Kevin Feige Offers a Backstory For Thanos in AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR and Insight Into His Mission
As Thanos tears through the MCU collecting the Infinity Stones in Avengers: Infinity War to bring chaos and destruction to the universe, people are going to die. This is a fact and screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely confirm it saying, "It’s safe to say we will say farewell to people." I imagine that some of them will die in a blaze of glory, some will die senselessly, and some will sacrifice themselves.
In case you're wondering why Thanos (Josh Brolin) is embarking on this mission, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has an answer for you and in the process offers a little backstory on the Mad Titan. He tells EW:
“He’s from a planet called Titan that’s no longer inhabited because of things that he thought he could help prevent, and he was not allowed to do that. What he feared most happened, and the planet and everybody on it basically went extinct. He vowed not to let that happen again. He thinks he sees the universe going down the tubes. He thinks he sees life expanding outward unchecked. That will bring ruin, he believes, to the universe and to that life."
So, he thinks he is doing the Universe a great service. He "sees his mission as saving half the universe. But to do that, he wants to kill off the other half." Feige goes on to say:
"That’s either genius or horrific, depending on your point of view, and most of our point of views say it’s pretty horrific."
It is horrific! And as you've seen in the trailers, he's having fun in the process. He finds joy in taking out half the universe, and that's scary. The big question is will he actually accomplish his mission? In the comics, he actually does obliterate half the universe. Do you think Marvel Studios bring that aspect of the story over to the films?
To help him on his mission of obtaining the stones, he's enlisted the help of the Black Order and a legion of genetically engineered Outriders. Director Joe Russo explains again that this is a big epic heist movie:
"He’s on a hunt. We’re using a bit of a ’90s heist genre component. Thanos is on a smash-and-grab, and everybody’s trying to catch up the whole movie."
As far as the Infinity Stones go, Doctor Strange has the green Time Stone, The Collector has the red Reality Stone, The intergalactic police force Nova Corps has the Power Stone, Loki has the Space Stone, Vision has the Mind Stone, and the location of the Soul Stone is currently unknown.
I imagine that the Soul Stone will be the last stone that Thanos gets his hands on. It would be insane if Thanos actually gets all the stones and uses the Gauntlet to destroy half the universe! I personally don't think that The Avengers or the Guardians of the Galaxy will be able to stop him.