The Russo Brothers Says Thanos Is Like Darth Vader Times 10

Not for the first time, Joe and Anthony Russo have name-dropped Darth Vader while discussing their approach to Thanos (AKA Marvel’s Mad Titan) in Avengers: Infinity War.

The rasping, Force-sensitive being is a fixture of the Star Wars universe, and arguably one of the greatest screen villains of all time, so it’s not all that surprising that the Russo Brothers looked to the Empire’s crooked Jedi in order to instill a sense of gravitas into Thanos and his ultimate masterplan – one that involves collecting all six Infinity Stones, much to the dismay of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

Up first, Anthony Russo outlined the Mad Titan’s journey:

Well this movie is sort of [triggered] by Thanos’ decision and an opportunity for him to make a very aggressive move for the stones. More so than he has at any point in the past. A more effective move for the stones than he has in the past. So when Thanos decides to do it, he really goes for it. And he’s kind of one step ahead of our heroes through the movie. And he puts them through a lot of pain.

Meanwhile, Joe Russo believes Avengers: Infinity War and Thanos, specifically, can be the Death Vader for a new generation – that one, particularly nasty villain who is able to strike fear in our hearts simply by walking onto the screen.

If you took Darth Vader and you multiply him times 10… look, our job with Thanos is to make him the preeminent villain in the Marvel Universe. That is his role in the comics. That’s his role in these movies. And in order to be a preeminent villain you have to do some pretty bad things.

Darth Vader on steroids, then. Whatever the case, we know Thanos’ Earth-shaking masterplan will spill over into Avengers 4, which has been angled as the follow-up act to Infinity War – even if the two films are seemingly more different than we’ve been led to believe. Also, in case you missed it, Marvel has finally peeled back the curtain on the new and likely final trailer for Avengers 3, and it is, as expected, a bone-rattling, crowd-pleasing preview of 2018’s biggest movie.