9 Times Thanos Was Defeated
Thanos, the Mad Titan, might be the biggest villain the Marvel Cinematic Universe has ever seen, but he’s not without his weaknesses. In fact, he’s been defeated a number of times. I’m going to countdown nine times Thanos, the Mad Titan, has been defeated.
9. Drax Kills Thanos
In the pages of Annihilation by writer Keith Giffen and artist Andrea Divito, Drax is on a mission to hunt down and kill Thanos, who has allied himself with Annihilus. In fact, Thanos and Annihilus have even captured Galactus and are using him to siphon off cosmic power. However, Annihilus has other plans for Galactus. Thanos discovers his plans when he uses Moondragon, the daughter of Drax, to telepathically connect to Annihilus. Thanos discovers Annihilus is using Galactus as a giant bomb to destroy the universe as well as the Negative Zone. When Thanos decides to intervene and prevent Annihilus from using Galactus, that’s when Drax finally reaches him. Drax is briefly slowed by his daughter, but he quickly disarms her. He then punches his fist through Thanos’ back and holds his heart in his hand. Drax then lets Thanos’ body fall to the ground as the Mad Titan is defeated.
8. Gladiator One Hit KOs Thanos
In one of the more recent tales of Thanos by Jeff Lemire and Mike Deodato, the Mad Titan is sickly and dying. He’s searching for a cure to his illness, but can not find one. He even seeks out his father. But he is of no help and Thanos brutally kills him. Soon after he kills Mentor, Thanos is confronted by the Imperial Guard of the Shi’ar Empire and their leader the Grand Praetor of the Shi’ar Imperial Guard and the Majestor of the Shi’ar Empire Gladiator. The Imperial Guard launch a vicious, but extremely tactical battle strategy against Thanos. They hurl wave after wave against him. They use a number of tactics to blind and weaken Thanos. But Thanos has killed gods and razed planets. Even in a weakened state he is able to overwhelm the Imperial Guard. But that’s when Gladiator enters the battlefield. Gladiator shows up and easily defeats the weakened Thanos with one crazy powerful left punch. He then arrests Thanos and takes him to a Shi’ar prison.
7. Thane Obliterates Thanos
Lemire and Deodato would continue their story of a weakened Thanos when he comes face to face with his own son, Thane. Thanos would break free of the Shi’ar prison only to to be met by his Thane, who is now empowered by the Phoenix Force. Thane had previously recruited Thanos’ brother Starfox, Nebula, and Tryco Slatterus to steal the Phoenix Egg from Terrax. Unbeknownst to his partners, Thane was working with Lady Death to gain the power of the Phoenix Force to use against Thanos. Lady Death is also the entity behind Thanos’ weakness. Once Thane confronts Thanos, he uses the full might of his newly acquired Phoenix Force powers to completely blast Thanos and turn him into just a mere mortal without any of his powers.
6. Adam Warlock Turns Thanos to Granite
Jim Starlin penned one of his best Thanos stories in the pages of Marvel 2 in One Annual #2. The story follows the events of Avengers Annual #7 and sees Thanos on the verge of victory. He has defeated the Avengers and even killed Adam Warlock. However, there is still hope. Spider-Man teams up with the Thing to launch a direct assault on Thanos’ spaceship. Their attack is successful as they are able to release the Avengers who are being kept in stasis by Thanos. The Avengers quickly move into action and distract Thanos as Spider-Man seeks out the Soul Stone and frees Adam Warlock who is trapped within. Upon awakening from the Soul Stone, Adam Warlock burst into flames and becomes the Ultimate Avenger. He then launches a massive attack which turns Thanos into solid granite.
5. Lord Mar-Vell Sacrifices Thanos
In the pages of The Thanos Imperative by writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning alongside artist Miguel Sepulveda, Thanos willingly turns himself over to an alternative version of Mar-Vell. This Cancerverse version goes by Lord Mar-Vell and once Thanos surrenders he quickly moves to perform the ritual of Necropsy. He aims to sacrifice Thanos, the Avatar of Death, in order to bring undeath to the Marvel Universe. He summons a ceremonial sword and plunges it into the chest of Thanos. However, Thanos’ sacrifice is all part of a plan to bring death to the Cancerverse and it works all too well. Death comes for Lord Mar-Vell and turns his skin to ash with just the touch of her hand. With Mar-Vell dead, Thanos seeks the love of Death, but she spurns him and refuses to say a word. She simply walks away.
4. Star-Lord and Nova Trap Thanos
Following Death’s rejection of him, after he sacrificed himself to bring death to the Cancerverse, Thanos would become enraged and be motivated even more to win the affections of his love. He even opined he would destroy multiple universes in order to win her back. He threatened to start with the main Marvel Universe beginning with Peter Quill. Star-Lord and Nova knew Thanos would rage following his sacrifice and they planned to sacrifice themselves in order to trap Thanos in the Cancerverse. Star-Lord and Nova would use a Cosmic Cube in order to keep Thanos in the Cancerverse and trap him there.
3. The Avengers and Premonition
In the pages of Civil War II #1 writer Brian Michael Bendis teams up with artist David Marquez to see the Avengers defeat Thanos. Thanos arrives on Earth in search of a Cosmic Cube. However, Captain Marvel and a team of Avengers use intelligence from the Inhuman Ulysses to determine where Thanos would be before he even arrives. The Avengers are able to defeat Thanos and drive him off, but not without paying a major price. Thanos killed War Machine and knocked She-Hulk into a coma before he fled.
2. Deadpool Blasts Thanos Into a Thousand Pieces
In the miniseries Deadpool vs Thanos writer Tim Seeley and artist Elmo Bondoc have Deadpool, the Merc with a Mouth turn Thanos into a billion tiny pieces. Eternity has captured Lady Death and Thanos and Deadpool have teamed up to discover her. Once they find her, Death once again spurns Thanos. It drives him into a rage and he attacks Deadpool. But that’s the least of his worries as Eternity shows up and launches an attack against both Deadpool and Thanos. Lady Death empowers both of her lovers as they attack Eternity. Thanos and Deadpool gain the upper hand, but Deadpool realizes that Death and Thanos are trying to kill Eternity. He makes a deal with the Uni-Power and gains incredible powers in order to save Eternity. In his final attack against Thanos he blows him into a tiny million pieces.
1. Nebula Takes the Infinity Gauntlet
In the pages of the Infinity Gauntlet by Jim Starlin, Ron Lim, and Josef Rubinstein Thanos has acquired the Infinity Gauntlet and defeated the foot soldiers of Eternity. Their defeat brings out their master. Thanos and Eternity fight for control of reality. Thanos comes out the victor and makes Eternity his prisoner. In fact, he ascends to take Eternity’s place as the center of all reality. In doing so he leaves his body behind. That’s when Nebula sees an opportunity. She quickly strikes and takes the Infinity Gauntlet from Thanos and uses it herself. With the power of the Infinity Gauntlet, Nebula banishes Thanos and Terraxia to the never reaches of space. The exile would end up killing Terraxia, but Thanos would survive and be summoned to Earth by Adam Warlock.
There you have it. Even with the all powerful Infinity Gauntlet at his disposable, Thanos was still defeated by Nebula. That means there is quite a bit of hope for the heroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War movie. No doubt, there will be losses, but it’s definitely possible to defeat Thanos whether it’s through sheer strength or through clever manipulation. Thanos can be defeated.
Did you enjoy this list? Be sure to check out 8 Ridiculously Gruesome Thanos Kills.
How do you think he will be defeated in Avengers: Infinity War?
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