Old-school fans lament the loss of the MCU’s original Thanos

Now that we’re getting deep into the newly titled Multiverse Saga, with Jonathan Majors’ Kang waiting in the wings, it’s enough to make a long-term MCU fan nostalgic for the franchise’s early days. Throughout Phases Two and Three, Thanos would occasionally turn up to remind us that he would eventually collect the Infinity Stones, something he ultimately did in Avengers: Infinity War. But the Mad Titan’s earlier appearances depict him very differently from his later portrayal.

Following Damion Poitier’s cameo in The Avengers, Josh Brolin made his debut as Thanos in Guardians of the Galaxy, which presented the villain very much in keeping with his comic book counterpart. And, after revisiting Brolin’s big scene in Guardians, old-school fans are lamenting the fact that we were robbed of this more accurate version of the arch-foe, complete with a cold, authoritative demeanor and grandiose dialogue.

As Redditor u/anthonystrader18 said when sharing the scene on the r/MarvelStudios subreddit, “I know that Thanos was reworked as a character for Infinity War but this is easily his most intimidating scene.”

The sequence in question sees Thanos belittle Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace) by calling him a “pouting child” and threatening to “bathe the starways in [his] blood” if he disappoints him again. Director James Gunn has admitted in the past that he didn’t massively appreciate being tasked with putting Thanos in his movie to establish future plotlines, but to his credit, Gunn does a terrific job of marking out the Titan as the most fearsome being in the universe.

Obviously, the reinterpretation of Thanos in Infinity War, which made him much less regal and more of a tragic figure, worked wonders, helping ensure his status as one of the most popular cinematic villains around. But, still, it would’ve been fascinating — and definitely more consistent – if this original depiction of Thanos had been kept up throughout the Infinity Saga. If only Marvel had been brave enough to do the whole “in love with Death” thing.