Thanos (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

Thanos is a major antagonist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. he is played by Josh Brolin.

## Early life

Thanos was born approximately 1,000 years ago on the planet Titan to A'Lars, along with his brother Eros. At some point, Thanos came to realize that the growth of Titan's population would inevitably result in its downfall due to lack of resources, and so he proposed to kill half of the planet's population at random. However, his people rejected his solution as pure madness and cast him out. Over time, Thanos' prediction came to pass, and he witnessed the death of his people until he was the only surviving member of the Titan race.

Thanos concluded that other planets would eventually suffer the same fate as Titan, and believed that it was his destiny to eliminate half of the universe's population so that the survivors may thrive. To realize his "great plan", he took command of a warship, the Sanctuary II, and embarked on a campaign of conquest and genocide. He became recognized and greatly feared for his power and influence. Thanos also took control of various armies, including the Chitauri, the Sakaarans, and the Outriders. He also forged alliances with the Other and Ronan the Accuser. Additionally, he would occasionally adopt orphan children from planets he invaded, including Gamora, Nebula, Ebony Maw, Corvus Glaive, Cull Obsidian, and Proxima Midnight. Thanos gave special attention to Gamora, whom he considered his favorite. Eventually, Thanos learned of the six Infinity Stones and embarked on a mission to collect them in order to use them to fulfill his mission instantaneously. Prior to 2012, he found the Mind Stone and placed it within a scepter.

In 2012, Thanos directs the Other to form an alliance with Loki, providing him with the Mind Stone scepter and the Chitauri army to subjugate Earth in exchange for the retrieval of the Space Stone within the Tesseract. Following Loki's defeat by the Avengers and the loss of the Mind Stone, the Other reports about the failed attack on Earth to Thanos.
In 2014, Thanos locates the Power Stone and sends Ronan, Gamora, and Nebula to retrieve it. However, all three eventually betray him: Gamora joins the Guardians of the Galaxy, Ronan decides to keep the Power Stone for himself and renounces his alliance with Thanos, and Nebula sides with Ronan when he vows to kill Thanos after destroying Xandar. The Guardians of the Galaxy defeat Ronan and leave the Power Stone with the Nova Corps.
In 2015, Thanos arrives on Nidavellir and forces the native Dwarves to forge the Infinity Gauntlet to hold all six Stones, before killing all of them, except for Eitri. Thanos, angered at his recruits' failures, dons the Gauntlet and vows to find the Stones himself.

## The snap

In 2018, Thanos, accompanied by his children, decimates Xandar and retrieves the Power Stone. Shortly after, they intercept the Statesman, carrying Asgardian refugees following their world's destruction, and kills half of them, while also incapacitating Thor. Thanos attempts to barter the Tesseract from Loki in exchange for Thor's life, but Thanos is attacked by the Hulk, whom he easily defeats. After Heimdall saves Hulk, Thanos kills him. He then destroys the Tesseract, obtaining the Space Stone inside, and orders his children to retrieve the Mind and Time Stone on Earth before rendezvousing with him on Titan. After killing Loki, Thanos destroys the Statesman, and teleports himself and his children away; unknowingly leaving Thor alive.

Thanos travels to Knowhere and obtains the Reality Stone from Taneleer Tivan. The Guardians of the Galaxy: Peter Quill, Drax, Mantis, and Gamora arrive to try and stop him. Thanos uses the Reality Stone to quickly defeat them before capturing Gamora and teleporting away with her. Knowing she had learned the location of the Soul Stone, he coerces her into revealing it to him in exchange for sparing Nebula, who he captured and has been torturing. Thanos and Gamora travel to Vormir, where the Soul Stone's keeper, Johann Schmidt, informs them that the Soul Stone requires the sacrifice of a loved one, requiring Thanos to tearfully throw Gamora off a cliff to her death.
Thanos arrives on Titan expecting to meet Ebony Maw, but instead encounters Stephen Strange and learns that Maw has been killed. Thanos is then ambushed by Tony Stark, Peter Parker, Quill, Drax, and Mantis. A battle ensues, and Nebula also arrives to fight him. Thanos is briefly incapacitated by their combined efforts but before Stark and Parker can remove the Infinity Gauntlet from his hand, Nebula realizes that he murdered Gamora, leading Quill to attack him in a fit of rage. Thanos breaks free of their hold and overpowers them. After stabbing Stark, he prepares to kill him, but is stopped by Strange, who barters the Time Stone in exchange for sparing Stark's life.
In Wakanda, his children: Cull Obsidian, Proxima Midnight, and Corvus Glaive launch an invasion, but fail to retrieve the Mind Stone and perish in the ensuing battle. Thanos teleports to Wakanda and encounters resistance from the Avengers and their allies: Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner, Natasha Romanoff, Bucky Barnes, Sam Wilson, James Rhodes, T'Challa, Okoye, and Groot. He effortlessly overpowers them as he prepares to take the Mind Stone from Vision. Wanda Maximoff is able to hold him off for a few moments as she kills Vision in order to destroy the Mind Stone. However, Thanos uses the Time Stone to reverse her actions; he tears the Mind Stone from Vision's head, killing him. Thanos knocks Maximoff out and places the final Stone in his Gauntlet. However, he is pierced in the chest by Thor's axe, Stormbreaker. Badly wounded, Thanos is taunted by a vengeful Thor but manages to snap his fingers, successfully decimating half of all life in the universe. His mission complete, he teleports away to the Garden, where he rests.

## Death and legacy

Twenty-three days later, Thanos, now living on the Garden, is ambushed by Rogers, Romanoff, Thor, Rhodes, Banner, Carol Danvers, Rocket, and Nebula who seek to obtain the Stones to reverse his actions. They manage to subdue him and Thor cuts off his left arm, only to find the Gauntlet empty. Thanos reveals that he used the Stones to destroy the Stones in order to avoid the temptation of using them further and to prevent his mission from ever being undone, prompting Thor to decapitate him.

## Alternate reality

In an alternate 2014, Thanos, after conquering a planet, dispatches Gamora and Nebula to Ronan's ship to retrieve the Power Stone. However, he becomes aware of the Avengers using time travel when Nebula alerts him to the arrival of her future self. Thanos then extracts the memories of 2023-Nebula via 2014-Nebula's consciousness. He learns that his future self succeeded and that the Avengers killed him, and are attempting to undo his work. He has the 2014-Nebula impersonate her future self and travel to 2023 so that she can use the Quantum Realm to bring Thanos and his army there.

The Avengers successfully obtain the Stones and revive Thanos' victims in 2023. Immediately afterward, Thanos, within his ship Sanctuary II, exits the Quantum Realm and opens fire on the Avengers Compound, destroying it. While his army searches for the Stones, Thanos engages in an intense fight with Stark, Rogers, and Thor, during which he declares that the Avengers' mission to undo his deceased future self's work has hardened his resolve, and that for the universe to be truly balanced, all of existence must be destroyed, rebuilt anew, and repopulated with life that only knows gratitude.

Thanos defeats Stark and Thor, leaving only Rogers left standing. He calls forth his entire army but the restored Avengers, Guardians, Wakandan and Asgardian armies, the Masters of the Mystic Arts, and the Ravagers arrive and engage Thanos and his army in a final battle. After an intense struggle, Thanos obtains the Stark Nano Gauntlet, but before he can snap his fingers, Stark manages to steal the Stones from him. Thanos watches in horror as Stark snaps his fingers, and Thanos, along with his army, is erased from existence at the cost of Stark's life.