Has Thanos surpassed Darkseid?

[daBronzeBomma]

They are both the ultimate in the reusable cosmic overlord trope for their respective publishers.

Thanos was created after Darkseid, and was initially a clear homage/ ripoff/ pastiche of the earlier character.

But I wonder (being woefully unfamiliar with Marvel compared to DC), has the copycat now surpassed the original in every way that matters?

This is not a Rumbles question, btw.

- mission statement
- comic book storylines
- feats of might
- consistency
- video games
- movies
- animation
- popularity IRL

I would guess, with INFINITY WAR on the horizon, WrinkleJaw beats GraniteBrow for the title of Best Reusable Cosmic Bad Guy between the two. Or maybe, Thanos had held the overall belt for a while now in pop culture? I don't know.

What do you think?

[Abe]

Imho it's gonna be very hard to do better than a Superman foe created by Jack Kirby... A Disney movie shouldn't change that - at least if there is still a little bit of reason in this world .

On the other hand I was surprised to read in a Starlin interview than the main inspiration for Thanos wasn't Darkseid but Metron. Interesting!

[KOSLOX]

I think Thanos is a much easier character to do an elevator pitch for and is a more interesting character.

[RLAAMJR.]

Thanos is the more popular character.

[Kevinroc]

Thanos is probably more well known with general audiences by this point. And this should prove especially true after Infinity War.

[Iron Maiden]

I wonder why the DCU been dragging their feet getting Darkseid in their movies. Or has his presence been teased and I missed it? For Superman foes, they keep going back to Lex Luthor and General Zod. I hope he doesn't appear as some big unnamed menace like Doomsday that just goes on a rampage before being defeated.

[daBronzeBomma]

I think Thanos is a much easier character to do an elevator pitch for and is a more interesting character.

This strikes me as true.

If you had to sell each character based on up to 5 bullet points, which would you use for each?..

Darkseid:

- god of tyranny
- wants to eradicate all free will
- has omega beams that can do almost anything
- seeks Anti-Life Equation
- can whup Superman by himself

Thanos:

- servant of Death
- wants to terminate all life
- has ridiculous array of physical and mental powers
- seeks Infinity Gauntlet
- can whup Hulk, Thor, and Silver Surfer at the same time

Yeah, Thanos does seem more accomplished ...

[WhichDrWhowins]

I will say most of the general public still don't know who Thanos is, and they don't know Darkseid at all... they can tell you Batman is rich and has a car and lives as Bruce Wayne and has a psycho enemy called Joker. They can tell you Superman is Clark Kent and has a girl friend Lois or Spider-Man is Peter Parker or Wolverine has claws and is named Logan Luke Skywalker's father is Vader but that's it, their knowledge of comic scifi nerd lore is very, very limited. They might even know the mythology and story of Star Trek and Harry Potter more than Marvel or DC

At this stage the general public might be connecting the dots with some alien guy who turns up in end credits and looks like red skull / hellboy ?

- can whup Superman by himself
.

WRONG

he's a stupid jobber
https://static.comicvine.com/uploads...-darkseid1.jpg

https://static.comicvine.com/uploads...1635-27320.jpg

Classic Darkseid had menace and power, the new guy plays the role of Worf in TNG some random villain comes along beats the crap out of him and says look how tough I am I beat up Darkseid

Or has his presence been teased and I missed it?

He had a good showing in the toons and kinda appeared in Smallville but Clark one shot him with a speed blitz .. there is also the Omega Beam branded into Earth in Batman's BvS vision



his appearance didn't get noticed by the public, the show had zero impact on pop culture whatsoever

Thanos is this cosmic chess player and warrior built up by Death herself to challenge other Gods across the Galaxy and super powerful Gods like Hela, Zeus, Odin etc


the whole 'Death' connection is of importance

http://villains.wikia.com/wiki/Lady_Death_(Marvel)

http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Death_(Earth-616)

https://comicvine.gamespot.com/death/4005-12620/

[Michael Watkins]

Darkseid who?

[ed2962]

Imho it's gonna be very hard to do better than a Superman foe created by Jack Kirby... A Disney movie shouldn't change that - at least if there is still a little bit of reason in this world .

On the other hand I was surprised to read in a Starlin interview than the main inspiration for Thanos wasn't Darkseid but Metron. Interesting!

Supposedly Roy Thomas who was EiC at the time told Starlin to bulk Thanos up and said something to the effect of "If you're going to rip off a Kirby character, rip off the good one."

[Surf]

In terms of what, being a movie star? It will always be Darkseid>Thanos and a couple of Disney movie appearances isn't going to change that.
I was cognizant of Darkseid starting with the Super Powers show in the 80s and Thanos was off the books. Thanos is half Skrull and there have many a cool Skrull. Ain't but one ruler of Apokolips and actually Darkseid's familial ties have always been interesting and even his underlings have their own 'lives' which made Steppenwolf's JL appearance that much more disappointing. Thanos is a final boss in a video game. Darseid is a Rolex, Thanos is a Folex. Thanos is a bootleg DVD. Only reason Thanos's 'star' is rising is Darkseids earth bound corporate overlords haven't figured him out yet and he's yet to even get started.

[SuperiorIronman]

Thanos will pretty much be top dog unless DC can make Darkseid a popular villain. He has the movie appearances, he has the build up, his comics have been largely good, and kids are familiar with him due to the TV shows. Darkseid has this but considerably less. In the public eye Thanos is king since this generation has less exposure to him. Following Infinity War I doubt Darkseid is going to amount to much unless DC quits fumbling the ball when it comes to media beyond comics.

[CaptCleghorn]

Thanos is more of a solo act; Darkseid is a major part of the New Gods. Thanos can be separated from Titan easily and that actually increases his usability. Darkseid, on the other hand, becomes a one-note character when used on his own without the mythology of the New Gods. Darkseid with the New Genesis/Apokalips trappings reaches a sense of legend Thanos hasn't come close to approaching.

[KOSLOX]

Thanos is more of a solo act; Darkseid is a major part of the New Gods. Thanos can be separated from Titan easily and that actually increases his usability. Darkseid, on the other hand, becomes a one-note character when used on his own without the mythology of the New Gods. Darkseid with the New Genesis/Apokalips trappings reaches a sense of legend Thanos hasn't come close to approaching.

That's what I mean by elevator pitch. Or in my case it's the "Can I explain this to my wife before she says, 'Oh. my. god. I don't care' test".

With Thanos it's pretty easy. With Darksied her eyes roll back and she starts drooling when I get into the dynamics of Genesis and Apokalips.

On a personal level though, I've just enjoyed Thanos more than I've enjoyed Darkseid over the years, but YMMV.

[Adam Allen]

Darkseid is kind of made a more unwieldy character to use, by being tied to the whole Apokolips/New Gods mythology. Thanos is the "Mad God of Titan" and made the Infinity Gauntlet, but he can be used for a story without ever referencing either. I think the greater flexibility has led to him being used more, and thus ending up more popular.