AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR Was Originally More of an Origin Story for Thanos
Avengers: Infinity War was the first part in the two-film saga that culminated the first three phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film gave us background on Thanos, the worst and most formidable villain in Marvel history, who executed a plan to eliminate half the world’s population in an attempt to alleviate the needs and resources of all peoples.
The films turned out perfectly, with all the action, comedy, and heartbreak we could muster, but the original plan for Infinity War included much more footage of a younger Thanos among his kind.
In a recently released Netflix behind-the-scenes exclusive, ahead of their upcoming film The Gray Man, directors Anthony and Joe Russo led fans through their offices. The pair, who directed Infinity War and Endgame, led viewers through their hallway and office space, where we got to see tons of art from their films. This included a book of key frames from Infinity War, and one (provided by /Film) is a photo of a younger Thanos among a few others in his species on what appears to be his home planet. Here’s some previously released young Thanos concept art.
The screenwriters for the film, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, previously expressed wanting to tell more of an origin story for the villain, previously telling ComicBook:
"We wrote some scenes, sort of flashbacky scenes of a young Thanos on Titan trying to make his case ... And part of the reason it went away is it got a little too Jor-El on Krypton making his case, you know? It was the sort of thing you could imply without having to see."
So instead of leaning into the Superman-sounding backstory, they pivoted to backstory involving Thanos’ step-daughters:
"What we settled on were all those scenes that explained any history he had with Gamora. Those are doing more than one thing, because they're highlighting his relationship with the daughter he's going to have to sacrifice."
It all worked out for the best. The films still gave a really solid sense of Thanos’s frame of mind, and we could tell from his story why he was doing what he was doing. It is cool to see him as a young man though. Check out the photo above, and let us know if you would have liked to have seen a fuller Thanos origin story.