Avengers: Infinity War has made its way onto theaters and with it comes the biggest Big Bad the Marvel Cinematic Universe has ever seen. We are speaking about Thanos, of course. The Mad Titan brought the pain and all of his might, as well as the notorious Black Order, to the fight for the Infinity Stones, promising to cause permanent damage to some of our favorite heroes. Many fans expected Thanos to snap his fingers in Avengers: Infinity War, but there are some acts the Titan has done in the comics that are so crazy that we’ll probably never see them happening on the silver screen. Indeed, Thanos is even more savage in the comic books than in the movies.
Expect Thanos to alter the entire MCU in the upcoming Avengers films, but to really understand the character, it’s important to look at his crazy doings in the comics. Especially in the comic book run that has influenced Avengers: Infinity War the most: Jim Starlin’s Infinity Gauntlet. Here Thanos showed us how truly savage he can really be. And, in every attempt to defeat our favorite heroes, he showed no mercy and never held back.
This Thanos is one hundred percent more evil and lunatic than Josh Brolin’s interpretation. Here are 15 Crazy Things Thanos Did In The Comics That We’ll Never See On Screen.
Brought Nebula back as a zombie
While Thanos considers Gamora his favorite daughter, it’s no secret that he has immense distaste for his other daughter, Nebula. This is both true in the comics and the movies, but in the films, Thanos really doesn’t like Karen Gillan's character.
In the Infinity Gauntlet comic run, before Thanos started his quest for Mistress Death’s heart by committing cosmic extinction, he brought Nebula back from beyond the grave. Unfortunately, he wasn't alive and well like resurrections usually go. Nebula was essentially a zombie.
Nebula didn’t stay a zombie for the entirety of Infinity Gauntlet, though. She later was able to steal the gauntlet from Thanos’s hand when he was distracted. With infinite power at her fingertips, at that moment Nebula became the most powerful being in the entire Marvel Universe.
In the MCU, something similar has happened to Nebula. While Thanos hasn’t taken out and brought her back as a zombie per se, the Titan has replaced every part or her body with machinery, inflicting great pain in the process. This was a procedure that Nebula explained in detail during Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, precisely when she and Gamora had their sisterly battle in that movie.
Destroyed the Bifrost
To stop Thanos and his Infinity Gauntlet, the most powerful beings in the universe came together to devise a plan. These were the Skyfathers - consisting of Odin, Osiris, Zeus, Svarog, among others. Their meeting place was in Asgard, which they all arrived at through the Bifrost Bridge.
Once their plan was set and the Skyfathers were ready to take down Thanos, the Titan took them all by surprise. Thanos destroyed the Bifrost Bridge with the Infinity Gauntlet, trapping all of the Skyfathers on Asgard, with no way of getting out. Without striking a single blow, Thanos defeated the Marvel gods, becoming a god himself.
We’ll never see Thanos committing such a disastrous act in the MCU, simply for the reason that there isn’t a Bifrost Bridge to destroy after the events of Thor: Ragnarok.
In that movie, the Ragnarok prophecy came to fruition and in the end Surtur completely destroyed Asgard and everything in it, including the Bifrost. Even if Asgard hadn’t been destroyed in Ragnarok, it’s unlikely Marvel would repeat the same beat, even if Thanos was the one doing it. The Bifrost was already destroyed in the first Thor movie after Thor returned from Earth to fight his evil brother Loki.
Caused a Tsunami that devastated Atlantic City and Trump Plaza
When Thanos snapped his fingers and eliminated half the universe, it brought deadly consequences to the Earth’s climate. This was the case in one of the panels of Jim Starlin’s Infinity Gauntlet comic run.
When people started to suddenly disappear in the East Coast of the United States, a huge Tsunami hit Atlantic City, New Jersey. Luckily for some of the surviving civilians, Namor was around to do some quick saving. While some people were saved by the Sub-Mariner, some rather popular landmarks weren’t as lucky. One of these landmarks was the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, which was utterly destroyed in the aftermath.
This is a comic book panel that will probably never see the light of day in the MCU.
Realistically, this is because Trump Plaza no longer exists, as it officially closed in 2014.
Having the infamous casino in a Marvel movie wouldn’t actually be very timely. Nonetheless, if Marvel Studios really wanted to parallel the panel, they could always include a quick shot of Trump Tower when Thanos invades New York in Avengers: Infinity War. Even more, if they really wanted to be comic book-accurate, they could always use the Time Stone and bring Trump Plaza back to the fold.
Turned Thor into glass
Indeed, Thanos is perhaps the most evil supervillain in Marvel Comics. He committed cosmic extinction to impress the woman he loves and even when that wasn’t enough, he continued by destroying the Avengers.
One of the unlucky Avengers who fell to the might of Thanos was Thor. Though this wasn’t Thor Odinson, the Thor we are most invested with, his defeat was still so savage that it’s worthy of inclusion on this list. This Thor tried to defeat Thanos with the power of Mjolnir, but when all seemed like Thor was about to strike the winning blow, Thanos turned the god of thunder into solid glass, and later stone.
Whoever thought Thanos was such a Medusa fan? This was definitely one of the most shocking panels in the Infinity Gauntlet comic run.
Will we see Thanos unleash his inner Medusa and turn Thor or any of the other Avengers into stone in Avengers 4? Most likely not. While Thanos can do whatever his heart desires with the six Infinity Stones nicely placed on his shiny Infinity Gauntlet, the Titan seems like the kind of guy who’d prefer more extreme measures to incapacitate Thor.
Turning people into stone doesn’t seem to be the MCU Thanos’s mission objective, but if this is set to transpire in the upcoming Avengers film, then we can all agree that one of his victims wouldn’t be Korg, who's already made of stone.
Turned Wolverine’s bones to rubber
One of the lucky fellows who survived Thanos’ snap in the Infinity Gauntlet comic run was Wolverine. After Adam Warlock and Doctor Strange assembled a team to take Thanos head on, Wolverine was among the first to unleash his rage all over the Mad Titan.
One would assume that Wolverine, with his adamantium claws, would have the upper hand against Thanos, but the Titan always comes prepared. Thanos already had knowledge of Wolverine’s indestructible metallic skeleton. To make things easier, Thanos turned his adamantium skeleton into rubber. Now Logan seemed more like Plastic Man than the classic Wolverine.
Realistically speaking, this can’t happen in the MCU since Wolverine’s character rights belong to 21st Century Fox.
With the Disney-Fox deal in question, perhaps we’ll be seeing Wolverine join the MCU rather soon. Nonetheless, if and when Logan returns to the Marvel fold, it’ll already be too late for him to join the fight against Thanos. That means that we unfortunately won’t be able to see the classic comic book panel come to life on the big screen.
Of course, Thanos could turn anyone’s bones to rubber, but it would be an added bonus if that person was the fan-favorite Logan.
Encased Cyclop’s head in an oxygenless box
Another X-Men who joined the fight against Thanos in the Infinity Gauntlet comic run was Cyclops.
With his ability to shoot lasers out of his eyes, one would think Cyclops would be a formidable opponent to go against Thanos. Thatmay have been the case if the Titan had not in his possession the Infinity Gauntlet with all six Infinity Stones. Thanos took Cyclops out of commision very quickly during their battle.
To incapacitate the X-Man, Thanos created a transparent box around Cyclop’s head, then forced him to open his eyes, which bounced back from the box and damaged his face.
The box managed to suffocate Cyclops, even though Doctor Strange had cast a spell that allowed the heroes to breath in space. This way of taking out one of our heroes is savage indeed, but don’t expect such savagery to pop on the silver screen anytime soon. Unless Marvel Studios plans to make a future Avengers film R-rated, then Thanos won’t be walking around New York encasing people’s heads in transparent, oxygen-less head cages.
Though, even if Thanos ends up doing just that in a PG-13 movie, death by glass box doesn’t sound “very cinematic,” to quote señor Deadpool.
Destroyed Captain America’s shield
The last Avenger to stand up to Thanos in Jim Starlin’s Infinity Gauntlet comic run was Captain America.
After Cap experienced the loss of his friends and colleagues, it was up to him to distract Thanos enough so that Silver Surfer had the chance to take the Infinity Gauntlet off the Titan’s hand. A conversation ensue,d and classic lines were traded between Thanos and Cap, but when Silver Surfer attempted his task, Thanos saw it coming. During the fight, Cap tried to once again gain the upper hand, but when he tried to use his vibranium shield to cause some damage, Thanos did the unthinkable and utterly obliterated Captain America’s shield.
We’ve already seen a version of this scenario in the MCU in Captain America: Civil War.
While it wasn’t Thanos who destroyed Cap’s shield, and while the shield wasn’t literally obliterated, in that film that Steve Rogers figuratively destroyed the object when Tony said “my father made that shield.”
With the implication that it doesn’t belong to Captain America, Steve chose to leave the shield behind, as well as the Captain America mantle. Cap doesn’t have his classic star-spangled shield with him in Infinity War, so don’t expect Thanos to melt some vibranium frisbees anytime soon.
Turned Nova into LEGO blocks
It seems that Thanos used to play with LEGO building blocks when he was a child on Titan. How so? During the climax of Jim Starlin’s Infinity Gauntlet comic run, after Thanos took out Thor, he followed to transform Nova into a pool of LEGOs. At least that’s what was implied when Nova disintegrated into toy blocks in the comic panel.
This choice of attack is a rather odd pick for Thanos. Perhaps he traveled to Earth in the past and bought baby Gamora some LEGOs. Or maybe Mentor, Thanos’s father, gave the Titan toy building blocks for Christmas. After Nova was turned into LEGO blocks, it would’ve been interesting to see Thanos try and build him back in LEGO form. Alas, one can only imagine.
This comic book panel showed that Thanos has a fun side within all of his evilness. While such complexities will be explored in the upcoming Avengers films, it’s unlikely Thanos would turn anyone into LEGOs.
As far as we know, the Mad Titan has no idea what LEGOS even are, and if he does, then Marvel Studios has a lot of questions to answer.
Directors Joe and Anthony Russo confirmed an Arrested Development Ester egg in Infinity War, but a LEGO reference might be a step too far into the pop culture lexicon.
Created A Female Version of Himself
Thanos once created a female version of himself for the sole reason of making his neglectful lady love jealous. Despite him trying to impress his Mistress with acts of violence and destruction, the goddess felt no connection to Thanos. Even when Thanos wiped out half of humanity from existence, she showed no sign of romantic interest in the Titan.
Angry at her lack of reciprocation, Thanos decided to bring into existence Terraxia - a female version of himself who probably was the only character in the entire Marvel Universe who ever truly loved him. Granted, she was programmed by Thanos to love him dearly, so perhaps that takes Terraxia out of Thanos’s short romance list. In the end, his Mistress showed no sign of jealousy and when Adam Warlock defeated Thanos and returned everything back to normal, Terraxia ceased to exist.
This event will probably never happen in the MCU.
As far as we know, the only being that the MCU Thanos loves is his daughter Gamora.
As for his romantic side, the movies have yet to explore that aspect of the Titan. Many fans speculated that Hela would take the part of his Mistress in Infinity War, but after she was destroyed in Thor: Ragnarok, those hopes subsided. That leaves no purpose for Terraxia in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Took Starfox’s mouth away
One of the craziest things Thanos did in the comics was take Starfox’s mouth away. This occurred early in the Infinity Gauntlet comic run and lasted for quite some time. It wasn’t until Nebula was able to steal the Infinity Gauntlet from Thanos that Starfox got his mouth back, since she reversed time. Though, in doing so, she unwillingly reverted back to her zombie form and Thanos once again wished Starfox’s mouth away.
This is definitely a rather extreme way of dealing with annoying siblings. In the comics, Starfox is also known as Eros of Titan and is Thanos’s paternal brother.
An Eternal in the Marvel Universe, Starfox’s most prominent role in the comics was probably during the Infinity Gauntlet comic run. Indeed, Thanos got tired of Starfox’s quips and wished his brother’s mouth away, but this is a trick we’ll probably never see Thanos do in the MCU.
Josh Brolin’s Thanos is rather quippy himself. His grandiose remarks make him out to be a very talkative, outgoing individual, so it would be rather odd for a character like him to suppress that characteristic. Nonetheless, if Thanos does wish someone’s mouth away in the MCU, that someone would likely be Star-Lord.
Took Iron Man's Head
There’s nothing more crazy than taking someone’s head off, literally. The Infinity Gauntlet comic run by Jim Starlin saw many characters meet their maker, but one of the most devastating was Iron Man. As we established, Thanos created a female version of himself, Terraxia, to make his lady love jealous.
This version of Thanos then went along to fight Tony Stark. To the detriment of Stark, though, he was overpowered by Terraxia, and to make Thanos happy, she separated Tony’s head from his body. Indeed, this was the end of Iron Man and it was only after Nebula reverted time that the billionaire-playboy-philanthropist came back to the fold. Now, this will never happen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Thanos definitely has the power to do this to any of the characters appearing in the upcoming Avengers 4, but such an act would call for an R-rating.
That’s something Marvel Studios is not going to do for an Avengers movie. Of course, there are ways to avoid the R-rating and still have Thanos take someone’s head off, but if such happens, don’t expect Iron Man to be the target.
Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man is the heart of the MCU and if he does lose his life in Avengers 4, this won’t be the way. Even more, MCU Iron Man is the most popular superhero in the world right now and his passing will likely be nobler.
Destroyed a sun and a planet for fun
When Thanos acquired the Infinity Gauntlet with all six Infinity Gems intact, he famously snapped his fingers and eliminated half of humanity. While this may be one of the Mad Titan’s most terrible acts, it doesn’t compare to what he did to poor Galactus.
While testing his newfound godly powers, Thanos destroyed a sun and then obliterated a planet. Unbeknownst to Thanos, though, was that Galactus was in the brink of consuming that planet himself. This left Galactus without food in his belly, hence making the giant starve. Of course, Galactus got angry and followed to unite with Adam Warlock and the rest of the Marvel gods to take down Thanos. Unfortunately, Galactus was unsuccessful and met his end with an empty stomach. Thanos was eventually defeated by Adam Warlock and Galactus returned to his planetary eating habits.
Will Thanos destroy a sun and a planet in the MCU for mere fun and entertainment? It’s very unlikely.
Thanos only did the aforementioned things to impress his lady love, but his motivations in the MCU are completely different. This Thanos is obsessed with balance and believes he's doing horrific things for the greater good.
Became Eternity
After all else failed in his attempt to court his Mistress, the goddess herself lent a hand in the fight against Thanos. This infuriated the Titan and, after all of the Marvel gods came together - Galactus, the Watcher, Order and Chaos, and the like - Thanos defeated each and every one of them.
What came after is the worst part. He went head on against Eternity, and won. Hence, Thanos became the new Eternity, a physical representation of the Marvel Universe. It doesn’t get more “meta” than this. Once and for all Thanos proved that he is the toughest supervillain in all of comics.
As amazing as that panel was, it’s a scenario that will never happen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. When speaking about Eternity and the Living Tribunal, these are characters that work in a whole different plane of existence. Bringing that in for the general audience would only complicate things.
This is the same reason why the Russo brothers and screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely decided not to put Mistress Death in Avengers: Infinity War. Nonetheless, we did get a reference to both the Living Tribunal and Eternity in two previous MCU films, Doctor Strange and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, respectively.
Destroyed the Celestials
It’s only reasonable that all of the Marvel Universe’s most powerful beings coalesce into a single unit to defeat the biggest threat of them all: Thanos.
Adam Warlock not only managed to bring Galactus, the Watcher, Order and Chaos, The In-Betweener, and his Mistress to the fold, but a wide number of Celestials as well. The Celestials were key players in Warlock’s initial plan to defeat Thanos.
After the Avengers and the X-Men failed to take outthe Titan, and after Silver Surfer missed his shot of stealing the Infinity Gauntlet from Thanos, Warlock called in the big guns. Then Thanos took them out single-handedly, with ease. Not even the Celestials stood a chance against Thanos and his mighty Infinity Gauntlet.
While there’s a chance that the Celestials could intervene in the upcoming Avengers films, it’s unlikely that such a vast amount of them, akin to the Infinity Gauntlet comic run would, come to the Avengers’ aid.
So far, the only living Celestials in the MCU that we know of are Grandmaster and the Collector, if the latter is still alive after the events of Infinity War.
Ego the Living Planet was already destroyed by the Guardians of the Galaxy, and we haven’t seen Eson the Searcher since his brief appearance in the first Guardians of the Galaxy film. Thus, there’s little possibility that a Celestial demolition by way of Thanos happens anytime soon in the MCU.
Teamed up with the Avengers
Thanos is evil most of the time, but other times he’s actually a pretty good teammate. This was the case in the Infinity War comic run when Magus was the one who now seeked the Infinity Stones. Sensing Magus’ presence, Thanos teamed up with the Avengers, Galactus, and Adam Warlock to stop the villain from succeeding.
The funny thing is that right before this happened, Thanos had already eliminated half of all life in the universe, including a number of the Avengers, in the Infinity Gauntlet run, as previously mentioned. While Adam Warlock reversed time and erased all of Thanos’s crimes against the universe, it’s still rather impressive how forgiving most of the Avengers were when Thanos joined their party. Granted, many were reluctant at first to team up with Thanos.
This team-up is highly unlikely to happen in the MCU.
After the events of Avengers: Infinity War, there’s absolutely no way in reason that Iron Man and the rest of the Avengers would think of joining forces with Thanos.
Even if a more dangerous threat happens to knock on Earth’s door, the damage that Thanos has inflicted upon our heroes is not easily repairable. We’ll have to wait until Avengers 4 to see if such a reunion transpires, but until then, it’s looking like Thanos will be one lonely farmer in whatever planet he decides to dwell in.
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What other crazy things has Thanos done in the comics that couldn't show up in an Avengers movie? Let us know in the comments.
