Thanos is a persistently misunderstood and mis-described character

[CaptainMar-Vell92 of the Kree]

Okay, i've found this on reddit but i think it's a must read for Thanos and Adam Warlock fans.

https://www.reddit.com/r/CharacterRa...misunderstood/

It nails perfectly the issues i have with the modern non-Starlin version of Thanos and people who think the character never goes beyond being a simp for the grim reaper.

This is my greatest personal torture in the realms of interaction over fiction I hold dear. I don’t ask that anyone come away only with my interpretation and understanding, or genuflect to Starlin as the ultimate Thanos writer (given that I think no one else has bothered with the actual character--excepting Giffen and then Peter David in some Captain Marvel issues, and some valiant attempts from Marz--this is more "default" truth than emphatically earned. When someone else writes the character with these kinds of changes and dimensions in mind, let's talk then), nor to hold this character as dearly as I, but merely that folks consider that “who can beat who” and “what’s the greatest level of power” aren’t the only ways of looking at these stories, nor this character. I'd argue, in fact, they are the wrong ways to look at these stories and this character, given how the stories are written, really not even about fights and "who can win"/"who is stronger", but the ubiquitous metaphysical and psychological ruminations of Starlin that naturally stem from an idle thought of personifying the eros and the thanatos in the first place. Not to suggest it's incredibly deep, magical insight--but that madness and how people think and feel and work and how that relates to the cosmos is the core of his writing and the characters he comes up with.

For me: Thanos is interesting because he changes and progresses--at least when he’s left in the hands of his creator. And as a side note, I think placing him in a different "plane" from Marvel's other heroes and villains is necessary for this to work. Stuffing him back in as a villain almost requires stripping away the rest of that entirely.

(And yes: this means I've been ignoring Thanos stories for the last ten years as hard as I can. The "he's a ruthless ultra-powerful thug" thing doesn't interest me at all--especially because it's in defiance of what made him interesting to me in the first place, and hammers down all that development until it's just the same, bland, one-note boring "character" forever. Endless missed opportunities.)

[DebkoX]

The difficulty with a villain like Thanos is that, in theory, he's a complete boss. He shouldn't be popping up every year or so and, whilst I enjoy books that focus on him as a 'being', I feel he's too present. Thanos should be the absolute worst-case scenario. His arrival should be a oh **** moment.

[The_Last_Czarnian]

This is precisely why I have enjoyed Starlin's Thanos OGNs rather than main 616 Thanos.

[PCN24454]

Still not getting it.

[Mike_Murdock]

At what point has the writing of a character become so predominant that it is an accurate representation of the character that has replaced the previous version? Marvel owns the character and go in any direction they want with him.

[The Cool Thatguy]

At what point has the writing of a character become so predominant that it is an accurate representation of the character that has replaced the previous version? Marvel owns the character and go in any direction they want with him.

This.

Also, since Starlin brought back Thanos, he's constantly used the character to tell other characters/concepts how much they suck and how awesome Thanos is. He was a Mary Sue under Starlin, only created before we had an actual name for it

[xcoijoi]

Yeah, I'm loyal to Starlin's version too.

[K7P5V]

Yeah, I'm loyal to Starlin's version too.

Me too!

[Ichijinijisanji]

At what point has the writing of a character become so predominant that it is an accurate representation of the character that has replaced the previous version? Marvel owns the character and go in any direction they want with him.

the one that resonates more with people or is internally consistent?

[PCN24454]

Me too!

This guy is considered to be well-written? I haven't felt such a lack of sympathy since Doom was God-King.

[Mike_Murdock]

the one that resonates more with people or is internally consistent?

That would assume that it's a democratic vote and not a publishing decision.

[CaptainMar-Vell92 of the Kree]

You know, i don't think Kieron Gillen or modern marvel writers in general like Thanos. Allow me to expatiate through examples of Thanos being doodoo.

From the seventies to the early nineties Thanos was mostly a consistent character wrote mostly by Jim Starlin, Thanos evolved from a cataclysmic but pragmatic and cunning villain who saw himself as a hardcore nihilist who tried to convince Death herself to love him while failing to understand what she really wants into a more mature antihero that has achieved self-clarity with the help of Adam Warlock and stopped being a pseudo-nihilist. Then after the Avengers post credits scene in 2012 featured him marvel decided to undo all of his character development and make him a thuggish and simplified space villain like Mongul or Despero and flanderized him into a thuggish idiot who jumps in front of a omnipotent Doom with no planning and gets easily trashed by lower tier characters like Carol Danvers and the GOTG under Bendis, and also ignore all the character development he had since the ending of Infinity Gauntlet. It feels like i'm reading a palette swap version of Mongul. Not the same character at all. I miss when Thanos used to be able to make a fool of the Grandmaster and i miss his interactions with Adam.

I was actually interested in Modern Thanos finally exploring his Eternal sides of things and actually being a developed character with nuanced motives not this undeveloped monster of the week character of the Ikaris's Toriyama handjob fest.

There was actually potential with the Thanos-Eternal story , I thought that they could possibly explore any desire for the uni mind possibly to connect with Eros to complete his resurrection

Could also have contended somehow for the role of prime Eternal

Find a way to connect with the machine to never die

Or you know actually have a personality and used his intellect to help them against a common threat.

Allow me to quote Marvel Database to show how powerful and dangerous Thanos is supposed to be.

Superhuman Strength: Thanos possesses vast superhuman strength the full limits of which aren't known. Death has increased his strength beyond their original limits to levels rivaling or surpassing those of the physically strongest Eternals. He has proven capable of fighting Thor even when Thor had the Power Gem.[37] His strength is so vast that he has been able to defeat the likes of the Silver Surfer,[citation needed] punch away an attacking Hulk,[82] physically subduing with ease Beta Ray Bill and Ronan the Accuser (as well as casually breaking apart the latter's Universal Weapon) and, most impressively, wrestle with the mighty Tyrant, although only by being additionally empowered by an external power source.[citation needed] He was also able to beat in melee fight the Hulk power-enhanced Annihilus.[73] Thanos can also augment his strength with his cosmic energy when needed.[citation needed] Thanos was also able to lift the Galactus Engine and recover it from the depths of Ego the Living Planet,[138] destroy a planet in a battle with Drax (in his first incarnation), he was even able to fight hand-to-hand with his son Thane after being empowered by the Phoenix Force, Thanos pushed Thane across the planet, destroying it.

Superhuman Speed: Despite his massive muscular bulk, Thanos is capable of running and moving at speeds greater than the finest human athlete.[citation needed]

Superhuman Stamina: Thanos' musculature produces almost no fatigue toxins during physical activity. As a result, he has nearly superhuman stamina in all physical activities.[citation needed]

Nigh Invulnerability: Before his "death", Thanos possessed an impressive degree of resistance to physical injury, even compared to other Eternals. After his resurrection, Death increased his ability to resist injury to a much greater degree and he is now nigh-invulnerable.[citation needed] He has withstood, at point-blank range, planet-destroying attacks without any harm.[citation needed] He has withstood blasts from the Silver Surfer unharmed.[citation needed] He withstood a battering from an enraged, Power Gem-wielding Thor with nothing but a bloody nose.[37] He possesses such an incredible resistance to injury that he has been shown to survive point-blank blasts from Odin,[39] and Galactus.[140] Thanos has withstood three full screams from Black Bolt, one at point-blank range, without any significant damage,[141] survived being subjected to an artificial black hole,[142] and withstood being stabbed in the chest by Wolverine's Adamantium claws without exhibiting any discomfort.[143]

Immortality: Thanos, like all Eternals, is immortal in the sense that he is immune to all known diseases and infections and is immune to the effects of aging. Thanos was formerly banned by Death itself from entering its realm, rendering him truly immortal. No matter the severity of any injury, Thanos was unable to die and completely recovered. This ban has since been lifted.[citation needed]

Regenerative Healing Factor: Despite his extraordinary durability, it is possible to injure Thanos. Like all Eternals, however, Thanos is capable of regenerating damaged tissue with much greater speed and efficiency than a human being. His healing powers aren't as developed as those of some Eternals. Some Eternals are capable of regenerating any destroyed tissue. Given the circumstances of his death at the hands of Drax the Destroyer during the Annihilation event, Thanos is unable to regenerate missing organs, such as a heart.[52]

Superhuman Agility: Despite his great size, Thanos' agility, balance, and bodily coordination are enhanced to levels that are beyond the natural physical limits of the finest human athlete. His agility is roughly equal to that of the average Eternal.[citation needed]

Superhuman Reflexes: Thanos' reaction time is enhanced to a level that is beyond the natural physical limits of the finest human athlete. Like his agility, his reflexes are about average for an Eternal.[citation needed]

Energy Manipulation & Control: Thanos has displayed great versatility in the use of his energy projection abilities. He has demonstrated the ability to project pure energy as a concussive force,[citation needed] "magnetic" energy,[25] infrared heat-beams from his eyes,[citation needed] and disruptor beams,[citation needed] unilaterally striking separate targets with his optic blasts,[citation needed] as well as using his mental link to his techno-mystical chair to form vastly powerful energy shields, barriers, and force-fields.[citation needed] The exact extent of Thanos' energy projection abilities are unknown, but his blasts have been capable of knocking down the likes of Thor and The Hulk.[citation needed] He was also able to slightly damage Galactus' armor and blast the Devourer of Worlds off his feet.[140] By collaborating with the In-Betweener they together released the latter from his prison created by Master Order and Lord Chaos.[144] It has been speculated that the nature of Thanos' cosmic energy reserve may be quasi-mystical in nature.[citation needed]

Telepathy: Thanos possesses psionic abilities. His mind is invulnerable to most forms of psychic attack.[citation needed] Thanos has demonstrated the ability to successfully defend himself against psychic assaults from Moondragon and Mantis.[citation needed] He also managed to shut down the Maker's mind,[145] turned the Fallen One into his herald, [146] made the Hulk attack his fellow Avengers,[128] and forced Conner Sims (the Anti-Man) to destroy his surroundings.[100] Thanos also once attempted to destroy the mind of Drax the Destroyer with a powerful psychic attack called the Time-Mind Sync Warp, that plunges the victim's mind into a psychedelic dimension of insanity, causing death or incapacitation.[147]

Matter Manipulation & Control: Thanos has demonstrated some ability to manipulate matter on the atomic level, similarly to Earthborn Eternals. On one occasion, he turned the Skrull Skragg, into stone.[7] He also used his matter manipulation ability on Moondragon to purge the muscle controlling parasites implanted by Annihilus from her body.[52]

Curse Casting: Thanos seems to be at least partially skilled in magic, evidence being him cursing Deadpool to be unable to die.[citation needed]

Teleportation: Thanos can teleport himself across unknown distances through his link with his techno-mystical transport chair. When stranded in space with Terraxia, he could neither fly, nor teleport to his rescue, presumably because his chair got destroyed in the struggle before.[149]

Super-Genius Intelligence: Possibly Thanos' most dangerous ability is his mind. Thanos' intellect is dedicated to enhancing his own powers and to the annihilation of all life. Thanos is a genius in virtually all known fields of advanced science and has created technology far exceeding contemporary Earth science.[citation needed] He has also shown to quickly adapt to new battle situations, as shown in his fight with the Champion of the Universe, who outclassed him physically and whom he beat by dancing around him, blasting him with energy attacks and tricking him into destroying the planet they fought on.[144] Thanos has remarked that, compared to himself, Bruce Banner's intelligence is only great for human standards.

So don't tell me he's a pushover without mystical macguffins like the Infinity Gems, even though that's the only thing writers remember about the character when they have to use him.

The real answer is Gillen couldn't care less about Thanos. Thanos was there only because of editorial mandate and Gillen instead of exploring Thanos ties with the eternals he jobs him to mid-tier Ikaris because he didn't want to bother with the character. That's how little Modern Marvel writers and editors gives a **** about him and cosmic characters in general.

And people wonder why i'm bitter.

[The_Last_Czarnian]

Thanos is out of the MCU picture for now. Eternals are imminent.

Just look at the push that Taskmaster is getting - beating Hyperion? Why, he must be in an upcoming movie of some kind!

[stingray]

I agree they've destroyed all the great character development and turned him into a thug, which I hated. He was a multi faceted, interesting character. Now he's just a murdering bastard. That being said, I'm kind of glad he's getting his ass handed to him once in a while. I was getting really tired of him being able to mop the floor with anyone and everyone without working up a sweat. In my opinion, every other character gets jobbed while fighting him. He beats the entirety of the Imperial Guard even when he's too sick to stand up. In Avengers Infinity Black Bolt SCREAMED at him and it didn't even shred his armor, let alone hurt him in any way. Ridiculous. BB can level cities with a word, but apparently Thanos and his clothing are impervious. If you make characters like Thanos TOO powerful, it just makes for a boring story. Actually, I wish they would just give the character a rest for a while. I'm kind of done with him dying and being resurrected every six months.

[davew128]

The real answer is Gillen couldn't care less about Thanos. Thanos was there only because of editorial mandate and Gillen instead of exploring Thanos ties with the eternals he jobs him to mid-tier Ikaris because he didn't want to bother with the character

Umm, it was shown on panel that Thanos won the fight with Ikaris, handily, and everything we saw where Ikaris hurt him was pretty much an illusion from Sprite to distract him and get Ikaris out of there.