The Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to march forward with upcoming blockbusters like Thor: Love and Thunder and Disney+ series like Ms. Marvel, but, for many fans, no future villains will ever compete with the Mad Titan, Thanos. While some were worried that two movies wouldn't be able to do justice to a decade's worth of background build-up, Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame delivered a nuanced, memorable villain worthy of his screen time.
The Avengers have defeated Thanos twice in as many films, but his presence dominates MCU fan pages. While he may have been anything but comical on-screen, a bevy of hilarious memes pokes fun at Thanos's ideologies and actions.
Making The Hard Decisions
One of the reasons that Thanos has remained so prevalent in pop culture is that he thought very differently about his villainy than most antagonists. He wasn't actively trying to be harmful or gain power, and he also wasn't confused by why others were against him.
Thanos knew he was making a difficult decision that would result in some loss, but he also believed that sometimes harm is necessary for the greater good. While he was ultimately misguided and failed to consider other solutions, the ideology is similar to Shadowizas' meme about a driverless car having to choose who to protect when keeping everyone safe isn't an option.
The Road To Hell Is Paved With Good Intentions
Comic book movies have traditionally been filled with power or money-hungry villains that have no problem doing bad things just for the sake of being evil. However, Thanos is one of the best MCU villains to date because he truly believes that what he's doing is right.
Throughout Infinity War, Thanos gives several monologues about how he's the good guy even though he has to do some bad things in the name of the greater good. Of course, as Jake Peralta says in lordvozano's meme, none of the Marvel heroes entertain this idea as being plausible and immediately call him out as the bad guy that he is.
Thanos Hears Boss Music
There's a stark contrast between Thanos in Infinity War and the younger version in Endgame. While the former seemed to sympathize with the pain he was causing others, the latter was much more aggressive and unempathetic.
This resulted in Endgame Thanos coming across as much more cocky and abrasive, and that was dialed up even higher when he decided that he needed to destroy all life instead of just half. However, the first time that the Titan shows signs of fear is when Captain American memorably wields Mjolnir during the climactic battle's turning point. This moment is comically compared to Tony being startled by his captors in the original Iron Man by Redditor CertainlyNotIronMan.
Thanos Has Angered A Lot Of People
When one's plan is to hunt down six of the most powerful objects in the universe and use them to destroy half of all life, it's pretty clear that enemies will be made. While many of the Avengers were hurt by Thanos, few had it more challenging than Wanda, who had to watch Vision die twice.
While this has gone on to have enormous implications for the Scarlet Witch, the version of Thanos she confronted had no idea what she was talking about since he wasn't the version of Thanos present in Infinity War.
Unintended Consequences
Throughout most of the MCU's first three phases, fans assumed that Thanos wanted the Infinity Stones for similar reasons to his comic book counterpart: to court Death herself. However, Infinity War revealed that the Mad Titan had a much more grounded motivation.
Thanos witnessed his homeworld, Titan, fall to resource depletion, and he wanted to remove half of all life to stave off the issues of overpopulation. However, CaptParzival's meme plays on the fact that it's never directly addressed that "half of all life" includes animal and plant lives in addition to humans and humanoid aliens.
A Man With A Plan
While Thanos repeatedly monologued about having good intentions with his quest to eliminate half of all life in the universe, nobody was sure if he'd genuinely stop his tyrannical escapades if he succeeded. Comic book Thanos is known for his never-ending quest for power, and it was possible that MCU Thanos would follow suit.
However, the Avengers (and viewers) were surprised to find Thanos at the beginning of Endgame living a simple, reclusive life as a farmer. He even destroyed the Infinity Stones, showing that he didn't care to use them for personal gain.
A Being Of Immeasurable Power
It's always been a bit of a joke that the members of the Avengers are on wildly different power levels. That isn't to say that each one doesn't fill an essential role on the team, but Hawkeye himself mentions that non-powered individuals like him really don't belong alongside the likes of Thor or Hulk.
Without knowing each Earth's heroes prior to his assault on Wakanda, Thanos must have been a bit surprised when Black Widow attempted to attack one of the most powerful cosmic characters in Marvel comics with nothing more than taser sticks.
Sacrifices For The Soul Stone
The Soul Stone may not be the most powerful Infinity Stone, but it required a massive sacrifice from anyone who desired to possess it. As a haunted Red Skull tells Thanos on Vormir, anyone who wants the stone must sacrifice what they love most.
This scene was one of Infinity War's best, as it proved that Thanos truly did love Gamora, but that he also held his mission above absolutely everything else. While a tear could be seen rolling down Thanos' cheek, he didn't hesitate to sacrifice Gamora for what he saw as the greater good.
Thanos Does Have A Heart
Nebula and Gamora both (rightfully) continually bring up how damaging it was to have Thanos as a father figure. He pushed his children both physically with continuous training and psychologically by making them join him after decimating their home worlds.
However, despite his heinous acts, Thanos is an engaging villain because he isn't devoid of emotion. While other villainous fathers like Ego are shown not to see their children as anything more than tools, Thanos had to have genuinely loved Gamora to get the Soul Stone.