Avengers Endgame came out to huge success and has finally given fans what they have been waiting for years…Thanos!
Spoiler Warning: This article won’t be discussing spoilers for Endgame, but will reference events from Avengers Infinity War.
Thanos has been built up as the biggest threat in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (or MCU for short) for around 6 to 7 years now and we finally get to see him take a prominent role being portrayed by actor Josh Brolin.
Since Infinity War came out, not only has Thanos become one of the most prominent and popular characters of the MCU but is one of the most dominant characters seen in the franchise.
Was Thanos Right All Along?
Here, we look at how Thanos became one of the most endearing Marvel villains and how he became such a force within the MCU. However, he is also flawed and so we review why it is dangerous to empathize with him and how to identify character traits that should be questioned in real life.
So what makes Thanos one of the most popular and dominant personalities in the Marvel Universe?
HE DISPLAYS INCREDIBLE CONFIDENCE AND CONVICTION
Thanos grew popularity and notoriety amongst the fans with his given confidence and conviction to fulfill on his mission.
The way he deals with situations without appearing emotionally triggered, even when things appear to be desperately close to the end for him, is a quality of a strong leader.
People are naturally drawn to those with a cool head and well thought out decisions when identifying leadership figures in their lives and Thanos exudes this in spades.
Not only is it a quality he shows at all times, but he never seems flustered or unsure about his choices.
This helps him appear to be a strong character, someone who personifies traditional alpha traits, which provides certainty and security to people.
HE SHOWS FEELINGS TOWARDS INDIVIDUALS
Thanos on occasions showed feelings towards others, most notably in the events where he spared the life of his adopted daughter…Gamora.
He exemplifies this on numerous occasions throughout the course of Infinity War as part of his character development.
However, this feeling is not limited to this single relationship, for example when he talks about his plans for genocide being instant and painless as an act of mercy.
Now while twisted in the eyes of most people, it is still a sign that he is not completely evil and uncaring and while it will never justify his actions, it does help make him just that little bit more appealing.
The fact is Thanos believes he is on a mission to save a life before overpopulation causes acts of self-destruction leading to all life being lost. We can sympathize in this regard, as in his backstory this is precisely what happened to his people on the planet Titan.
The reality is, while most of us will struggle to look past genocide as anything but an act of evil, his reasoning and motivations behind it make it significantly easier for viewers to sympathize with his character, making him more relatable as a result.
HE FOLLOWS THROUGH ON WHAT HE SAYS
The next most endearing quality about him is he does what he says, such as taking action to get the Infinity Stones. There is usually little to no doubt about whether he’ll follow through with what he says and for the average person someone that dependably gives off signals of strong leadership qualities.
For example, if leaders in the real world were to follow through with their promises, how much more respect would you have for them?
Here you can see that Thanos naturally displays traits of a strong leader, being confident, garnering sympathy and being reliable.
This is both positive and endearing, hence the popularity of his character in the MCU, but at the same time very few would find his vision and purpose in line with their values.
However, that is rarely the case with people in our lives and it can be easy to be duped into following the wrong leaders for their personality or promises. So what are some of the character traits that need consideration before following someone? By looking at Thanos we can identify some telltale signs of personality traits to be wary of.
HIS UNWILLINGNESS TO SEE OTHER VIEWPOINTS IS AN SIGNIFICANT ISSUE
To be frank, there are a number of questions Thanos raises that might actually convince people that his plan is justifiable.
His confidence and absolute faith that he is doing the right thing is actually an attractive quality in most leaders.
Yet the major issue with Thanos is that his conviction is so strong that he is unwilling to hear what others might feel or think.
Great leaders throughout history are acknowledged for their ability to listen to get a variety of perspectives before making a decision, ultimately with the good of those they are leading at heart.
This is never the case with Thanos, whose viewpoint is you are either helping him achieve his goal or the enemy trying to stop him. This attitude is one that bears resemblance to dictators, as they enforce their will onto others regardless of the feelings or views of the other person.
Like Thanos, many dictators that have often come into power initially had support for their movement before it became apparent that they had an oppressive nature.
HE SHOWS FEELINGS BUT LACKS EMPATHY
Thanos shows a lack of empathy towards others to the point where he simply considers others as expendable and has no feeling of remorse for taking a life to fulfill his vision.
It is important to note that there is a distinction between calling Thanos non-empathetic rather than psychopathic, which you might assume here. The key difference is that Thanos does not relate to the feelings of others, but unlike people with psychopathic tendencies, he does have strong feelings towards others.
This is most prominent in his father-daughter relationship with Gamora, who he has strong feelings for as acknowledged in pivotal moments in Infinity War, but at the same time showed no compassion towards her feelings or wishes.
This attitude cannot be described as anything more than selfish from a person trying to portray something otherwise. It is something to be wary of when following someone else’s vision. They may say all the right things, but when put into a position to take action, what are they doing and at what cost?
You could also argue the opposite being true, for example entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk on first impression often gives off the feeling that he is self-absorbed and egotistical, yet testimonials from people who follow him or have had contact with him suggest quite the opposite is true and he’s fully committed to the wellbeing of those around him.
Simply put, it is easy to get first impressions wrong, but dig deep and it becomes clear what the true nature of any leader is.
HIS MANTRA
Thanos has built his mission on the premise of destruction in order to allow long-term survival. While his argument might be one that is convincing, after all, he identifies the issues facing the Universe in terms of resources, his purpose is ultimately one to kill and very few will be able to empathize with that.
However, we see similar traits in the modern world with our leaders today. Take Donald Trump, whose election in 2016 was built on breaking down the reputation his opponents by attacking them time and again to build himself up.
In the UK, Brexit was sold by Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage on the premise of perceived issues with immigration, portraying foreign nationals coming into the UK as part of the problems within the nation.
While there are circumstances that might need some level of deconstruction to rebuild stronger, in both of these examples we see that the individuals used destructive means to achieve for personal gain.
Whereas Thanos can be argued for not acting solely out of personal gain, which ironically can be argued as being a less selfish endeavor than the aforementioned real-life leaders, his actions will wipe out half of all life and with it a huge amount of innocent lifeforms. That is mass genocide on a scale beyond anything we can comprehend in real life and there is simply no way to justify such destructive actions with such massive costs.
We have also seen from real-life examples of how forced population control can cause significant issues in a given place. Taking the one-child policy from China, we see the impact has left a serious issue with gender imbalance, as well as significant concerns around human rights. This example calls to question what the long-term effect Thanos’ plan would have.
OVERALL
So the best villain of the Marvel Universe has finally been given significant screen time and had his story told. Something fans have clamored for a long time and a momentous occasion in modern cinema. However, behind the façade of a potentially appealing leadership figure we see a vision. Which ultimately has catastrophic effects on the lives of billions if not more.
Like Thanos, in our world today there are leaders who might initially appear as appealing figures. But before you support them first you need to consider whether they wear a mask to cover a more disconcerting goal.
