Early Avengers: Endgame Draft Had Thanos Perched On A Throne Of Skulls

If you’re at all familiar with Marvel Comics, you’ll know that Thanos has a peculiar fondness of death – literally and figuratively.

And while Joe and Anthony Russo opted for a decidedly different interpretation of the Mad Titan during Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, the latter MCU movie almost included a not-so-subtle nod to Thanos’ affinity with death. As Marvel Studios president tells Empire, an early draft of Endgame featured Thanos perched on a throne of skulls, seemingly drawing inspiration from Jim Cheung’s illustration.

It would have made for an incredibly evocative (and disturbing) image, especially if it was paired with the idea of the multiverse Thanos presenting Cap’s severed head to Steve Rogers – “there may be concept art,” Feige tells Empire. But the Russo Brothers ultimately decided against it. Besides, Thanos has spent enough of the Marvel Cinematic Universe lounging about on fancy chairs; Endgame was all about drawing the Mad Titan back onto the battlefield – albeit through time travel.

Via Twitter:

One idea saw the Avengers return from the #TimeHeist to find that Thanos had already overtaken 2023 Earth – with the big purple guy sitting on a throne of skulls (!!!) waiting for them #EmpireMeetsFeige

— Empire Magazine (@empiremagazine) August 8, 2019

Empire’s Q&A with Kevin Feige is chock-full of fascinating Marvel tidbits, most of which relate to Avengers: Endgame and its colossal production. It also makes for the perfect companion piece to last night’s Reddit AMA, in which directors Joe and Anthony Russo fielded numerous questions from the four corners of the Internet.

Best of all? The Russo Brothers touched on that famous Age of Ultron scene when Captain America attempted to lift Thor’s hammer. Turns out he really was worthy this whole time, which effectively debunks those theories that Cap only became worthy enough to wield Mjolnir once he confessed to Tony during Civil War.

And that’s just one small part of Avengers: Endgame, a film so big, it’s now cemented its place at the tip-top of the global box office with $2.79 billion. Long may it reign.