Any villain who claims he or she can compete with Darth Vader better be able to back it up, or prepare to be Force-choked. Does Thanos, of the upcoming "Avengers: Infinity War," qualify? That film's co-director, Joe Russo, hopes so.
"Darth Vader was the pre-eminent villain of my childhood, and we're hoping to make a Darth Vader for a new generation," Russo said in an upcoming Empire magazine interview cited by Comic Book Movie. "We're hoping he has that complexity to him, and that he strikes fear into the heart of the audience, but at the same time they go on a journey with him. Frankly, 'Avengers 3' is his movie."Â
Thanos, played by Josh Brolin, is also one of the many villains on the cover of Empire's new issue, showing the greatest villains as voted on by readers. The photo collage includes The Joker, Freddy Krueger, Kylo Ren, Lord Voldemort, and, of course, Vader himself.Â
It's good to be bad. Empire's Greatest Villains issue hits shelves on Thursday and we are delighted to unveil our (evil) cover. pic.twitter.com/dETAroF481
— Empire Magazine (@empiremagazine) January 22, 2018
Fans are already arguing about several of the reader choices (Loki? Gollum?), but it's the inclusion of Thanos, months before he's seen in a full movie, that seems to have stirred the most controversy.
WTF Thanos is doing there?
— diego davoli (@dihdavoli) January 22, 2018
Loki's not really a villain. And Thanos hasn't even been more than a blip yet! pic.twitter.com/8oLiZZHZOQ
— HeatherA9 (@HeatherA9) January 22, 2018
Why is Thanos there? :/
— •Max• wants Snyder's Justice League Director's Cut (@SupesBatsy) January 22, 2018
I totally understand Loki but we haven't seen Thanos do anything.
Replace Thanos with Joss Whedon. He was the greatest villain for JL fans 😂😂
— Sanjheev 👲✌ (@sanjheev10) January 23, 2018
It's a bit of fun & these polls are an entertaining read, but if you voted for Thanos you cannot get in the sea fast enough.
— Paul Barrow (@paulbarrow1) January 22, 2018
The greatest villains. Plus Thanos
— Swedge (@Swedgeland) January 22, 2018
Fans have months to argue about the decision before actually seeing Thanos strut his bad self onscreen. "Avengers: Infinity War" is scheduled for release on April 25 in Australia, April 27 in the UK and May 4 in the US.
