The Dark Evolution Of The MCU's Thanos
3. Thanos And The MCU's Daddy Issues
For all of the sympathising when Infinity War came around and Thanos' plan for the universe was brought up as "the right thing to do", the Guardians version of Thanos was the antidote to that line of thinking. Yes, his motivation in Infinity War fleshed out the character and made him more morally complex and thus more interesting, but Guardians and Guardians Vol 2 (which really doubled down on the idea of Thanos as an abusive father - more of which soon) is the film that establishes the truth of his psychology.
He is a monster.
He might be a monster with a well-intentioned agenda, but he's a monster all the same. And as the Russos would later confirm, Thanos' motivations for rebalancing the universe weren't quite as simple as wanting to be the saviour. But we'll get to that.
For now, let's look a little more at his psychology and how his character at this point reflects an important thread in the MCU's narrative: the Bad Father's trope.
While he's not involved in Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2 explicitly, his shadow hangs over the story in a deeply meaningful way. The entire story is one obsessed with the sins of the father. In fact, it's a film that explores fatherhood in several different ways, exploring differences in fathering and being a real dad (with Yondu's story); a child's quest to find himself through his relationship with his parents (Peter Quill); and the age-old idea of the mythology of the father (Ego).
On top of that you have Rocket's orphan anxiety (and his desire to strike out alone), the spectre of Drax's lost children and the Guardians being forced to play parents to Baby Groot. And then there's Thanos' role in the story, which fits in with the MCU's obsession with absent, abusive or neglectful fathers.
Lots of Marvel's chief heroes from the first two phases have some Daddy Issue or other (apart from Captain America). Tony Stark and Thor wrestle with the idea of the actual sins of their fathers (one in terms of his weapons business, one because he was a reformed, murderous tyrant) and with strained relationships and expectations; Loki was a mess of paternal issues; Peter Quill has an Eternal-sized Daddy Issue; The Wasp struggles to connect with her father because of their past; Gamora and Nebula have Thanos and then later Black Panther is faced with the realisation that his father was not what he thought he was.
On top of that you have the thread of fathers attempting to atone for their kids or protect them: Scott Lang, Zemo (admittedly not a hero), Drax and Hawkeye are all painted as more virtuous because of those aspirations. In other words, for the MCU, there are few crimes worse (or few better indicators of moral corruption) than being a bad father, and few better things to be than a good one.
In essence, the fact that Thanos wilfully abuses his own "children" sets up everything we need to know about him.
[Continued Page 4 of 6]