Marvel's New Thanos Series Writer Teases A Devastating Story (And A Secret Hero?) - Exclusive Interview

Thanos is making a major comeback to the Marvel Universe. The fan favorite and power-hungry villain returns in an all-new "Thanos" limited series by writer Christopher Cantwell ("Iron Man"), artist Luca Pizarri ("X-Men: Before The Fall – Heralds Of Apocalypse"), colorist Ruth Redmond ("Deadpool") and letterer VC's Cory Petit ("Immortal Hulk"). The Mad Titan arrives on Earth to look for something he has lost and will quickly conflict with a new Illuminati. The group will be tasked with stopping him from causing mayhem in a world he's long terrorized from afar.

The new "Thanos" comic book from Marvel Comics will add two new members to the Illuminati, with the uber-powerful Blue Marvel and Emma Frost subbing in for Black Bolt and Charles Xavier. The secret team of heroes will continue their quest to try to protect the universe from its greatest threats and are set to be considerably challenged by the foe who once snapped half of all life from existence. We spoke with Cantwell about taking on a new "Thanos" series, his thoughts on the iconic villain and his quest for power, and what a new Illuminati will look like.

How did this series come to be? When you wrote "Thanos: Death Notes," did you have any idea it would lead to an eventual series?

I had no idea my story for "Thanos: Death Notes" would lead to a larger series. The "Death Notes" story was a lot of fun, but also a way for me to back-door in one more "Iron Man" story. I'd just finished up my two-year "Iron Man" run, and "Death Notes" was a way to do a Tony Stark/Thanos story since Thanos made his first appearance in "Iron Man" #55. The Death Notes story was a direct sequel/coda to Iron Man's encounter with Thanos. 

It also played with a thought experiment that terrifies some game theorists, in that the world has already been taken over by a malevolent presence and that simply coming to realize this truth leads to eternal torture at the hands of that presence. I made Thanos that presence, and Tony dangerously flirted in that story with believing in a future where Thanos has conquered all things. It was a dark and freaky story. I will say that this "Thanos" series is very different in tone.

What makes Luca Pizzari the perfect artist for the book, and how exciting was it to see his pages?

Luca is a top-tier artist who brings such a kinetic energy to his work. This is, first and foremost, a superhero vs. a supervillain book. Much of a major city is destroyed here. Watching Luca render all that has been so exciting. His pages showing different characters' arrivals onto the scene are these great Marvel comics heralding pages, splashes where Thanos or the Hulk make their grand entrance. 

Luca has also been able to tell the more human aspects of this story so well. This story has a strange entry point, one that is more mundane, and Luca has pulled that off with aplomb. There's a protagonist that is not Thanos in this book that Luca has designed from whole cloth, and he's nailed their emotional state and acting throughout the series.

Who do you believe is Thanos' greatest enemy? Ally? Is it Thanos himself?

Thanos has had some wonderful adversaries in the past — Silver Surfer, Adam Warlock. There is one character in the Marvel Universe that has served as both adversary and ally, or rather, been Thanos' greatest blindspot/Achilles' heel. That character is front and center of this book.

Thanos has shown many incredible powers over the years — super strength, energy projection, and even a form of telepathy. What is the greatest of his abilities, and does he play with that here?

Thanos is one of those characters who borders on being a god, so that gets tricky in storytelling, where the stakes need to be high and personal. It does help in making heroes, even the Illuminati, feel like underdogs. We will touch on a lot of Thanos' powers and accouterments here. We get a nice palette of all that throughout the story. 

Thanos' greatest asset is sheer force of will. That's what makes him unstoppable and a force to be reckoned with more than anything else. He has that in common with other heroes and villains I've written in the past. Thanos is relentlessly persistent and when he wants something, he will stop at nothing to get it. That's certainly at play in this series.

You've called Thanos' story here heartbreakingly human in an interview — does that mean Thanos or The Illuminati? A lot of viewers identified with Thanos' plan in "Infinity War." Has he become a humanized character in the comics, especially after his sociopathic characterization in more recent runs? If so, how and why?

It's not necessarily Thanos' personal story that is human here. Thanos is the primary catalyst in a story that is heartbreakingly human. As I mentioned, there's a different protagonist at the center of this book. There's humanity at play there. Thanos is really disrupting this story. He is the primary force of chaos here, but he also bears witness to, and has strong opinions about, the more human elements of this story. Thanos has become more dimensionalized, for sure, in recent years. Emotions are driving him here. It's not galactic conquest; not yet, at least.

Will his "Thanos hotwires a pickup truck" be this generation's Thanos Copter moment (which officially has a place in the MCU thanks to "Loki")?

I hope so. I wanted to get the helicopter in, but I didn't have room. Thanos being forced to operate in a "ground-level" sense has been very fun to write.

What makes Blue Marvel and Emma Frost excellent additions to the new Illuminati? They have a good blend of powers, presence, and, in Emma's case, political power. What about on the opposite end, in taking Professor X and Black Bolt off the team?

Blue Marvel is one of the smartest people on Earth and has a strong sense of conviction. He honestly needs to be listened to more by the rest of the Marvel Universe. His powers are staggering. Giving him an Illuminati seat seems long overdue. Emma's place is born a bit out of necessity, given what's going on in the X-books by the time this story is told. Her seat on the Krakoan Council has shown how worthy she is of a seat at the Illuminati table. Her powers of real politick are unparalleled in that sense. 

Charles Xavier can't be where the story is happening, given the X-story at the time. In a way, Emma doesn't shy away from uglier truths. This latest incarnation of Xavier is unflinching, but he's so absorbed in mutantdom that I wonder if he'd actually have time or care very much about the Illuminati's concerns now. Black Bolt is the same way. The concerns of the Inhumans outweigh the larger picture for him right now.

Is there less pressure to write a "Thanos" series, now that his MCU run has wrapped up?

It's nice not to be in the shadow of that, but I've been immersed in "Thanos" stories as a reader long before the MCU incarnation. That's the character I'm writing, and I am excited to write.

What fascinates you about showing more human sides to characters like Thanos and in your previous "Doctor Doom" series? Did working on the "Doom" book prepare you for this latest supervillain story?

I am a huge fan of Victor Von Doom, and to me, Victor is someone with many more psychic and emotional wounds to explore. Thanos has his fair share at this point, but he still comes across first and foremost as a nearly amoral monster. Victor operates more by his own code, which at times leads him down truly villainous paths, but there's more of a spectrum there. Thanos straddles the line, for me, between Victor and Norman Osborn, who I've also written. Norman has spent much of his life as a cruel psychopath. There are certain elements of that at play in Thanos, even as he fashions himself as more a noble ruler willing to do what needs to get done, much like Victor does.

Will the four-issue series be centered around Infinity Stones? Or does it avoid his greatest quest and intentionally take Thanos in a different direction?

This story is not centered around the Infinity Stones, but it does center around someone who was a big inspiration for that quest.

What is the weirdest fact you know about Thanos?

I have always found it strange that Thanos has perfect white-capped teeth, like Matt Dillon in "There's Something About Mary."

Marvel Comics/Leinil Francis Yu

THANOS VS. THE ILLUMINATI! The Mad Titan descends upon Earth to retrieve something he has lost. And the Illuminati must band together to stop him, because they're the ones who hid it from him!

Thanos' return has been long awaited, so the Mad Titan returning in a brand-new miniseries from Christopher Cantwell, Luca Pizzari, Ruth Redmond, and VC's Cory Petit is incredibly exciting. Thanos taking on a new Illuminati may have major repercussions on both heroes and villains alike in the Marvel Universe when the dust settles from his latest adventure. Check out the main cover of Thanos #1 by Leinil Francis Yu and Sunny Gho from Marvel Comics, which arrives in comic book stores and online retailers on October 9th, 2023.

This interview has been edited for clarity.