10 Best Motion Capture Performances

Josh Brolin gave life to the MCU's long-awaited Big Bad in a performance that was an inspired blend of gravitas, menace and a dash of humanity that grounded the cosmic conqueror in the conclusion to Marvel's Infinity Saga. Brolin expertly sold the physical presence needed to justify Thanos as the biggest threat the MCU heroes have ever faced, from his imposing stature, near-unstoppable might (even without the power of the Infinity Gauntlet) and resonant vocals that were both equal parts soothing and sinister.

Backing Brolin's performance was state of the art effects and well-done writing by the Marvel creative team. The ever-reliable ILM and Weta Digital (as well as other companies) pushed the envelope in photo-realistic CG imagery for Infinity War and Endgame, giving Thanos a tangibility that most comic book villains brought to life with CGI simply lack.

In addition to the onscreen talents, Thanos was well developed and fully realized despite having less than two movies of screen-time (not counting cameos). He had an undeniably flawed plan but it was borne out of an understandable place and this gave him a strong arc that cemented his place as one of the all-time villain greats.