Is Thanos now the Avenger's arch nemesis?

[dreyga2000]

Waaay back in the dav there was thread about how was the Avenger's greatest enemy. What Magneto is to the X-Men and Deathstroke is the Titans. And Ultron was decided to be the clear victor because of his familial relationship with the team members. Kang the Conqueror cam in a close second, much to my disappointment. However now a days it feels like there has been a paradigm shift. Thanos seems to have taken the top spot. Am I the only one how was felt this shift? Do you consider him to be the new top dog? If not how you think holds that spot?

[Frontier]

I think Thanos at this point is honestly more of a Marvel Universe villain then a straight-up Avengers villain.

[Celgress]

I think Thanos at this point is honestly more of a Marvel Universe villain then a straight-up Avengers villain.

My thoughts exactly.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Waaay back in the dav there was thread about how was the Avenger's greatest enemy. What Magneto is to the X-Men and Deathstroke is the Titans. And Ultron was decided to be the clear victor because of his familial relationship with the team members. Kang the Conqueror cam in a close second, much to my disappointment. However now a days it feels like there has been a paradigm shift. Thanos seems to have taken the top spot. Am I the only one how was felt this shift? Do you consider him to be the new top dog? If not how you think holds that spot?

The Avengers as a team having an arch enemy makes as much sense as the Justice League having an arch enemy. At the end of the day it's a group of superheroes with their own arch-enemies and separate stories coming together to fight big threats. That's different from the X-Men and the FF where they were always conceived as a group or unit from the start.

Red Skull will always be Cap's arch-enemy, Loki always Thor's, General Ross always Hulk's. Mandarin or Hammer always Tony's.

In the Infinity Gauntlet, it was Warlock and other cosmic types that defeated Thanos not the Avengers. Thanos also gets in the faces of the Guardians and so on. Ultron makes more sense because it was born out of the dysfunctional relationships of the Avengers. It was created by Hank Pym and in turn it created Vision based on the brain patterns of Wonder Man. Ultron doesn't work as a solo villain for any hero but he works as a team villain.

In the wider Marvel universe, Doctor Doom will always be bigger than Thanos. Secret Wars 2015 with Doom performing emergency spine removal on Thanos proved that.

[Frontier]

The Avengers as a team having an arch enemy makes as much sense as the Justice League having an arch enemy. At the end of the day it's a group of superheroes with their own arch-enemies and separate stories coming together to fight big threats. That's different from the X-Men and the FF where they were always conceived as a group or unit from the start.

It's the Legion of Doom. Just saying .

[theoneandonly]

It always felt like thanos was the arch enemy of specific individuals like Captain Marvel and Warlock with the avengers joining the cause to aid their efforts to oppose him. thus he never felt like the avengers arch rival but a MU wide threat and Ultimately it's Adam warlock and Drax the destroyer who were the closest nemesis of Thanos and he was theirs until he reformed.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

It's the Legion of Doom. Just saying .

The Avengers have the Masters of Evil as their take on the Legion. And UNDER SIEGE is one of the greatest Avengers stories ever.

[Dermie]

I think Thanos at this point is honestly more of a Marvel Universe villain then a straight-up Avengers villain.

Exactly. Of course, with members in almost every single superhero team on Earth (and beyond, with several Avengers who have been Guardians of the Galaxy), as well as various non-superhero groups like the Inhumans, Eternals, Atlanteans, etc, one could make an argument for the Avengers being the superhero team that represents the MU as a whole. But yes, Thanos operates on too broad a cosmic scale to be classified as just "an Avengers villain".

He'd certainly be among their Top 10 main rogues gallery members, without question. But he's not tied to the team directly enough to be an arch-nemesis for them. Ultron, Kang, and the Masters of Evil (especially with a Baron Zemo at the helm) will always be the top contenders.

[Snoop Dogg]

the avengers' arch enemy is joss whedon

[myownlittleusername]

In the wider Marvel universe, Doctor Doom will always be bigger than Thanos. Secret Wars 2015 with Doom performing emergency spine removal on Thanos proved that.

Two movies and about $5billion might provide a good counter argument.

[your_name_here]

I’d say he’s an Avengers villain now after the films, yeah.

As others have said though, he’s more of a Universe Villain than specifically The Avengers.

[chamber-music]

Like others have said, Thanos is more of a general Marvel Universe villain than specifically a Avengers villain.

I would probably argue that the Guardians of The Galaxy have a bigger stake as Thanos being their big bad over the being the Avengers

[Digifiend]

I’d say he’s an Avengers villain now after the films, yeah.

As others have said though, he’s more of a Universe Villain than specifically The Avengers.

Bear in mind that the films may be Avengers branded, but Infinity War was in fact an Avengers/GOTG team-up (though of course, with the GOTG down to just Rocket and Nebula, they were absorbed by the Avengers in Endgame).

[DragonsChi]

I still think Thanos is a Marvel Universe villain.

To add I really don't think the Avengers could/should have a main villain like the X-Men or FF. The Avengers theme is Earth's Mightiest Heroes that notion alone implies they would never focus on a singular villain enough to be gain an "Arch Nemesis". Each villain would just be a regular nemesis. I mean who exactly is the Justice League's Arch Nemesis?

I think the only villain that has ever come close to being what one would call "Arch Nemesis" would be Ultron. Just base on history and ingrained connection to the teams core members. But again to the team consisting of 100 or so heroes now he is just another A-hole stepping up to get knock down at this point. (Especially, sense quite a few new writers have pretty much degraded the characters overall value for future stories due to poor writing/storytelling)

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Two movies and about $5billion might provide a good counter argument.

I thought we were talking about the comics. What happens in the movies does not by itself spillover into the comics. Thanos in the movies is big and impressive but he's also an essentially different character. And the Thanos audiences like is the one in IW and not Endgame. He has more screentime in the former than the latter and we less of the IW side of Thanos, the philosophical, weirdly empathetic to his victims and enemies version of Thanos in Endgame than in IW, and for that matter the comics.