Thanos the Mad Titan ravaged the Marvel Comics Universe in one of the most important stories in the publisher’s fictional history, but his conquest in the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War isn’t going to be exactly like it was on the page.
On Tuesday, The Telegraph posted an interview with Directors Anthony and Joe Russo about the upcoming Marvel blockbuster. One of the topics they discussed was how the film will be different from the comic book runs of villain Thanos. The movie is largely inspired by the six-part limited comic series Infinity Gauntlet, which saw Thanos collect the Infinity Gems and use the gauntlet to impress Mistress Death before fighting a team of heroes led by Adam Warlock. When the intergalactic villain heads to Earth on screens across the globe later this month things will be a bit different. It’s not going to be a one-to-one adaptation. Here’s Joe Russo:
We’re inspired by the books, but the Marvel Cinematic Universe is not the Marvel comic book universe. They’re different. As a comic book fan, I think it’s fun to take elements from the books that I identify with. But if I want a literal interpretation, I’ll just read the book.
'Avengers: Infinity War'
The reason for any changes is the Marvel Cinematic Universe is the jumping off point for the entire franchises. Along the way the needs of each character’s narratives took the stories further from their source material. “we wanted to fulfil storylines that we’ve set up in Captain America: Winter Soldier and Civil War that we want to carry forward into Avengers: Infinity War and the next one,” Joe Russo continued, “But it’s been important for us to find connective tissue that the audience can relate to and has emotional connection to based upon what they’ve seen before.”
The director did give dues and respect to Jim Starlin, who first brought Thanos to the pages of comic books. When discussing Starlin’s books Russo said, “there are great ideas in that book, and we owe a lot of the movie and what’s behind the movie to Jim.”
So, it seems that to prepare for Infinity Wars you may be better off watching some MCU films again instead of looking to old comic books. But, then read the comics because they are great.
Avengers: Infinity War premieres April 27, 2018.
