Having successfully purged the universe of half its population, the ending of Avengers: Infinity War saw Thanos follow through on his plan to “finally rest, and watch the sun rise on a grateful universe.” In Avengers: Endgame, however, you can expect the Mad Titan to return once more to the action, and if the various leaked merchandise featuring the villain is anything to go by, then the purple conqueror will really be piling on the armor this time round.
This latest action figure leak, for instance, shows Thanos looking well protected and armed with his old Infinity Gauntlet. Speaking of which, seeing how the character ditched his armor near the beginning of Infinity War because he felt that his Gauntlet kept him protected enough, the question is raised of why exactly the villain’s taking precautions this time around. Previous leaks even suggest that Thanos will also be wielding a massive new blade in the upcoming flick, as though a gauntlet capable of wiping out half the universe wasn’t deadly enough.
While one interesting fan theory is that the armored Thanos is actually a version of the character from the past that our heroes will encounter as they travel through time, the more popular explanation for the villain’s armor is that his gauntlet was seriously damaged by the snap, and is no longer working at full capacity.
Regardless, though Thanos showed up briefly in the first Avengers: Endgame trailer, we still have much to learn about the character’s role in the plot, with some fans predicting that the tyrant may be usurped from his position as main baddie by an “even greater threat.” That’s just speculation for the time being, but all will be revealed when the film hits theaters on April 26th, 2019.