New Details on Thanos' Backstory, Motivation, and The Avenger He Connects With Most in INFINITY WAR
Thanks to Avengers: Infinity War directors Joe and Anthony Russo, we have some new information regarding Thanos to share with you. They talk about his backstory, his motivation, and the one hero on the Avengers team that he ends up connecting with most.
We already know that the film will focus on Thanos as he embarks on a journey to collect all the Infinity Stones for the purpose of destroying half of the universe. But what is his motivation behind it, what led him on this path of catastrophic destruction? During an interview with The Telegraph India, Joe Russo talked about Thanos' life and how exactly he earned the nickname The Mad Titan:
"Thanos is this virtually indestructible character who’s stronger than the Hulk, and has invincible skin. He’s from a planet called Titan. Many years prior to the film his planet was experiencing a cataclysmic shift. They were running out of resources, and they were overpopulated. Thanos made a recommendation that they exterminate half the population randomly in order to save the rest of the population. Of course, the Titans rejected his notion, branded him a mad man, exiled him, and the planet ended up dying. So he has taken it upon himself to go planet-by-planet throughout the universe and wipe out half of the population of each planet as a way to correct the planet and bring it back into balance.
The director goes on to say:
"Once he hears about the stones, he realises that if he can get hold of all of the Infinity Stones he can control the entire universe. With the snap of his fingers he could correct the universe permanently by removing 50 per cent of life from it. So, these are incredible stakes for our characters. If the Avengers were built for anything, it’s for stopping Thanos from completing his goal."
In the comic book story arc, Thanos actually succeeds in this. The question is, will he succeed in the MCU? Will Kevin Feige actually let Thanos succeed in his plan!? I personally think he will as it will reset the universe, but we'll just have to wait and see.
The director goes on to reveal that the one hero that Thanos is able to connect with most is Tony Stark and also explains what Stark is going through when this threat presents itself:
"I think he has the most specific connection to Tony because Tony is a futurist, and he has predicted a threat like Thanos. It’s lived in his brain even though he couldn’t name it. Tony is the most desperately driven, down to the core, to react against something like Thanos, although all the heroes will face a threat, no matter who it is or where it comes from. But I think this is intrinsic to Tony’s psychology, and because Tony started it all with Iron Man, he has a special connection to the threat that’s facing him."
Tony Stark's whole overreaching story arc has dealt with protecting the world from all forms of threats from both Earth and beyond. Things obviously didn't play out the way he had hoped, but now that the biggest threat of them all has come knocking on his door, is he prepared to face it and do what it takes to stop it?
It will be interesting to see how exactly Stark does handle the ultimate threat. Most importantly, will he actually get out of it alive?
Avengers: Infinity War is set to hit theaters on April 27th.