How Much of Thanos's Comic Book Origin Will We See in 'Avengers: Infinity War'?

(WARNING: Spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War follow)

Over the past week, Marvel Studios released a first look at Avengers: Infinity War in a behind-the-scene featurette. The featurette showed a few screenshots of the Avengers' battleground that we can only assume takes place on one of Thanos's alien planets. However, there's much more to be gleaned from this information than just the battleground for #InfinityWar.

Kevin Feige Confirms Thanos Is the Main Character of Avengers: Infinity War

Thanos has been known to be the main antagonist of Avengers: Infinity War for some time, but it was only recently revealed that Thanos would also be the main character of the film. Kevin Feige confirmed this notion himself when speaking on how Avengers: Infinity War differs from past Marvel movies, here's what he had to say:

"A big criticism of ours is that we focus on the heroes more than the villains, I think that’s probably true. I don’t think it will always be true. [...] Thanos in 'Infinity War'... is in a movie that has a lot of characters, you could almost go so far as to say he is the main character, and that’s a bit of a departure from what we’ve done before, but that was appropriate for a movie called 'Infinity War.'”

Seeing as how Feige implies Thanos will be at the center of Avengers: Infinity War, it'll be interesting to see how much screen time is given to Thanos. We've only seen Thanos a handful of times and he's been present in the MCU since The Avengers (2012).

What Has Thanos Been Doing All This Time?

Seeing as how Feige implies Thanos will be at the center of Avengers: Infinity War, it'll be interesting to see how much screen time is given to Thanos. We've only seen Thanos a handful of times and he's been present in the MCU since The Avengers (2012).

Since then, a lot has happened in the MCU and we've no clue as to what Thanos has been doing in the meantime. Hopefully, Avengers: Infinity War will fill in the gaps between the events of The Avengers and the upcoming Black Panther.

Avengers: Infinity War may unfold in a variety of ways but the most plausible scenario will follow Thanos as he collects each of the Infinity Stones. Once he has them all the movie is likely to open to the Avengers as they band together to stop Thanos.

While Avengers: Infinity War will most likely depict Thanos on his journey to assemble the completed Infinity Gauntlet, he has a vast origin story compiled in #Marvel comics, all of which could be brought to life during Avengers: Infinity War.

With Thanos being the main character of the movie and Marvel's past movies focusing on a singular character's thorough origin story, it's reasonable to assume Thanos will receive one as well.

How Much of Thanos's Origin Will Make it Into Avengers: Infinity War?

We don't know how far back Avengers: Infinity War will trace Thanos's activities in the #MCU, but it could reach as far back as Thanos's time on Titan. In the comics, Thanos is born on the planet Titan, where he becomes the villainous dictator we know today. Thanos used an interstellar armada he acquired to eliminate the majority of Titan's occupants. His actions on Titan also resulted in the death of his mother, over which Thanos felt no remose.

It was after Thanos learned of the Infinity Stones in the comics that he sought after the Soul Stone, which just so happens to be the only Infinity Stone still left undiscovered in the MCU and could be a central focus of Avengers: Infinity War.

With it seeming more and more likely that Avengers: Infinity War will follow Thanos's quest to assemble the Infinity Gauntlet, it's quite possible the last remaining Infinity Stone will be kept secret until then. If so, Thanos's comic book origins could become influential to Infinity War.

Thanos's Quest For the Infinity Stones Included Adam Warlock

During the Infinity War storyline of Marvel comics, Thanos sought out Adam Warlock to take the Soul Stone from him. Apprehensive of what the Soul Stone could do in the hands of Adam Warlock, Thanos went back in time and changed certain events so as to form an alliance with Adam Warlock. One of the events Thanos changed was Gamora's death at the hands of Warlock's evil counterpart, the Magus.

The Magus was responsible for the death of Gamora and her people in the original timeline but was foiled by Thanos after he went back in time. Thanos saved Gamora from death and thus prevented Magus from coming into existence in the new timeline created by Thanos. After erasing the Magus from existence, Thanos altered another point in history, resulting in Adam Warlock becoming his ally. In doing so, Thanos was able to get close enough to Adam Warlock to take the Soul Stone from him.

How Will Avengers: Infinity War Depict Thanos On-Screen?

Avengers: Infinity War premieres May 8, 2018.