9 Major Retcons That Saved Iconic Movie Franchises

8. Thanos' Motivation - Avengers: Infinity War

Thanos had so much to live up to in Avengers: Infinity War. His presence had been teased for six years, with Marvel constantly talking about how he'd be the big bad to end all big bads, far scarier than anyone the superhero team had faced before. They had a bit of an uphill battle to make this a reality though, as the studio not only needed this character to be compelling enough to justify six years of teasing, but also to rectify Marvel's so-called "villain problem".

Somehow, they pulled it off, and Thanos' story and characterisation was the surprise draw of 2018's blockbuster. Interestingly, they achieved this by moving away from the character's comic-book origin, which they originally set up all the way back in The Avengers. In that post-credit sequence, it's said that to face The Avengers would be "to court Death", which seemingly referenced his comic-book motivations to wipe out half the universe in order to impress the female embodiment of death. Yeah, it was only inferred, but the dude was practically winking at the camera for fans to go nuts over the prospect of this happening.

Of course, Thanos has a far more personal reason to be doing what he's doing in Infinity War, to the point where many fans even sympathised with his plan. That probably wouldn't have happened if his main end goal was to get laid.