Thanos () is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-artist Jim Starlin, the character first appeared in The Invincible Iron Man #55 (cover date February 1973). An Eternal–Deviant warlord from the moon Titan, Thanos is regarded as one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel Universe. Due to his genocidal tendencies, he has clashed with many heroes including the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, and the Guardians of the Galaxy.
In creating Thanos, Starlin drew inspiration from Jack Kirby's New Gods series for DC Comics, particularly the character of Darkseid. Thanos is usually portrayed as a villain, although many stories depict him as believing his actions to be justified. Perhaps the character's best-known storyline is The Infinity Gauntlet (1991), the culmination of several story arcs that see him gather the six Infinity Gems and use them to kill half of the universe's population, including many of its heroes, to woo Mistress Death, the living embodiment of death in the Marvel Universe. Although these events were later undone, the storyline has remained one of the most popular published by Marvel.
Debuting in the Bronze Age of comic books, the character has appeared in more than five decades of Marvel publications, as well as many media adaptations, including animated television series and video games.
In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the character was first played by Damion Poitier in the film The Avengers (2012) and then by Josh Brolin in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), and the first season of the animated series What If...? (2021).
Creation Writer-artist Jim Starlin conceived of Thanos of Titan during college psychology classes and was inspired by Sigmund Freud's concept of human death drive, or Thanatos. As Starlin described:
Starlin has admitted the character's look was influenced by Jack Kirby's Darkseid:
Publication history Thanos debuted in The Invincible Iron Man #55 (February 1973), featuring a story by Jim Starlin that was co-scripted by Mike Friedrich. The storyline from that issue continued through Captain Marvel #25–33 (bi-monthly: March 1973 – Jan. 1974), Marvel Feature #12 (Nov. 1973), Daredevil #107 (Jan. 1974), and Avengers #125 (July 1974). He returned in an extended storyline that spanned Strange Tales #178–181 (Feb.–Aug. 1975), Warlock #9-11 (Oct. 1975 – Jan. 1976), Marvel Team Up #55 (March 1977), and the 1977 Annuals for Avengers and Marvel Two-in-One (Thanos does not actually appear until the end of Warlock #9). He was also featured in a short backup story in Logan's Run #6 (June 1977) and had a small role in the graphic novel The Death of Captain Marvel (April 1982).
The character was revived in Silver Surfer vol. 3, #34 (Feb. 1990) and guest-starred until issue #59 (November 1991), while simultaneously appearing in The Thanos Quest #1–2 (Sept. – Oct. 1990) and The Infinity Gauntlet #1–6 (July – Dec. 1991). After an appearance in Spider-Man #17 (Dec. 1991), Thanos had a recurring role in Warlock and the Infinity Watch #1–42 (Feb. 1992 – Aug. 1995). This was followed by crossover appearances in Infinity War #1–6 (June – Nov. 1992), Infinity Crusade #1–6 (June – Nov. 1993), Silver Surfer vol. 3, #86–88 (Nov. 1993 – Jan. 1994), Warlock Chronicles #6–8, Thor #468–471 (Nov. 1993 – Feb. 1994), Namor The Sub-Mariner #44 (Nov. 1993), Secret Defenders #11–14 (Jan. – April 1994), Cosmic Powers #1–6 (March – July 1994), and Cosmic Powers Unlimited #1 (May 1995).
Thanos appeared in a connected storyline in Ka-Zar vol. 2, #4–11 (Aug. 1997 – March 1998), Ka-Zar Annual (1997), and the X-Man and Hulk Annual (1998), before featuring in Thor vol. 2, #21–25 (March – July 2000) and the 2000 Annual. The character was next used in Captain Marvel vol. 4, #17–19 (June–Aug. 2001), Avengers: Celestial Quest #1–8 (Nov. 2001 – June 2002), Infinity Abyss #1–6 (Aug. – Oct. 2002) and Marvel: The End #1–6 (May – Aug 2003).
In 2004 Thanos received an eponymous title that ran for 12 issues. In 2006, the character played an important role in Annihilation: Silver Surfer #1–4 (June – Sept. 2006) and Annihilation #1–6 (Oct. 2006 – March 2007). The character was re-introduced in Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2, #24–25 (April – May 2010) and played a major role in The Thanos Imperative: Ignition (June 2010) and The Thanos Imperative #1–6 (July – Dec. 2010).
The character returned in Avengers Assemble #1 (March 2012). A mini-series titled Thanos: Son of Titan by Joe Keatinge was planned for publication in August 2012, but was cancelled.Johnston, Rich (July 27, 2012). Marvel Cancels Thanos: Son of Titan miniseries" . Bleeding Cool.
The character's origin was expanded in the five-issue Thanos Rising miniseries by Jason Aaron and Simone Bianchi which was published monthly beginning in April 2013. Later that same year, Thanos played a central role in the Infinity miniseries written by Jonathan Hickman and drawn by Jim Cheung, Jerome Opeña, and Dustin Weaver.
In May 2014, Jim Starlin and Ron Lim worked together on the one-shot Thanos Annual, which is a prelude to a new trilogy of original graphic novels. The first, Thanos: The Infinity Revelation, was released the following August.Thanos Annual #1 , Inside Pulse, May 28, 2014. Retrieved May 28, 2014. Beginning in February 2015, Starlin also penned a four-issue miniseries titled Thanos vs. Hulk, which was set prior to the graphic novels. The second installment in the trilogy, Thanos: The Infinity Relativity, was released in June 2015.""Thanos: The Infinity Relativity" OGN From Jim Starlin ". Comic Book Resources. November 20, 2014. Retrieved April 3, 2015. The third graphic novel, Thanos: The Infinity Finale, as well as the connected mini-series The Infinity Entity were published in 2016.
At the same time Starlin was writing these graphic novels and tie-ins, the character also appeared in New Avengers #23–24 (Oct – Nov 2014),Meylikhov, Matthew (May 30, 2014) "Thanos Joins the New Avengers in September ," Multiversity Comics (accessed June 19, 2014) Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3, #18–20 (Oct – Dec 2014), Legendary Star-Lord #4 (Dec 2014), a six-issue miniseries titled Thanos: A God Up There Listening (Dec 2014), Avengers vol. 5, #40–41 (Mar – Apr 2015), and Deadpool vol. 3, #45 ("#250") (Jun 2015). Thanos also played a major role in the five-issue miniseries The Infinity Gauntlet vol. 2, (July 2015 – Jan 2016), a tie-in of the cross-over Secret Wars (2015).
In 2017, as part of Marvel NOW!, Thanos received his own solo title written by Jeff Lemire and drawn by Mike Deodato. After 11 issues, Donny Cates and Geoff Shaw took over as the creative team. This storyline crossed over with Cates' Cosmic Ghost Rider storyline.
In 2021, Thanos was later reintroduced as a primary antagonist in the comic series Eternals vol. 5, #1–12, by the writer Kieron Gillen and artist Esad Ribić, and plays a prominent role in exploring the Eternals mythos.
Fictional character biography
Thanos was born on Saturn's moon Titan as the son of Eternals A'lars and Sui-San, the grandson of Kronos, the nephew of Zuras, and the grandnephew of Oceanus and Uranos. His brother is Eros of Titan. Thanos carries the Deviant gene, and as such, shares the physical appearance of the Eternals' cousin race. Shocked by his appearance and the belief that he would destroy all life in the universe, Sui-San went insane and attempted to kill him, but she was stopped by A'lars. During his school years, Thanos was a pacifist Thanos Rising #1. Marvel Comics. and would only play with his brother Eros and pets. By adolescence, Thanos had become fascinated with nihilism and entropy, worshipping and eventually falling in love with the physical embodiment of Mistress Death.Thanos Rising #3, Iron Man #55. Marvel Comics.
As an adult, Thanos augmented his physical strength and powers through his superior scientific knowledge using a combination of mysticism and cybernetic enhancements.Thanos (Vol 2) #13. Marvel Comics. He also attempted to create a new life for himself by siring many children as well as becoming a pirate. He finds no fulfillment in either until he is visited again by Death, for whom he murders his offspring and his pirate captain.Thanos Rising #4–5. Marvel Comics.
Wishing to impress Death, Thanos gathers an army of villainous aliens and begins a nuclear bombardment of Titan that kills millions of his race.Avengers Annual #7 (1977). Marvel Comics. Seeking universal power in the form of the Cosmic Cube, Thanos travels to Earth. Prior to landing, his vessel destroys a nearby car as a family witnesses his arrival.Captain Marvel #30 (Jan. 1974). Marvel Comics. Unbeknownst to Thanos, two of the family members in the vehicle survive: the spirit of the father, Arthur, is preserved by the Titanian cosmic entity Kronos and is given a new form as Drax the Destroyer while the daughter, Heather, is found by Thanos's father, Mentor, and is raised to become the heroine Moondragon. Thanos eventually locates the Cube, and also attracts the attention of Death. Willing the Cube to make him omnipotent, Thanos then discards the Cube. He imprisons Kronos and taunts Kree hero Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell), who is eventually able to defeat Thanos by destroying the Cube.Captain Marvel #33 (July 1974). Marvel Comics.
Thanos later comes to the aid of Adam Warlock in a war against the Magus and his religious empire. During the process, he ends up adopting Gamora to use her as his assassin and kill Warlock before becoming Magus.Strange Tales #178–181 (Feb.–Aug. 1975)Warlock #9–11 (Oct. 1975 – Jan. 1976). Marvel Comics. During this alliance, Thanos secretly siphons the Soul Gem's energy and combines the Infinity Gems to build a star-destroying weapon for Death. Warlock summons the Avengers and Captain Marvel to stop Thanos, although the plan is foiled when Thanos kills Warlock. The Titan regroups and captures the heroes, who are freed by Spider-Man and the Thing. Thanos is finally stopped by Warlock, whose spirit emerges from the Soul Gem and turns the Titan to stone.Marvel Two-in-One Annual #2 (1977). Marvel Comics. Thanos's spirit eventually reappears to accompany a dying Captain Marvel's soul into the realm of Death.Death of Captain Marvel (1982). Marvel Comics.
During the "Infinity Saga" storyline, Thanos is eventually resurrectedSilver Surfer vol. 3, #34 (Feb. 1990). Marvel Comics. and collects the Infinity Gems once again.The Thanos Quest (1990). Marvel Comics. He uses the gems to create the Infinity Gauntlet, making himself omnipotent, and erases half the living things in the universe to prove his love to Death.The Infinity Gauntlet #1 (July 1991). Marvel Comics. This act and several other acts are soon undone by Nebula and Adam Warlock.The Infinity Gauntlet #6 (Dec. 1991). Marvel Comics. Warlock reveals that Thanos has always allowed himself to be defeated because the Titan secretly knows he is not worthy of ultimate power. Thanos joins Warlock as part of the Infinity Watch and helps him to defeat first his evilThe Infinity War #1–6 (1992) and then goodThe Infinity Crusade #1–6 (1993) personas, and cure Thor of "warrior Madness".Thor #470–471 (Jan.–Feb. 1994); Silver Surfer vol. 3, #88 (Jan. 1994); Warlock Chronicles #8 (Feb. 1994); Warlock and the Infinity Watch #25 (Feb. 1994). Marvel Comics.