Thanos was always one of Marvel Comics' most ominous villains, but his role in the MCU catapulted the Mad Titan to a new level of recognition within the pop culture landscape, leading to a massive resurgence of appearances within the comics over the last decade. Still, despite Thanos' silver screen appearances doing wonders for his character development, appearing more regularly hasn’t necessarily been the best thing for his comic counterpart.
Since his debut in the MCU, Thanos’ resurgence has led to a string of crushing losses in the pages of Marvel Comics that simply don’t do the character justice. Multiple defeats have led to Thanos losing some of the impact as an antagonist that he once had. Especially with these defeats coming at the hands of a number of different characters, the character's terrifying might has been diluted by his frequent use.
The Mad Titan Isn’t What He Once Was
Thanos' losses have been wide-ranging. There was defeated at the hands of his son Thane in Infinity – by Jonathan Hickman, Jim Cheung, Dustin Weaver, and Jerome Opeña. His spine was torn out by an all-powerful Doctor Doom in Secret Wars – also written by Hickman, with art by Esaad Ribic, and Ive Svorcina. His defeat at the start of Civil War II by Brian Michael Bendis, David Marquez, and Justin Ponsor, served as the inciting incident for the series. Thanos was even beheaded by his own daughter Gamora at one point. Though he fights his way back to life, he’s spent much time being outsmarted and betrayed by his fellow Eternals.
Thanos Is On An Epic Losing Streak
Prior to his big screen success, the Mad Titan was an ominous threat. Used sparingly, with the greatest of impact, he was portrayed as being relatively successful in his machinations, even outside of stories like The Infinity Gauntlet by Jim Starlin, George Perez, and Ron Lim. Both that miniseries and its sequels, The Infinity War and The Infinity Crusade, portrayed Thanos as a necessary force in the universe. This continued in the Guardians of the Galaxy revival by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, and more, following the Annihilation War. At times, Thanos has been accepted into the Infinity Watch, on more than one occasion learning truths about the universe that few could comprehend.
The occasions where Thanos has suffered a crushing defeat prior to his MCU stardom were explained in the Infinity Abyss miniseries – by the creative time Starlin, Al Milgrom, and Christie Scheele – as the work of his failed clones. Now, it seems that the Mad Titan can’t gain the advantage on the heroes of Earth, and the wider Marvel Universe, and so many losses over the last decade threaten to severely impact Thanos’ brand. It is clear from his cinematic fame that Marvel fans definitely want more of the character, but it’s rare for a villain to truly win, meaning that Thanos has been consistently foiled in his plans.
With the Thanos series by Christopher Cantwell and Luca Pizzari pitting the titular Titan against a new iteration of Marvel Comics’ Illuminati, this is the perfect time to finally give Thanos a much-needed win. He has spent the last decade doing little more than failing, only occasionally failing upwards.
Thanos is one of Marvel’s most iconic villains, and it’s time for the House of Ideas to start treating him as such. A decade of overexposure has lowered the Mad Titan’s credibility, and he’s in desperate need of a victory. Whether things will start looking up for the MCU’s biggest bad to date remains to be seen, but it’s not likely to happen unless Marvel Comics starts treating Thanos with the reverence he once enjoyed.
