Joss Whedon reveals he had no plans for Thanos, says Joss Whedon
With Marvel Studios having officially announced the digital, Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K release of Avengers: Infinity War (available digitally on July 31 and Blu-ray on August 14), writer/director Joss Whedon (Marvel’s The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron) has spoken out to IGN about his own plans for Thanos in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Funnily, it turns out Joss Whedon had no plans!
“Honestly, I kind of hung (Thanos) out to dry,” Whedon said. “I love Thanos. I love his apocalyptic vision, his love affair with death. I love his power. But, I don’t really understand it. He’s had a lot of power, and he was cool in the comics. And I’m like, Thanos is the ultimate Marvel villain! And then I was like, I don’t actually know what I would do with Thanos. So, I liked what (The Russo brothers) did so much, and I thought Josh Brolin killed it. And they did an amazing job of keeping that performance on-screen. But it wasn’t like I was like, here’s a set of directions. I was like, I’m gonna get through Ultron, nap for four years, and then I’ll come to the premiere. Which I did! It was like, this is so cool!”
We don’t know how much of that is true, as Whedon had a very famous falling out with Marvel Studios over several creative battles waged during production of Avengers: Age of Ultron. It’s possible he may have entertained thoughts of doing more Avengers movies at one time, especially when he was helping oversee almost all of the MCU’s Phase 2, but after his very public dissing of Marvel (and eventual brief sojourn to the DCEU) he may as well have never had any plans for Thanos. As for the Russo’s approach to the material, which included abandoning Thanos’ love for Death (actually teased in the first Avengers movie) in favor of a “saving the universe through genocide” motivation, Whedon says he’s 100% onboard with Avengers: Infinity War.
“I thought they did what they needed to do,” Whedon added. “They gave him an actual perspective and made him feel righteous to himself, which is always a better idea. So I liked what they did very much. I did not know about it, I certainly didn’t come up with it.”
Pre-order your own copy of Avengers: Infinity War by clicking here!
The 4K Cinematic Universe Edition of Avengers: Infinity War includes never-before-seen bonus material grants behind-the-scenes access to MCU members and features the memorable moments when characters first meet, the rationale behind some unexpected on-screen pair-ups, and a funny Super Hero gag reel. Featurettes explore the frighteningly powerful Thanos and two action-packed attempts to prevent his collection of all six Infinity Stones: the struggle on Titan and the massive battle in Wakanda. Deleted scenes and filmmaker commentary reveal even more on-set secrets from Marvel Studios’ monumental undertaking.
In Avengers: Infinity War, members from every MCU franchise must sacrifice like never before in an attempt to defeat the powerful Thanos before his blitz of devastation and ruin puts an end to the universe. The film stars Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/The Hulk, Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America, Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, Don Cheadle as Colonel James Rhodes/War Machine, Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa/Black Panther, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Paul Bettany as Vision, Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Falcon, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier, Idris Elba as Heimdall, Danai Gurira as Okoye, Peter Dinklage as Eitri, Benedict Wong as Wong, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Dave Bautista as Drax, featuring Vin Diesel as Groot, Bradley Cooper as Rocket, with Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, with Benicio Del Toro as The Collector, with Josh Brolin as Thanos, and Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord.
Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Infinity War is directed by Emmy Award–winning directors Anthony and Joe Russo from an original screenplay by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely. Kevin Feige produced the film, with Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Michael Grillo, Trinh Tran, Jon Favreau, James Gunn and Stan Lee serving as executive producers.
