Marvel 30-Day Challenge, Day 18- Favorite Comic To Screen Adaption

From the blockbuster hits that the MCU has given us to the cartoons of the 90s, Marvel has done an excellent job of adapting its characters onto the big and small screens. I’d think its fair to say that our perception of Marvel’s roster is based on movies and TV shows. As much as I equally love seeing all these heroes and villains adapted from comic to screen, though, I have a favorite. He’s big, he’s purple, and he’s responsible for the mother of all memes last year.

MCU Thanos

Yes, true believers, my favorite comic-to-screen adaptation is none other than the Mad Titan, Thanos. Longtime readers of Marvel Comics will have at least heard of him, but the MCU made him a household name. The moment I saw him in the mid-credits scene in The Avengers, I knew that they were building up to something big.

We got to spend the next six years watching as Marvel built him up to be the ultimate villain, and they were smart about it. They had him operate from the shadows, only showing him sparingly as others did his work for him. Thanos got all the build-up he needed, and when he finally made his move in Infinity War, he didn’t let us down. He took everything the heroes had to throw at him, and despite almost dying, still managed to win in the end.

How many villains do you know where the villain ends up winning? We knew his actions would get undone, but it was still a watershed moment for the MCU.

Fixing Thanos’ Biggest Flaw

Meeting the hype aside, there’s another reason why the MCU Thanos is my favorite comic-to-screen adaptation. They fixed his most significant problem in the comics.

In the comic books, Thanos’ reasons for gathering the Infinity Gems (they’re called that in the comics) is more straightforward. He wants to impress the embodiment of Death. So he figures the best way to win her heart is through the gift of wiping half of all life in the universe.

If the MCU Thanos had that as his motivation, that would have been dumb. Like Dragonball: Evolution meets The Last Airbender dumb. It’s my pet peeve about the guy!

The MCU decided to give Thanos a far more realistic motivation. He wants to prevent the universe from destroying itself, fighting over the limited resources. The best part is that, on some level, I knew Thanos was right. Look at our world: too many people, yet there never seems to be enough to go around. There is, though; we’re just terrible at sharing everything.

My point is, the MCU had a rational reason behind his plans, whereas his comic book counterpart only did it to impress a girl. That’s a waste of godly power; ergo, my favorite comic-to-screen adaptation is MCU Thanos!

Click here to see the rest of my comic book related writings, including the 30-Day Challenge