15 Ways The MCU Improved Marvel Mythology

From his debut, the Mad Titan Thanos has always been one of the single greatest threats of the entire Marvel canon. The self-described Ultimate Nihilist was an alien super-genius, accomplished warlock, and brilliant strategist, and that's without his infamous Infinity Gauntlet. But while he was a terrifying villain in the comics, the MCU did an inarguably better job of presenting his character.

In the comics, Thanos was a once-promising child of the race of Eternals that colonized Titan. However, he threw away his potential in an attempt to woo the esoteric concept of Death, who presented itself to him as a beautiful woman. His love for her drove him to create destructive weapons, conquer worlds, and ignited his crusade to kill as many things as possible as a gift for her.

The movies present a different, more somber Thanos. Instead of trying to court Death, as was hinted in the first Avengers movie, he is motivated by large-scale preservation. He takes an objective view to the problem of overpopulation and sees that the most efficient solution is also the simplest: a massive cull eliminating half of all life in the universe to free up resources and ensure equality throughout the galaxy.

He doesn't see himself as a hopeless romantic, but a reluctant hero who will sacrifice everything, even those he views as family, to save the universe from itself, making him a much more compelling villain.