At the climax of Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos wiped out half of all life in the universe with the snap of his fingers. And while it’s generally assumed that the Mad Titan’s victims were selected at random, there remains some debate on whether the purple tyrant excluded himself from the lottery or was willing to put his own life on the line for the sake of fairness.
Co-writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely weighed in on the matter during a recent interview with Backstory Magazine, and from the sound of things, even they aren’t completely sure if Thanos ran the risk of dusting himself. On the one hand, you’ve got Markus saying that the villain probably chose not to count himself among the potential snap victims:
“Well, I think he probably put a little asterisk in his snap — and not me.”
If you ask McFeely, however, it may have only been luck that kept Thanos among the 50% who survived:
“But if it’s truly random, you know, perhaps…”
Maybe this a matter that’s best left to the fans to decide on, though if you think about it, Thanos’ plan would’ve been pretty much ruined if he’d turned to dust at the end of Avengers: Infinity War. After all, with the Mad Titan gone, the Infinity Gauntlet and all the stones would’ve been right there for the taking, allowing Earth’s Mightiest Heroes to reverse the snap with little fuss.
Instead, the Mad Titan lived just long enough to destroy the Infinity Stones, and with his legacy secure, Thanos apparently let himself be killed at the beginning of his next movie. By now, you probably know how the rest of the story goes, but if you need a reminder, Avengers: Endgame has just come out on Digital, and is headed for Blu-Ray on August 13th.
