He’s big, he’s purple, and he’s hungry for Infinity Stones. You guessed it, it’s Thanos.
The franchise has been slowly building up his reputation as the most dangerous being in the MCU ever since teasing him all those years ago, and now he’s here and is apparently set to completely wreck Earth in Avengers: Infinity War in order to achieve his nihilistic goals. But exactly how powerful is Thanos anyway and what will it take to beat him?
The question came up in Hey U Guys’ interview with Infinity War directors Anthony and Joe Russo, in which they outlined where he sits in comparison to the rest of the MCU:
“I mean it’s like death comes to call for the Avengers, it’s a nearly unbeatable force who is determined to destroy half the life in the universe in order to bring it into balance. He sees it as an overgrown garden that he needs to prune. As you mentioned he is fairly invincible. He’s a sort of genetic mutation who’s the Genghis Khan of the universe. Unbeatable on the battlefield and stronger than the Hulk. His skin is invincible, so it’s going to cost the Avengers something to defeat him.”
So, stronger than the Hulk, smart and tactical, practically indestructible and soon to be in control of the Infinity Stones. Sheesh, I wouldn’t like to be in Captain America’s boots right now. The Avengers (in combination with the Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider-Man, the Wakandan army and Doctor Strange) are going to have to work overtime to stop him.
The phrase “it’s going to cost the Avengers something to defeat him” also underlines the notion that heroes are going to fall in this movie. Popular opinion is that MCU veterans like Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans are most likely to make the ultimate sacrifice, with both actors having reached the end of their contracts and both having explored their characters extensively. If they are to go out, at least it’s going to be against a more than worthy adversary.
All this also begs the question – just how are they going to beat Thanos? In the comics, he’s defeated by Adam Warlock after the Avengers fail – but as we don’t have an Adam Warlock in the MCU (yet), all bets are off.
