Ebony Maw Will Be Thanos’ Hype Man In Avengers: Infinity War

What’s the one thing Corvus Glaive, Proxima Midnight, Cull Obsidian and Ebony Maw all have in common? You know, besides their galactic origins and dreams of absolute rule…

Thanos, of course! Yes, Marvel’s Mad Titan is the unruly oppressor who assembles the Black Order in time for Avengers: Infinity War, thereby placing Earth’s Mightiest Heroes on red alert.

Thanks to Infinity War‘s tantalizing teaser, we’ve already glimpsed our first peek at Proxima Midnight, who can be seen launching her spear towards a bearded Captain America (Nomad?) just as he begins to step out of the shadows. Her adoptive siblings are as menacing as you’d expect, too, but when it comes to Ebony Maw (who we’ve seen in action as well, torturing Doctor Strange), in particular, he’ll act more as Thanos’ hype man. Or so say the Russo brothers.

Speaking to press this week, the directors touched on the character a bit and what his role in Infinity War is, explaining:

“This character Ebony Maw in particular is like Thanos’ herald,” said Joe. “He’s a little bit of his hype man. And Thanos is sort of a culty character. Ebony Maw, the character who Tom [Vaughan-Lawlor] plays, is the one that builds up the cult. The character needed a sense of humor and to be a bit dry, and he’s stealing all of his scenes, so the character seems to be popping,”

Anthony chimed in as well, adding:

“And like Josh Brolin with Thanos, Tom is playing a character that is largely created digitally with graphics, and animated, but it is based very specifically on his performance.”

As Thanos’ minions, some fear that the Black Order will be used as cannon fodder when the lights go down on April 27th. Be that as it may, these comments from the Russos indicate that they’ve at least made a conscious effort to flesh out their roster of baddies.

Exactly how much screentime has been reserved for Ebony Maw is still up for question – ditto for the character’s potential involvement in Avengers 4 – but we’re excited to see what’s in store for him and the rest of the Black Order later this month.