10 Insane Marvel Alternate Universes You Won’t Believe Exist

With Thanos generally known best for destroying worlds, universes, and your favourite comic characters, it's safe to say few people consider him a hero of any kind. Which is why it's so weird to see a universe where he becomes basically the number one hero around, which is exactly the case in one What If? storyline.

The plot takes place during the Avenger's war with the incredibly powerful Builders, where the heroes find themselves totally outmatched by their alien enemy. So outmatched, that they become willing to work with the Mad Titan to defeat them - who is ironically willing to cooperate because he dislikes the fact that the Builders' would destroy the world to try and then evolve it, instead of leaving everything dead.

Naturally, this turns out to be another of the purple people killer's lies, as it turns out that he's actually after his son, who has teamed with the Builders. When Captain America realises this, Thanos kills him, and then joins the rest of the Avengers to win their final fight, using Steve's shield to strike the final blow.

Thanos then takes Cap's place on the team, though it's profoundly unclear if he does so with evil or good intentions - but you can probably guess which is more likely.