Thanos is one of the greatest supervillains in the entire Marvel Universe. Present in the MCU, especially in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, it is also a recurring character in the comics. Recently, the mad titan just proved that another character, presumably thought to be a supervillain, was actually a hero from the very beginning.
Thanos: the mad titan
Created in 1973 by Jim StarlinThanos is quickly becoming one of the most iconic supervillains in the entire Marvel stable. Thanos is a Titan, from one of the branches of the Eternals, totally obsessed with the stones of infinity and with Death, which he constantly tries to seduce. In film, he has appeared several times in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) as Josh Brolin. He made 5 appearances in all, including two notable ones in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
Recently, Thanos just proved that Druig, one of the founding members of the Eternals, is actually a hero. This character, hated by all, first appeared in 1977 from the pen of Jack Kirby. Like all Eternals, Druig is nearly immortal. He also has complete control over his molecular structure, and is powered by cosmic energy. While many Eternals are considered heroes, Druig has proven time and time again that he is anything but heroic. This ambiguous anti-hero has also just joined the MCU in The Eternals, as Barry Keoghan.
Druig is actually a superhero
In the recent comics Eternals: The HereticThanos became the Prime Eternal, and so the leader of the race of the Eternals. Now that he’s in charge, Thanos has asked Druig to tell him his story and guide him through the Eternals’ past. Druig then told him a whole new story that made him a hero in the shadows.
600,000 years ago, Uranos, an Eternal who was plotting to destroy planet Earth, was arrested by Druig himself. Uranos was tasked by the Celestials with ridding the world of Deviants. After a while, Uranos grew weary of his mission. So he decided that the only course of action was to eliminate all forms of life on Earth. He thus formed a coalition with other Eternals, including Druig, to complete his genocide.
However, Druig betrayed Uranos and incapacitated him to save Earth. An astonishing decision on the part of Druig who nevertheless has only disdain for the Earth and its inhabitants. He then justified his action by saying that Uranos betrayed the goodwill of the Celestials, and that he should not continue to freewheel. Druig thus ended his mutiny, while remaining eternally faithful to the vision of the Celestials.
Even if that doesn’t make him Earth’s greatest hero, this unrecognized action makes Druig a little more ambiguous. But anyway, it must be remembered that the latter remains a protagonist who only serves his own interests. As for her portrayal in Chloé Zhao’s film, it has clearly been watered down compared to her personality in the comics, which is often detestable.
