The version of Thanos Found in the MCU is one of the very few superhero movie villains to earn a truly infamous and iconic reputation for their performance on screen. While Marvel’s previous roster of antagonists has had some strong showings, none have been as terrifying yet as complex as Thanos the Mad Titan, a world-conquering cosmic being defined by his own moral compass and rules of conduct. Indeed, one of the biggest issues the MCU faces in the wake of Thanos’ defeat is just who can replace him and match both the franchise-defining moments and quotes the intimidating Avengers adversary provided.
throughout Avengers: Infinity War And Avengers: Endgame, Thanos’ MCU powers and motives saw him Imagine yourself as an intergalactic tyrant and a philosophical warrior. This resulted in a real chain of interactions with his allies and enemies, each of which tended to contain at least one line that both perfectly defined the character, and proved him more and more fascinating. Being the most iconic villain in MCU history, Thanos will be remembered best for his iconic linesEven if his plan was eventually and thankfully unlimited by the end of his stint as the main villain in the MCU timeline.
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“I could snap my finger and you would all cease to exist.”
Avengers: Infinity War
A powerful perpetrator of the pain that will come Avengers: Endgame, This quote from Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War Shows that the Mad Titan is not one to mince words. In one sentence, he both acknowledges the power of the Avengers and That Their combined power is nothing compared to the power of the Infinity Gauntlet In Thanos’ hand. Infinity War It ends with Earth’s mightiest heroes and all their allies, from Doctor Strange to T’Challa and all his Wakandan forces, facing down the mighty Thanos and finding themselves falling victim to his use of the Infinity Gauntlet. He snapped his fingers, and half of the earth’s population disappeared almost immediately.
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“Fun isn’t something you consider when balancing the universe. But this… puts a smile on my face.”
Avengers: Infinity War Trailer
like Avengers: Infinity War Thanos was hellbent on his mission. While he could be written off as a two-dimensional superhero antagonist, he was a villain driven by a complex purpose. While most saw him as a destroyer of worlds, he saw himself as their creator and redeemer. He stretched entire planets in the belief that they can rise again from the ashes, societies with a chance to more with much less inhabitants compete for resources.
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This line is only spoken in the Infinity War Trailerbut still serves as a notable precursor to other similar lines that Thanos would utter in his final showdown with the Avengers in end game, Added a sense of pathos to his overall villain arc.
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“Perfectly balanced, as all things should be.”
Avengers: Infinity War
While striving for balance can be considered a noble objective, when it comes out of Thanos’ voice it just sounds chilling and disturbing. Seeing Thanos discuss how his mindset and ideas will bring balance to the world is such a very memorable momentEspecially given the symbolism of the scene and what it meant to both Thanos and Gamora, and their warped familial relationship.
The biggest impact of the scene and quote is how it conveys that all of Thanos’ ideas come from a place of twisted morality. He doesn’t believe that any of his actions are evil, and showing Gamora all about balance as a child was his creepy way of trying to convince others that his way was right too.
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“You have my respect, Stark. When I’m done, half of humanity will still be alive. I hope they remember you.”
Avengers: Infinity War
No matter if viewers loved or hated Thanos, most can agree that he is not a typical villain. He was driven by his own sense of morality and his own code of conduct. As such, when Iron Man engages him in hand-to-hand combat for what will be the last time, he is no match for the Mad Titan, who stabs him in the chest.
Thanos’ line, which could just as easily have included, “… When I’m done, half of humanity will die,” Instead saw him choose to give Tony hope that the people of Earth would move on. The respect however Automatic phrase about them remembering Tony gives an eerie foreshadowing of Iron Man’s sacrifice in End game. At this point in his story, Thanos isn’t killing for fun – he’s doing it for what he sees as a noble cause with unfortunately necessary sacrifices.
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“You’re not the only one cursed with knowledge.”
Avengers: Infinity War
Continue Thanos’ interaction with Iron-Man in Avengers: Infinity War, Another great piece of Thanos’ dialogue is, “You are not the only one cursed with knowledge.“ The Thanos quote comes when Iron Man and Thanos first cross paths and it becomes clear that they already know each other’s names. It is an interesting take that Thanos immediately tries to get sympathy from Tony Stark and his issues, as he demonstrates an unusual respect for the hero of the offset.
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It’s also unusual because it sees Thanos almost refer to his own self-described calling as a bad thing, suggesting his motivation isn’t as simple as it might have outwardly looked. He feels that his understanding of what needs to be done is a realization that he wishes would not come. It’s less clear what exactly Stark’s burden of knowledge is, though it certainly informed some of his earlier problems in movies like Avengers: Age of Ultron.
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“I know what it’s like to lose.”
Avengers: Infinity War
Thanos utters the full extent of this line – “I know what it’s like to lose. To feel so desperately that you’re not right, yet to fail nonetheless… dread it. Run from him. Fate comes all the same. And now it’s here. Or should I say, I am.“ – When addressing the Asgardians at the beginning of Infinity War. While it may be hard to imagine Thanos being desperate, the statement is deeply saddened in how Thanos tries to connect with the heroes before they destroy them, and echoes sides of his character revealed in comics like The death of Captain Marvel Or Thanos rising.
After Thanos uses the Infinity Gauntlet to make half of Earth’s population disappear, the Avengers seem to do exactly as he describes against the Asgardians; Run from their failure to have stopped him. But while he proclaims himself the “future” of which their future is made, they decide to use their despair as strength, a symbol of never giving up, and explore a new future in Avengers: Endgame.
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“Your planet was on the brink of collapse. I’m the one who stopped that.”
Avengers: Infinity War
During a particularly heartfelt moment between Gamora and Thanos, he carefully describes how he perceives her home planet, Zen-Whoberi, stating, “Go to sleep hungry, crawling on your eyebrows. Your planet was on the verge of collapse. I’m the one who stopped it. You know what happened since then? The children born knew nothing but full books and clear skies. It is a paradise.” From this it is clear that in Thanos’ eyes he lifted Gamora out of obscurity and poverty by taking her from her home planet, a planet he then stripped of its population to create a “paradise”.
Where she saw a living world full of happy inhabitants, he saw a planet in denial of the socioeconomic and political problems that brought about its inevitable destruction through a lack of resources. By removing a chunk of the population, Thanos says there is enough food to go around and access to resources previously fought over, encouraging him to amp up for worse atrocities later down the line.
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– Everything.
Avengers: Infinity War
The storyline between Thanos and Gamora is one of the most interesting and emotional in the entire MCU. in Avengers: Infinity War, The moment comes to a head when he sacrifices her to retrieve the soul stone. Then he sees a baby version of his daughter, and she asks him what it cost him to get what he wanted. Thanos gives a simple one-word answer: “Everything.“It may not be a long line or a thought-provoking quote, but that one word shows the sensitive side to him and just how much he really cared for Gamora.
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It ties into his other quote about knowledge being a burden, as well. Although audiences (and the Avengers) see the massive flaws in Thanos’ plan, he doesn’t and is completely dedicated to his idea of ​​the greater good. Moreover, the scene is more affecting that Thanos can’t lie, or he wouldn’t have acquired the stone. He really loves Gamora despite the tragic beginning of their relationship.
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“The hardest choices require the strongest will.”
Avengers: Infinity War
Thanos never came across as an extremely impulsive being. Every decision he made was carefully thought out, its repercussions measured and its results weighed.. He knew that for every action there was a consequence, and on a cosmic scale that the Avengers and the people of Earth at this point in the MCU timeline, seemingly did not know about. Therefore, when he set out to destroy planets, he knew he would need the determination to do so, or the guilt that comes with empathizing with their populations might be too much to bear.
Thanos has strong will power, but the Avengers’ resolve was stronger. Although he destroyed the Infinity Stones, they pooled their resources and found a way to get them back. At every turn, their determination was equal to his, which he ultimately respected.
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“I thought that by eliminating half of life, the other half would thrive. But you’ve shown me… that’s impossible.”
Avengers: Endgame
After Thanos used the Infinity Gauntlet to snap his fingers and wipe out half of Earth’s population, he fled to a paradise he created for himself to live in peace. His peace did not last long, and the Avengers tracked him to the shelter with Nebula’s help. He waxed poetic about what he did and why what worked on other planets didn’t work on Earth.
Where he had destroyed entire worlds before and rebuilt them as what he perceived as thriving civilizations, eliminating half of Earth didn’t work because the remaining half was so devastated with grief and loss. This encapsulates not only what Thanos’ plan was doomed to begin with, but also why he was ultimately defeated – Because he emphasized how powerful the connection between the lost and the survivors will continue to be.
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“I’m a survivor.”
Avengers: Infinity War
Thanos’ exchange with Dr. Strange is one of the most terrifying moments in MCU history; bringing together two powerful minds as Thanos reveals what he did to his planet, making the decision to wipe out half of its existence. The duo have an amazing Back and forth conversation, which leads to some brilliant quotes.
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However, the best of these comes when the villain tells Strange that what he predicted came to pass. Strange quickly bites back by congratulating him on being a prophet, but the Mad Titan doesn’t want that crown, saying simply instead, “I am a survivor.“ In this one line, fans get a clear look at the ethos of Thanos, and also how different he is to the conventional power-hungry MCU antagonist.
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“All this for a drop of blood.”
Avengers: Infinity War
The thought of Thanos has haunted Tony Stark since he flew through the portal to sacrifice himself at the end of The Avengers. It was only exacerbated during Tony’s vision in Avengers: Age of UltronAnd Iron Man would continue to do everything he could to make sure they were prepared for a threat like Thanos. By the time Iron Man and Thanos finally meet face-to-face, viewers have known how Tony has felt about the prospect of someone like the Mad Titan threatening Earth for real-life years.
He gives everything he has during his fight with Thanos, using every bit of his smarts and technology to take him down. In the end, all he did was put a cut on Thanos’ face. Tony couldn’t handle his sheer power, and Thanos knew this, stating, – All this for a drop of blood. Thanos It wouldn’t be stopped, and Stark’s years of paranoia at this point in the story seem to be for naught.
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“I will shatter the universe to its last atom.”
Avengers: Endgame
Although Thanos destroyed the original Infinity Stones after using the Infinity Gauntlet to kill half of Earth, the Avengers combined Pym particles with time travel to find each stone again. What they didn’t count on was a Thanos from the past following them back to their present and trying to take the stones again, uttering the line “I will break the universe down to the last atom, and then, with the stones you collected for me, create a new one. It is not what is lost but only what is given…a grateful universe.”
Where Thanos had previously taken half the population, he decided to take it all at this point, perhaps realizing that he would never really win over the survivors of the snap. Instead, he went to divide the very universe Earth resided in so that he could create a new one with inhabitants who knew nothing of what he had done to create it, only that it was through his ideal plan.
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“You should have gone for the head.”
Avengers: Infinity War
Not only is this one of Thanos’ most iconic lines, but it has become one of the most iconic quotes in the entire MCU. The Thanos quote comes right at the end of Avengers: Infinity War And leads to the Snap actually taking place, wiping out half of the universe’s population. At this point in the film, it seems like Thor has saved the day, killing Thanos just in time.
Unfortunately, one of the hero’s worst decisions was to attack the wrong body part, vi Thanos smartly and somewhat smugly tells Thor, “IYou should have gone for the head.“ It proves he’s still alive and able to snap his fingers before disappearing, in a move that changed everything for the MCU. This line is the perfect foreshadowing of the next few minutes – perhaps the darkest in the entire MCU.
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“You can’t live with your own failure, and where did that get you? Back to me.”
Avengers: Endgame
The time after Thanos used the Infinity Gauntlet is a bleak one for everyone on Earth, but life gets especially hard on Earth’s mightiest heroes. The average citizen is not aware of the cost of Thanos succeeding in obtaining all the Infinity Stones, but the Avengers were, and they felt the failure of their mission more acutely because they were not able to stop him.
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dealing with The consequences of failure is a theme that ripples through the entirety of End game, What is the concept of destiny. For Thanos, they are one and the same for the Avengers, who he feels cannot progress when their expectations of themselves are shattered. His gloating comments spur them to find a way to repair the damage and loss he caused.
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“That was a mistake.”
Avengers: Infinity War
The opening scene of Avengers: Infinity War The massive threat that Thanos will be to Earth, the universe and the Avengers perfectly. After easily beating the Hulk, Heimdall uses the Bifrost to send the Hulk to Earth. After seeing this happen, Thanos tells him: – This was a mistake. Thanos proceeds to kill Heimdall in front of ThorShowing how easily he can take care of a character fans have grown to love in the last decade.
He then goes on to kill Loki, truly showing no one would be safe in this movie. Capping the two kills with him and Hulk in a fight brought Thanos to the most terrifying villain the MCU has ever had. Whoever tried to stand in his way, he was sure to show them the error.
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“Reality is often disappointing.”
Avengers: Infinity War
Where the Avengers were (for the most part) an optimistic group, Thanos was decidedly more of a pessimist, hence his harrowing MCU plans. However, the steps of Thanos’ plan suggested he knew he couldn’t expect perfection, but he strove for excellence in his ambitions because he knew they were achievable if he kept his expectations grounded in what was possible. According to his definition, life is always going to be disappointing, so he has to strive for something better – a perspective that was arguably the root of his absolute worst MCU acts.
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The Avengers being forced to see Thanos’ perspective of the world is also arguably what led to the team falling apart after Thanos snapped his finger – their boundless can-do sense of determinism was effectively broken, and they were forced to look at the Stark . reality of their situation. Ironically, Thanos had to reevaluate his own reality as well, as the pessimistic aftermath was an outcome he seemingly didn’t fully anticipate.
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“I like him.”
Avengers: Infinity War
Like a father meeting his daughter’s boyfriend for the first time, Thanos was completely in control during his standoff with Peter Quill when he captured Gamora. Before this scene, Gamora asks Peter to kill her if Thanos captures her in an attempt to keep the Soul Stone out of his hands. When the time comes, Thanos eggs him on, until Peter eventually gives in and pulls the trigger. Using the reality stone, Thanos turns the blaster into bubbles and says, “I love him,” Before teleporting away.
Thanos never planned to let Peter kill Gamora, but he wanted to see how far he would go. When Peter actually decides to do it, Thanos is impressed with his determination. of course, It all feels like a sick game to ThanosBring Peter into an emotionally dark place that may haunt him for the rest of his life.
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“Tip the cosmic scales to balance.”
Avengers: Endgame
The MCU’s most powerful cosmic characters (including the Eternals) operate on a scale almost inconceivable to most Earth-dwelling superheroes. When Thanos became the primary villain for the Avengers, they were dealing with someone who observed cause and effect in a way that had real repercussions across the galaxy and beyond.
When Thanos Discusses Tipping”The cosmic balance in balance“, it’s not a lyrical turn of phrase; it is The perspective of an omnipresent being and intergalactic conqueror who knows the scale of sacrifice involved in trying to stabilize a chaotic universe. This Thanos quote also serves to tie him closer to his comic counterpart – specifically, the plot involving Thanos attempting to court the personification of death with his brutality, which also saw him focused on the nature of the universe and its effect on it.
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“The only thing I don’t take seriously, boy, is you. Your politics bore me! Your attitude is that of a child bird.”
Guardians of the Galaxy
Although Thanos has been briefly seen in the tail end of The Avengersdoing nothing more than turning his head and smiling, Guardians of the Galaxy was the proper introduction for the Mad Titan. In the movie, he tasks Ronan with acquiring the Power Stone for him, and in return, Thanos promises to destroy Xandar for Ronin. However, Ronan clearly does not understand the imbalance of power in their relationship.
However, Thanos immediately asserts his dominance and speaks down to the powerful Ronan, calling him a boy and scolding him for “losing” Gamora and the Stone. This is a great example of “show, don’t tell” storytelling, immediately establishing Thanos as a villain to be feared and respected. Ronan later, more directly pushes back against Thanos, which doesn’t go much better for him.