This article is going to get deep into possible spoilers for Joss Whedon’s The Avengers. Since I know a lot of you are trying to steer clear from spoilers and very little about the film has been released, I’m going to include this news after the jump. There will be spoilers about a possible new villain as well as villains that have been mentioned previously, but you may not have seen that news. I’ll also be making mention of what happens after the credits in Thor, so again, steer clear if you want to stay in the dark. Sorry for the run-around, but we’re trying to be considerate of those who want to stay spoiler-free.
Hit the jump to find out about a major villain who could be joining the fray. The Avengers stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo, Cobie Smulders, Scarlett Johansson, Clark Gregg, and Samuel L. Jackson. The film opens in 3D on May 4, 2012.
Okay. Here comes the potential spoilers. Seriously, stop reading if you’re going to be bothered by them.
Those who have seen Thor and stayed through the credits have correctly surmised that the villain in The Avengers will be Loki (Tom Hiddleston). We previously learned that possible plot of the film could involve Loki using the Cosmic Cube (what you saw in the case in the post-credits scene from Thor) to call down an alien race known as the Skrulls. However, the villainy in the film may extend beyond a Norse God and a malevolent alien race bent on conquering the Earth.
Latino Review is reporting that the Mad Titan, Thanos will also be in the film. So who is Thanos? Here’s how LR breaks down the character:
Debuting in the Bronze Age of comic books, the character has featured in over three decades of Marvel continuity and a self-titled series. The character’s name is a derivation of Thanatos, the personification of death and mortality in Greek mythology. One of his more prominent storylines to date—the Infinity Gauntlet series—portrayed him as a mad cosmic tyrant bent on slaying half of all sentiences existing then in Marvel’s multiverse in order to appease the Marvel Universe’s actual (and more powerful) embodied personification of Death in an attempt to win its love.
What makes this news convincing is that this isn’t the first time we’ve heard about the Infinity Gauntlet. If you blinked then you probably missed it in Odin’s vault, but Marvel brought the item to last year’s San Diego Comic-Con alongside Mjolnir and Captain America’s shield.
Latino Review won’t say how Thanos figures into the movie and I’m grateful for that. However, it’s clear that Marvel is going bigger than we previously imagined. Not only will The Avengers be going up against a Norse god and angry shapeshifting aliens, but now they have to contend with a titan who has faced down Silver Surfer and even regarded himself as the god of Death. There are few villains in the Marvel Universe more powerful than Thanos and it will be interesting to see how he figures into the plot when it seems like the only Avenger that would have a chance against him is Thor.
Here’s an image of the Infinity Gauntlet from Comic-Con:
And here’s a look at it from Odin’s Vault:
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JESUS H CHRIST I CANT WAIT FOR THIS MOVIE!!
This is going to be the movie that will set the standard for everything else that follows.
Whoa, guys … too much!
An Avengers movie with Loki “controlling” the Hulk in the first act (getting all the team together) and then the “Loki brings in the Skrulls” story for the second act and losing control of them in the third act is all we really need. Lots of opportunity for Avengery action and character interaction in there.
Leave Thanos for a sequel.
Agreed. Loki and Skrulls are more than enough for one film. The end could set up the whole Infinity Gauntlet storyline for the next film. Sometimes less really is more.
I’m super excited now, even more so than before!
I’m think Thanos might not be directly involved but setup outside of the plot for the second Avengers film? Wouldn’t it be great to see the Surfer and F4 show up? A shame that the rights are still stuck at FOX till who knows when, I’d love to see a good Marvel Studios take on either of them.
Perhaps we’ll see some Lady Chaos, Eternity and Infinity involvement in the future
You wouldn’t be able to have F4 in the film, Chris Evans would have to play both Cap and Torch… unless they got re-casted…
Weeell they would recast the fantastic four since
A. It would be marvel made not fox
B.the ff franchise we know and “LOVE”……. is deadlol and most importantly
C. DUH!
@ Joe Robot
One of these days, someone is going to write a book that focuses on Marvel’s contracts with non-Disney film studios. I’m of the mind that the stories circulating the Internet are largely true— but missing some key elements that either can’t or won’t be shared with the generall public. To wit, I wouldn’t be surprised if we were to find out that Fox Studios didn’t have as tight a hold on the FF characters as most of us think. Who knows? The recent death of the Human Torch may actually have some relation to the fine print on the Marvel/Fox contract for FF…
I would so love Benedict Cumberbatch to be Thanos
Hmmm…if Thanos’s gonna be included , I might smell Spider 3 bomb in the air for Avengers…as some ppl said before many times less is really more…
It would be great if the whole Thanos thing is just a cliffhanger or an after credits scene.
that means Surfer!!! They should have Thanos in the suppossed Inhumans movie
read this on another site and my feelings then are the same now:
Thanos is my favorite comic book villain, so yes i would like to see him portrayed on the big screen…HOWEVER, because he is such a complex and amazing character I would not want to see him squeezed into this movie. We already have Loki (and what I will assume to be a Loki influenced rampaging Hulk) and wouldnt be suprised if the Skrulls didn’t show up. Save Thanos for a the next movie and give him a full build. I would be more than happy to see him in one of those typical Marvel after the credits scenes as a tease. Nothing wrong with having more than one villain when dealing with a team but they would have to be a mix lesser villains to quickly dispose of as the team learns to come together AND one “Big Bad” at the end. To have the likes of Loki and Thanos in the same movie is overkill when they can each carry a movie on thier own. And like I said, I fully expect the Hulk to be under Loki’s influence as a defacto villain for most of the movie. So there will be plenty for The Avengers to deal with without having to use Thanos just for his namesake. Look at how Spiderman 3 dropped the ball on Venom. I am 100% for bringing in Thanos…just not with so many other things going on.
I literally predicted this the night I saw Thor. I am ecsatic. Thanos has one of the most diverse and dynamic backgrounds in Marvel comics. They need to play him off as a depressed nihilist who won’t settle until Death is pleased. He needs to be super evil, and not cheesy, like how I feel they’re gonna portray him.
@ Jojo
For the reasons you’ve cited (and more), Darren Aronowsky (sp) would be the perfect director for a story with Thanos as its antagonist. We could even view the Fountain as a sort of dry run for this.
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This could work if Thanos was used in something akin to a flashback or flash-sideways scene. That could set the stage for the Inhumans, Guardians of the Galaxy and Dr. Strange movies (all 3 of which we’re to understand are in development).
I still think the *location* of Thor’s post-credits scene is another big reveal. While it wasn’t explicitely-stated, all signs point to Project Pegasus. As Pegasus was allegedly foreshadowed in Iron Man 2, this opens a number of doors in terms of both storytelling and new characters.
What about a certain “former Kree turned cosmically-aware” golden-haired warrior named Captain Marvel (not to be confused with SHAZAM)