Introduced as the overarching villain of the MCU’s Infinity Saga, Thanos was a terrifying threat facing the Avengers in Phases 1, 2, and 3. Originally portrayed by Damion Poitier in The Avengers‘ post-credits scene, Josh Brolin assumed the role of Thanos from Guardians of the Galaxy onwards. In Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos embarked on his mission of collecting the six Infinity Stones and wiping out half of all life. Despite being one of the MCU’s most threatening villains, Thanos’ backstory was never really explored during his tenure in the MCU.
In Marvel Comics, Thanos was first introduced in 1973’s The Invincible Iron Man #55, and has since appeared in five decades of publications – an almost-constant threat to the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Fantastic Four, and the X-Men. While his origin story has been changed for the MCU, Marvel Comics’ Thanos is the son of Eternals A’Lars and Sui’San, but carries the Deviant gene, explaining his notable appearance. Thanos’ intentions in the MCU made him a formidable opponent to the Avengers. Here is Thanos’ full timeline in the MCU.
18 1013-1018: Thanos Was Born Into Titan’s Royal Family
At some time between the years 1013 and 1018, Thanos was born on Titan to A’Lars, a member of the royal family. The Titans were a god-like species who built a remarkable civilization on the planet. Eternals revealed that Eros, an Eternal, was Thanos’ brother, adopted by the royal family after being sent to Titan by the Celestial Arishem. Since not much is known about Thanos’ early life in the MCU, this is something that can be expanded on in future MCU projects featuring the Eternals.
17 Unknown Date: The Titans Exiled Thanos For His Genocidal Scheme
Thanos eventually realized that resources were running low on Titan due to overpopulation, and someone needed to take drastic actions. He suggested killing a random half of the population of Titan to save the other half from starvation. Although borne out of love for his people, this idea was deemed genocidal, and Thanos was exiled. As it turns out, Thanos’ prediction came to pass, and Titan was rendered practically uninhabitable in the subsequent decades.
16 Unknown Date: Thanos Wanted To Bring Balance To The Universe, Planet By Planet
After Thanos was left as the last survivor of his people, he became convinced that the entire universe would eventually suffer the same fate as his homeworld. Thanos spent several years amassing an army and resources, beginning his conquest to bring balance to the universe. He would invade a planet, massacre half the population, and move on to the next. Throughout his campaign, he garnered control of the Chitauri, the Sakaarans, and the Outriders, and became known as one of the most powerful beings in the universe.
15 1970-1990: Orphans Were Collected As The Children Of Thanos
Thanos regularly adopted orphaned children from the planets he invaded. The Children of Thanos were raised by Thanos to be powerful warriors. Among these were Ebony Maw, Proxima Midnight, Corvus Glaive, and Cull Obsidian, who comprised the Black Order. Thanos would also take the young Gamora from Zen-Whoberi in the 1980s, and the young Nebula, a member of the Luphomoid race – both of whom would eventually betray him, becoming members of the Guardians of the Galaxy.
14 2012: Loki Was Sent To Earth By Thanos In The Avengers
Eventually devising his plan to use the Infinity Stones to wipe out half the population of the universe in an instant, Thanos would acquire the Mind Stone in the form of a scepter that he entrusted to Loki to aid in his collection of the Space Stone. Sending Loki to Earth, Thanos underestimated the might of the newly-formed Avengers, who banded together to take down Loki and defeat the Chitauri. During this battle, Thanos not only didn’t acquire the Space Stone, but also lost possession of the Mind Stone.
13 2014: Ronan Acquired The Power Stone For Thanos In Guardians Of The Galaxy
In 2014, Ronan the Accuser, a radical Kree warlord, asked for Thanos’ help in destroying Xandar. In return, Thanos challenged Ronan to acquire the Power Stone for him, placing Gamora and Nebula into the Accuser’s company. However, both Gamora and Ronan would betray Thanos, as the former joined the Guardians of the Galaxy, and the latter decided to keep the Power Stone for himself. The Guardians of the Galaxy destroyed Ronan, and the Power Stone was left in the care of the Nova Corps, marking another failure for Thanos.
12 2014: Nebula Set Out To Kill Thanos
Following the transformative events of Guardians of the Galaxy and Vol. 2, Nebula turned her back on Thanos’ ideology and set out to kill him. Despite sneaking onto Thanos’ ship, however, Nebula was discovered and tortured by her father, who suspected that Gamora – who Thanos had sent to find the Soul Stone – had revealed to her sister where the stone was being hidden. After Nebula witnessed Gamora give up the information to save her life in Infinity War, she joined forces with the Avengers and the Guardians to attempt to defeat her father.
11 2015: Eitri Forged Thanos The Infinity Gauntlet Before Avengers: Age Of Ultron
Avengers: Age of Ultron’s post-credits scene revealed that Thanos had already forged the iconic Infinity Gauntlet. However, it wasn’t until Infinity War when it was revealed that Thanos had forced Eitri the Dwarf to forge the Infinity Gauntlet for him on Nidavellir. Afterward, Thanos smelted metal onto Eitri’s hands so they could no longer be used, and massacred his people – though this didn’t stop him from helping Thor to create Stormbreaker.
10 2018: Xandar Was Decimated By Thanos For The Power Stone
Thor revealed to the Guardians of the Galaxy in Infinity War that Thanos had decimated Xandar a week earlier. This reveal confirmed how Thanos was able to use the stone to attack Thor and his people in Infinity War’s opening moments. While this event hasn’t yet been seen in the MCU, this is something that is bound to be explored in Marvel Studios’ upcoming Nova project.
9 2018: Thor & The Asgardians Were Attacked By Thanos For The Space Stone
Infinity War opened with Thanos attacking Thor and the Asgardian refugee ship, allowing half the survivors to escape before eradicating the rest on his search for the Space Stone. To spare his brother’s life, Loki handed the Tesseract to Thanos, who destroyed the cube and placed the gem in the Infinity Gauntlet. With two Infinity Stones, Thanos was by far the most powerful being in the cosmos, and quickly proceeded to kill Loki and leave Thor for dead, continuing on his quest to find the other Infinity Stones.
8 2018: Thanos Captured Gamora On Knowhere & Sacrificed Her For The Soul Stone
The next stop on Thanos’ quest was to visit the Collector on Knowhere, who had been given the Reality Stone, a.k.a. the Aether, in the post-credits scene of Thor: The Dark World. Having already acquired the Reality Stone when the Guardians of the Galaxy arrived, Thanos cast an illusion to lure Gamora out of hiding. Thanos and Gamora returned to his ship, where he tortured Nebula, forcing Gamora to reveal the location of the Soul Stone. On Vormir, Thanos sacrificed Gamora to obtain the Soul Stone – as he had to sacrifice something he loved – marking the tragic end of Gamora’s MCU journey.
7 2018: The Avengers & Guardians Battled Thanos On Titan Over The Time Stone
Thanos next found himself facing Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, and the Guardians of the Galaxy (sans Rocket, Groot, and Gamora) on Titan – where Ebony Maw had piloted them to bring the Time Stone to Thanos. After the Avengers almost beat the Mad Titan, Thanos broke free and attacked the heroes, hurling Titan’s moon at them and engaging in a visually spectacular battle with Doctor Strange before almost being bested by Iron Man – though the armored Avenger ends up stabbed. In exchange for Tony Stark’s life, Doctor Strange handed Thanos the Time Stone, and the villain made his way to Earth.
6 2018: Thanos Defeated The Avengers In Wakanda & Claimed The Mind Stone
Now with five Infinity Stones, Thanos only had to collect the Mind Stone, which was embedded in Vision’s forehead. Making his way to Wakanda, where the Avengers had been dealing with the Outriders, Thanos defeated each of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes one-by-one, with only Steve Rogers’ Captain America and Wanda Maximoff, a.k.a. the Scarlet Witch, coming close to stopping him. Although the Scarlet Witch was able to destroy the Mind Stone, Thanos used the Time Stone to reverse time, claiming the Mind Stone for himself and completing his collection.
5 2018: Thanos Wiped Out Half The Population Of The Universe
In Avengers: Infinity War’s climactic moments, Thor was almost able to kill the Mad Titan with the power of Stormbreaker, but the fact that he didn’t go for the head meant that Thanos still had enough life to snap his fingers. The power from the Infinity Stones and Thanos’ indomitable will allowed his wish to be granted, as half of the population of the universe was turned to dust only moments later, while Thanos transported himself off the battlefield – but not before having a moment of clarity with a young Gamora in the Soul Realm. Thanos’ snap in Infinity War thrust the MCU into five years of turmoil.
4 2018: The Avengers Killed Thanos In The Garden
Three weeks after Thanos snapped his fingers in Wakanda, the remaining Avengers ambushed the Mad Titan in the Garden – a lush planet on which Thanos had chosen to retire. On a mission to reclaim the Infinity Stones, Thanos revealed the Avengers were too late, as he had reduced the stones to atoms, destroying them and any chances of reversing his actions. This confession prompted Thor to finally go for the head, killing the Mad Titan in front of his daughter, Nebula. The Avengers would leave the Garden hopeless, but this thankfully wasn’t the end of their story.
3 2014: Thanos Learned Of The Avengers’ Time Heist
After Scott Lang returned from the Quantum Realm with the prospect of time travel, the remaining Avengers embarked on the Time Heist five years after Thanos’ snap in Avengers: Infinity War. Sending Nebula and War Machine back to 2014 to acquire the Power Stone from Morag before Peter Quill could steal it, the former unwittingly connected with her 2014 self, alerting Thanos to the existence of the future Nebula and the Avengers’ plan to collect the Infinity Stones and reverse his variant’s actions. Seizing his opportunity, the 2014 version of Thanos would devise a plan to quickly collect the Infinity Stones and complete his personal mission.
2 2023: The Alternate Thanos Journeyed To The MCU’s Present Day
Using the future Nebula’s Pym Particles, the 2014 version of Thanos transported himself and his army to the MCU’s present day in Avengers: Endgame, bringing them forward to 2023. There, the Battle of Earth would ensue, pitting Thanos and his massive army against the combined might of the Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Ravagers, Masters of the Mystic Arts, and Wakandan soldiers in an epic battle – with each side trying to protect or claim the rebuilt Infinity Gauntlet. Several times, the Avengers gained the upper hand, but Thanos still came terrifyingly close to snapping his fingers once again.
1 2023: Iron Man Defeated Thanos & His Army
Though it seemed that the 2014 version of Thanos had won, and was about to complete his goal of obliterating the universe altogether, Tony Stark outsmarted the boastful Mad Titan. Attaching the Infinity Stones to his Iron Man armor, Stark snapped his own fingers, leading to the disintegration of Thanos and his forces – though not the 2014 version of Gamora – marking the end of Thanos’ MCU journey once-and-for-all. Avengers: Endgame was an incredibly emotional journey for the Avengers, but marked the final failure for Thanos, who would now never get the chance to bring his plans to fruition.