10 Best CGI Movie Characters Ever

2. Thanos - Marvel Cinematic Universe

Lord of the Rings Gollum
Marvel

Not only does Thanos look insanely good from a visual standpoint - the uber-villain looking as lifelike as anything ever committed to film - but the overarching ‘big bad’ of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first decade is a prime example of how stories are often best when allowed to breathe and not just simply shoved down an audience’s throat.

It was at the conclusion of 2012’s that the Mad Titan was first glimpsed, although we’d find out that his presence had been felt even before then. Slowly but surely, with each passing year, fans were drip-fed sprinklings of Thanos here and there before the character finally stepped forward to cause all kinds of game-changing carnage in Avengers: Endgame in 2018. Seriously, the dude literally clicked half of the universe's population out of existence!

Josh Brolin was the man mo-capping and lending his vocals to Thanos, and the mixture of Brolin’s portrayal and ground-breaking CGI has given film fans a rogue who will go down as one of the greatest villains in history. For his turns as the Mad Titan, Brolin has often been suggested as an Academy Award nominee - something which the Academy has refused to recognise.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.