose his battles, only engaging when he really needed to. But, when he finally did, he proved why Thanos is the franchise's biggest and baddest villain thus far.

Avengers: Infinity War opened with a slugging match between Thanos and the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) following the Mad Titan and the Black Order's hijacking of the Asgardian refugee ship traveling to Earth. For a while, the green-rage monster looked like he was going to easily take care of the villains — that's until Thanos got bored with the fight that he quickly dispatched Hulk. Bruce Banner's alter-ego got so traumatized, he refused to come out for the rest of the film.

While Thanos never encountered the Hulk again — be it in Infinity War or Avengers: Endgame, Bruce had another chance at going after the villain. At the end of Infinity War following Thanos' arrival in Wakanda, Bruce, aboard the Hulkbuster, was the first hero to charge towards the Mad Titan. Unfortunately, he didn't even get the chance to lay a hand on him; Thanos simply used the space stone to get him Bruce of the way and then trap him in a boulder to make sure that he no longer posed a threat.

Loki

Reuniting after their failed attempt to take over Earth in The Avengers, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Thanos' relationship was strained. During their last collaboration, the God of Mischief lost the Mad Titan both the Mind and Space Stone — the latter of which was with Loki at that time. However, due to his character growth over the years, instead of simply handing over the Tesseract, Loki attempted to stab Thanos which resulted in his demise at the beginning of Avengers: Infinity War.

Gamora

With both the Power (acquired off-screen) and Space Stone secured in Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos sent the Black Order to Earth to acquire the Time and Mind Stone, while he traveled to Knowhere for the Reality Stone. There, he encountered the Guardians of the Galaxy including Gamora (Zoe Saldana) who went ahead and ambushed his adopted father in the hopes of finally taking him down, ironically, using the dagger that he gave her when he killed half of her people and took her away from her home planet. What she didn't know was that it was all a ruse as the Mad Titan already possessed the Reality Stone. While she didn't kill her, this led to Gamora's separation from the team, marking the last time her team saw her in the movie.

Drax

As Gamora confronted his father, Drax (Dave Bautista) revealed himself, ignoring Star-Lord's (Chris Pratt) plan to cohesively attack the villain. At this point, Drax was motivated to finally have his face-to-face with Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War after the Mad Titan killed his whole family years ago — something that had been fueling him for years. However, before he can even lay a finger on Thanos, the purple alien already used the Reality Stone that left him disintegrated but still alive on the floor. Later on, Drax got another shot at Thanos when they met again in Titan, but the villain remained too powerful for him.

Star-Lord

Quill points his blaster at Gamora and Thanos in Avengers Infinity War

After Drax botched his attack plan while Mantis (Pom Klementieff) was forced out of hiding, Star-Lord was left with no choice but to take on Thanos himself to save his girlfriend. However, with the villain holding Gamora hostage, he really couldn't do anything but stand there pointing a gun at the purple alien. This was when Gamora reminded him of their earlier pact about him having to kill her if her adopted father somehow got to her. Conflicted, Star-Lord ultimately redirected his aim at Gamora with Thanos goading him. Unfortunately, while he stayed true to his word and pulled the trigger, Thanos used the Reality Stone once again to transform the bullets into bubbles while simultaneously teleporting away with his daughter with him.

Like Drax, Peter Quill got another shot at Thanos when they met again in Titan later on in Avengers: Infinity War. After an elaborate plan to gang up on the villain, the whole team which included Spider-Man (Tom Holland), Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) finally got the villain on a collective lock as Mantis hypnotized him while Tony Stark and Peter Parker tried to get the Infinity Gauntlet off his hand. Unfortunately, Star-Lord lost it when he learned that Thanos had killed Gamora, allowing the Mad Titan to get out of his trance.

Spider-Man

Marvel's friendly neighborhood Spider-Man also got a chance to fight Thanos on Titan in Avengers: Infinity War despite him being way out of his league. Thanks to Doctor Strange's magic portals, Peter Parker was able to connect some hits without the Mad Titan figuring out where he was coming from. The whole scene was entertaining to watch especially with some snarky commentary from Spider-Man, but his continued blabbing may have spelled his doom as the villain was eventually able to catch him by the throat, slam him to the ground and throw him towards Doctor Strange.

Doctor Strange

Arguably one of, if not the most creative and visually stunning one-on-one fight in Avengers: Infinity War was between Thanos and Doctor Strange on Titan. Hatching a plan to take on Thanos on his home planet, the sorcerer with his fellow New York-based heroes and Guardians of the Galaxy members came out to ambush the villain. Unfortunately, Star-Lord's epic meltdown threw a wrench into their plans, allowing the villain to gather himself after getting locked in hypnosis and take them on.

While Thanos easily took care of most of his allies, Doctor Strange put quite an impressive feat standing up to the antagonist, using a myriad of magic tricks while he sneakily hid the Time Stone. The Sorcerer was the only one who forced Thanos to use the Infinity Stone in a few different ways other than straight-up just wielding the crystals' individual powers against his foe. In fact, it was only against Doctor Strange that Thanos had to use the Soul Stone after the wizard created multiple illusions of himself to confuse the villain. While fans would've wanted to see more of them going at each other, the Doctor Strange's demise in Infinity War and late revival in Avengers: Endgame didn't offer any more opportunity for another one-on-one battle between them.

Iron Man

As the first hero to foresee Thanos' arrival and the doom that he brings, Avengers: Infinity War just had to include a face-off between Tony Stark and the Mad Titan. After their initial plan on Titan failed, Thanos spent a considerable amount of time trying to kill Iron Man. Throughout his quest for the Infinity Stones, the villain never deliberately attempted to murder anyone except for the genius, billionaire, knowing the kind of threat he posed to his plans. In-between their fighting, the pair got a chance to discuss their history, dating back to The Avengers where Tony hauled off a nuclear bomb that destroyed Thanos' Chitauri ship. Thanos also talked about both being cursed with knowledge referring to Iron Man's apocalyptic vision that somehow came to fruition at the end of Infinity War. Thanks to his upgraded suit, Tony was able to draw blood from the Mad Titan, but that wasn't enough to take him down. In the end, Thanos was able to almost kill Tony, puncturing him in the body using his armor's spear. Had it not been for Doctor Strange exchanging the Time Stone for Iron Man's life, MCU's inaugural hero would've been dead.

After their devastating defeat in Infinity War, Tony retired from being Iron Man and devoted his time to building a family with Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow). However, he was bound to reunite with the Mad Titan in Avengers: Endgame's climactic battle where he once again tried his hand at taking the villain down once and for all together with Captain America (Chris Evans) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth). Unfortunately for him, the Mad Titan's defeat came with a personal sacrifice as he had to give up his life to make sure that the villain and his minions no longer posed a threat to the main MCU timeline.

Captain America

Due to the many moving parts in Avengers: Infinity War, Captain America was among the heroes who didn't get enough screen time although the Russos utilized the real estate reserved for the Super Soldier quite effectively. As Steve Rogers led the team in Wakanda, he called the shots in the battle against Thanos. Following Bruce Banner's defeat, Captain America prepared to attack, but Thanos didn't let him come close, using the Power Stone to keep him at a distance. He then got another chance to take down the villain when he desperately tried to buy Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) some time as she destroyed the Mind Stone. It was fascinating seeing a non-powered hero courageously take on someone like the Mad Titan, with Steve not only landing some hits but also managing to hold off a massive punch from Thanos but he, too, was knocked out by a single punch.

Like Iron Man, Cap got a rematch with Thanos at the end of Avengers: Endgame. While Captain America teamed up with Tony Stark and Thor to finally take down the Mad Titan once and for all, he also got his one-on-one time with the villain. At one point, he was the only one left standing against Thanos and his minions, perfectly encapsulating his relentless determination to fight until the end. Fortunately, it wasn't long after then that the cavalry arrived with the revived heroes coming to join the fight.

Black Panther, Falcon, War Machine, Bucky, Okoye, Black Widow, Teenage Groot

Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes in Avengers Infinity War's Wakanda Battle

On the final leg of his Infinity Stones, Thanos' final destination was Wakanda where the heroes had been keeping Vision with the Mind Stone protected. However, with the Mad Titan already having five out of six gems, it was fairly easy for him to get rid of them. After Bruce Banner in the Hulkbuster charged towards the villain, Captain America followed suit, but he wasn't able to even make contact with the villain using the Power Stone against him.

Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) also launched his attack, but Thanos caught him by the neck and used the same crystal to throw him to the ground. Both Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and War Machine (Don Cheadle) attempted to get close from the air, but Thanos caught them too and forced them down. Despite how easily the villain took care of their allies, Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Okoye (Danai Gurira), and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) still charged towards Thanos, but they too were easily defeated. The Mad Titan used the Power Stone against Bucky and Okoye, with Black Widow ended up entangled by tree roots and pinned to the ground. Finally, after spending most of Avengers: Infinity War unbothered and focused on his video game, Teenage Groot (Vin Diesel) tried his luck against Thanos with the sentient tree creature trying to cage the villain using his elongated legs as well, but to no avail. Thanos quickly got out of the entrapment with barely any effort.

Scarlet Witch

With her allies defeated in Avengers: Infinity War, Scarlet Witch was the only one who stood between Thanos and Vision (Paul Bettany). As previously discussed, Wanda wasn't even trying to keep her lover safe, instead, she was there to destroy the Mind Stone and kill him effectively to make sure that the Mad Titan could not get his hands on the final stone. So while Scarlet Witch was slowly disintegrating the stone on Vision's forehead, she was also simultaneously slowing down the Mad Titan. Ultimately, she succeeded in her goal, but with the help of the Time Stone, the villain reversed time, undoing the death of Vision and allowing him to acquire the Mind Stone — all while Wanda watched helplessly.

Upon her resurrection in Avengers: Endgame, Scarlet Witch once again confronted Thanos. Fueled by her grief and anger over the death of Vision, she unleashed her powers against the Mad Titan who didn't remember her since its the 2014 version of the character. Using her ability to manipulate energies, she relentlessly attacked Thanos, stripping him off his armor and even breaking his sword. Realizing that he could not fight her alone, the Mad Titan mandated to rain fire on the ground to save himself despite the move also hitting his own side.

Thor

The God of Thunder's whole Avengers: Infinity War arc revolved around his expected face-off with Thanos after the villain killed half of his people, as well as, Heimdall (Idris Elba) and Loki at the beginning of the movie. However, he didn't get as much time against the Mad Titan as he confronted him after the villain had already got hold of all six Infinity Stones. Still, Thor got the closest to killing Thanos — at least in the film. His Stormbreaker sliced through the power of the Infinity Stones and landed in the alien's chest. Regrettably, instead of quickly taking care of Thanos, Thor decided to gloat; this gave the Mad Titan just enough time to snap his fingers and execute his terrible galactic genocide.

Eventually, Thor was able to kill Thanos at the beginning of Avengers: Endgame, but it didn't mean much since the Infinity Stones were already gone, meaning they didn't have any other way to reverse the snap — at least at that point. Five years and a couple of hundreds of kilos after, Thor got another crack at the Mad Titan as he worked together with Captain America and Iron Man in the hope of properly killing him. With Mjölnir from the Thor: The Dark World timeline with him, the God of Thunder used his hammer and Stormbreaker in tandem to fight the Mad Titan. He also noticeably aimed for the head numerous times, proving that he learned his lessons from Infinity War.

Captain Marvel

Positioned as the only remaining salvation following Thanos' snap in Avengers: Infinity War, Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) only had the chance to encounter the Mad Titan in Avengers: Endgame. Her arrival on Earth motivated the heroes to go after the villain who retired to his garden after accomplishing his mission to restore balance in the universe. Confident about her strength and power, she went on to ambush Thano and put him in a headlock; unfortunately, by the time she and the rest of the surviving heroes arrived, the Infinity Stones were gone and Thanos was at his weakest, frankly not caring whether he lived or died.

From then, Carol went off-world again, helping other planets until she returned just in time at the end of the climactic battle in Endgame at Avengers HQ. There, she got another chance at the Mad Titan and this time, they were locked in an intense battle. For a while, Captain Marvel was able to hold her ground, keeping the villain's fist open as she pulled the Infinity Gauntlet off him, but Thanos was clever, drawing from the Power Stone and using its incredible force to knock her down.

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