5 Worst Things Thanos Has Ever Done

With help from ULTIMATES writer Al Ewing, we look back on some of the Mad Titan’s most dastardly actions and one moment of surprising grace.

Thanos Wields the Infinity Gauntlet

“Thanos’ biggest crime—and probably his most memorable—was accomplished with a simple snap of his fingers,” Ewing asserts. “Obviously, he was wearing the all-powerful Infinity Gauntlet at the time, giving him power of Time, Space, Reality, Power, the Mind and the Soul and essentially making him completely omnipotent.”

A Single Snap

“With that finger-snap he was able to murder one half of the population of the entire universe. Not just anyone, either—beloved Marvel characters like Rick Jones just vanished in mid-sentence, and the main INFINITY GAUNTLET title made it very clear they hadn't been teleported away. They were dead, dead, dead. Chilling stuff.”

A Disappointing First Date

Finally speaking to his lady love, Death, in THANOS #7, Thanos learns his genocidal acts have done little to impress her. However, the cosmic entity indicates that that does not mean Thanos cannot still earn her favor, only that he must find a different way.

Denying the Beyonder

Able to defeat the Beyonder and force the wildly power cosmic being into a coma, Thanos stops short of slaying his enemy. Instead he instructs the soldiers of Kyln to keep the Beyonder alive, a living sacrifice to Thanos’ lady love.

A Moment of Mercy

“Thanos wasn't all bad, though,” Ewing argues. “While it’s not the true Thanos, exactly, and the ‘crime’ is mostly a symbolic struggle, his turn in THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN MARVEL sticks in my mind.”

Escort to the Infinite

“Granted, the Thanos here is more a metaphor conjured by Mar-Vell's own dying mind, and his purpose isn’t to play the villain so much as to allow Mar-Vell to accept his own death and cross the threshold into what comes next, but it’s notable that out of all the enemies Captain Marvel fought, it’s Thanos who helps him meet his end.”