A couple of characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have been recast, including Thanos himself, who wasn’t played by Josh Brolin when he first appeared in The Avengers. The MCU began back in 2008 with Jon Favreau’s Iron Man, and has since produced over 30 films, as well as a selection of Disney+ TV series and original Special Presentations. The MCU's Infinity Saga came to a close with Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, which brought together all the superheroes in the franchise to fight a common enemy: Thanos.

The Mad Titan’s presence in the MCU was teased in a mid-credits scene in 2012's The Avengers, and from that moment on, many MCU projects started building their stories around the Infinity Stones, the Infinity Gauntlet, and Thanos’ quest to collect them. However, he didn’t become the actual villain in a Marvel Studios film until Avengers: Infinity War, which saw him collect all six Infinity Stones and wipe out half of life in the universe with the snap of his fingers. Josh Brolin portrayed Thanos in his main appearances, but the Thanos seen in The Avengers was very different.

Why Marvel Recast Thanos After The Avengers

Avengers Endgame Thanos Armor Closeup

In The Avengers mid-credits scene, the Other tells Thanos that to challenge humans is to court death, and the Mad Titan turns to him and smiles menacingly. Thanos didn’t speak until his cameo appearance in Guardians of the Galaxy, but James Gunn's MCU debut also introduced a very different Thanos. Damion Poitier played Thanos in The Avengers, but from Guardians of the Galaxy on, the villain was played by Josh Brolin via motion capture. Unlike other cases within the MCU, recasting Thanos had nothing to do with conflicts with the actor or their schedules, and it was instead a creative decision.

When Joss Whedon decided to tease Thanos’ involvement in an extra scene during The Avengers, nobody had yet been cast in the role, so Poitier stepped up and played the part. As Thanos’ arc evolved, so did his physical appearance, and Marvel Studios had plenty of time to find the perfect actor for the role. Meanwhile, Poitier stayed in the MCU for one more film – Captain America: Civil War, where he played one of Crossbones' mercenaries. Because Thanos’ first appearance was very brief, fans easily forget that it was a completely different actor underneath all the CGI.

Though Marvel Studios did its best to keep as many similarities between old and new Thanos as possible, some of these changes were quite striking in Thanos' early MCU appearances. In The Avengers, the villain's skin-tone was a much richer shade of purple, and his eyes glowed blue. This eye detail was omitted in Thanos' later appearances, and his skin-tone was lightened, possibly to make the character look more natural and more human, allowing the audience to empathize with his motivations, as difficult as that might have been. The Avengers' Damion Poitier joined high-profile names such as Edward Norton and Terrence Howard who were also recast in major MCU roles.