Thanos as the antagonist for The Avengers 2 may not be such a sure thing after all. It was believed since the famous scene in last year's The Avengers that the godlike Thanos will feature as the spark for the team's reunion in the second ensemble venture. However this may not be the case after an interview surfaced with writer and director Joss Whedon where he seemingly suggests that other villains may appear in the next movie and that he will save the member of the Titanian Eternals for a later project. Comicbookmovie.com are running an interview via Desde Hollywood from the Los Angeles premiere for Iron Man 3 where Whedon confirmed that while he does indeed have plans for Thanos, he may in fact be saving him for what the director describes as "The Grand Finale" of what he has planned for the series. Whedon said:
"Thanos is more powerful. He's not someone you just trot out and punch him. Like you did in the comics, you want him to be threading through the universe and to save the big finale for the big finale. He's definitely a part of what I've got going on. The thing about The Avengers is, that they are very powerful, but they aren't very stable. There'll definitely be some people who are gonna shake them up in the next instalment!"
Interesting comments to say the least. It does throw up certain questions around the rumoured route for Phase 2. With the Guardians of the Galaxy film for example, this was initially thought to setup the Thanos arc and lead into The Avengers sequel. So now the question is who, or what series of villains will bring The Avengers together in 2015, if not Thanos?