Thanos got his noggin ceremoniously removed in a vendetta-fueled fit of rage by Thor in Endgame, only for time travel to mean the Avengers had to do it all over again. After dying twice in one film, it was seemingly over for the Mad Titan. Then, to our surprise, Captain Genocide himself returned in What If…? but as a good guy, part of the now-heroic Ravagers. Combined with the multiverse shenanigans of Loki, and the MCU has opened the door to Thanos’ return for real.
In this reality, T’Challa gets plucked up by Yondu and his merry band of intergalactic mercenaries and thieves. Immediately, he’s shown to be a better person than Peter Quill but, let’s be honest, who isn’t? Still, T’Challa does a helluva lot more than exceed the Sacred Timeline’s Star-Lord – he convinces Thanos to put down the Gauntlet, stop his treasure hunt, and retire the idea of wiping out half of all life. T’Challa defeats Thanos with words. No small feat given Thanos sacrificed his own daughter to do just that in service of his grand idea.
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Not only does Thanos give it up, he sees a whole new light – a path of heroism. Sure, he clings onto the idea like a dad who won’t give up on his old business pitch from his 20s, convinced it was a good idea that would’ve made him rich by now if he hadn’t been talked out of it, but he’s trying. Turning a genocidal fiend into a goofball who gets pummeled by his otherworldly surrogate kids is a bit of a jarring snap (geddit?), but it’s an intriguing prospect that shines a light on a dorkier side to the purple thumb. What If…? plus the multiverse opens the door to a perfect Guardians of the Galaxy roster. Imagine the tension between past Gamora, current Nebula, and their multiversal step-dad?
The MCU is embracing its silly side, leaning into its comic book roots. That’s where the future of this genre lies, not the pale imitations of better films that stand out in their own genres. That’s where Black Widow got hung up. The MCU’s deep dive into the multiverse and all its wacky shenanigans is only sustainable if it’s willing to delve into the most obscure corners of its potential, whether that’s bringing back The Amazing Spider-Man’s Electro, the original Incredible Hulk, or just these new What If..? characters.
That’s why Marvel Studios’ further dive into Kirby-esque visuals and camp villains is so promising – it’s inherently silly, even if the stories do have emotional gusto in the seams, and it opens the door to something unique in the film and television space rather than being pastiche after pastiche. They shouldn’t always strive to be so-called ‘cinema’, down to earth, or ‘real’ – that was never the appeal of Captain America socking the Nazis in all the comic’s lavish colour. Loki and Sylvie’s adventures into mischief really highlighted as much, but What If…? has shone a light on the true potential behind a Multiverse of Madness.
Thanos was a great villain, and the perfect foil to the Avengers. His plan had holes, sure, but Brolin’s menacing demeanor brought something to Infinity War that made it stand out from the rest of the rogues. His booming voice stole every moment he was in, and his eerie presence made him a looming force of nature capable of thwarting the heroes we’ve watched succeed countless times. The stage was set with the Marvel Studios fanfare swapped out for a distress call, an immediate precedent for what this Titan represents. We’ve seen that imposing foe at his peak and there’s no going back to that Thanos, not without treading on old ground. Thanos the villain is done. Maybe it’s time for Thanos the hero.
This Thanos, the one with the Ravagers, is a Thanos you could easily see in the Thanoscopter, a Thanos you could imagine drinking with at the pub, a Thanos that you could pour your heart out to, hoping for a beefy hug in his bulging biceps. Yet he still has that edge buried under the fatherly cheese, that evil glimmer in his eye, the anti-hero laying dormant. In the brief time we see him, he’s fighting as a mercenary, a part of a band of do-gooders where his heart isn’t really in it. That’s probably why he no longer seems like an unstoppable god and is just a regular tough guy. Give him a cause, a goal, something to be proud of, and I’m sure we’d see that relentlessly ruthless machiavellian schemster resurface, only on the side of angels.
Every episode of What If…? seems to promise at least one character we’ll want to see more of, so why shouldn’t we? Marvel now has a sandbox it can continuously pull from to expand its roster of heroes, diversifying in the best of ways. The bog-standard Earthlings getting powers through radioactive waste is a relic of a bygone era. Now is the time of portals, multiverses, and new dimensions. If Gwen Stacy’s Spider-Woman can do it in animation, then hell, let’s bring Thanos into the fold to fight side-by-side with Spider-Man.
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