Marvel Still Needs to Reveal the Most Important Storyline (Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame Teased It)

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Avengers: Endgame concluded the Infinity Saga, with the Multiverse Saga mostly ignoring leftover story threads from the MCU’s first three phases and instead focusing on the future. While some scenes have explored what happened during or after The Blip, most of the movies and TV shows have focused on introducing new heroes and the multiverse. The MCU is now going back to explore the stories of characters from FOX’s X-Men movies, but it still hasn’t fully explained the story of this character.

The MCU Still Needs To Show Thanos’ Origin Story

Thanos was the main villain of the Multiverse Saga, with him making his debut in 2012’s The Avengers and appearing as a supporting antagonist until his major role in Infinity War. By the time Thanos is seen, he has already collected one of the Infinity Stones, assembled the Black Order, and started his quest to eliminate half of all life in the universe. Projects like Guardians of the Galaxy gave a glimpse into Thanos’ backstory, as did some flashbacks in Infinity War. However, most of his backstory is still completely unexplored, and it needs to be in the MCU’s spotlight.

Infinity War explains that Thanos grew up on the planet Titan, which was faced with an overpopulation crisis. Thanos began advocating for the random slaughter of half of Titan’s population, which obviously was not a popular idea. Thanos was ostracized and began focusing on carrying out this plan on a universal scale as Titan fell into ruin. Thanos was one of the only survivors of Titan, with him believing that this proved him right about his theory.

While this story is explained in dialogue, we need to actually see Thanos’ backstory. Thanos is an incredibly complex character with a super interesting system of morality, and seeing how he became this way would be a fantastic movie. The MCU could easily make a movie that follows Thanos as he presents his drastic ideas to the society of a collapsing world, only for him to be pushed out of it. The story would be a political thriller tragedy, something that has never been attempted before in the MCU.

This film would add another layer to Thanos’ character, as he would be the protagonist of his own story before becoming the antagonist to the Avengers. Thanos is already one of the MCU’s most complex characters, and finally telling this story would make him even more so.

Will The MCU Ever Make A Thanos Origin Movie?

While a Thanos origin movie sounds cool, the MCU will probably never make it. The MCU is focused on universe-building. Many of the franchise’s current projects set up sequels and highlight connections to other movies in the Multiverse Saga. A Thanos movie wouldn’t be able to do this, as it would be a prequel to a story that is fully complete. While the movie would undoubtedly be interesting, it would be entirely disconnected from what the MCU is working on now.

However, a Thanos movie could benefit the MCU in some big ways. It is undeniable that some of the MCU’s more recent heroes aren’t nearly as popular as the characters who were introduced in the Infinity Saga. Thanos skyrocketed in popularity after the release of Infinity War, with him now being one of the franchise’s most iconic characters. Bringing him back for his own movie may garner a similar fan reaction as doing the same for characters like Iron Man or Captain America.

On top of that, a Thanos movie could pull back fans who weren’t interested in anything post-Infinity Saga. The Multiverse Saga undeniably hasn’t been as big of a cultural phenomenon as the Infinity Saga. If the MCU can’t recapture the magic of its first three phases, it should simply return to it. A Thanos movie could bring old fans back to the MCU, reminding them how high the highs are and encouraging them to check out the projects in the Multiverse Saga.

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