It’s been almost two years since The Avengers ended with a scene showing the evil Chitauri turning to a mysterious purple fellow who could only smile at the camera, completely vexing just about every non-comic reader in the audience. And yet his absence from Thor: The Dark World and Captain America: The Winter Soldier was ominous. Is Thanos coming? And if so, who will play the mad Titan?
Kevin Feige, noted raconteur, has held court on this topic before, claiming Thanos would show up with motion capture in Guardians Of The Galaxy. But apparently there’s a heavier flesh-and-blood element to him as well. When Empire Magazine (via CBM) asked Feige, he revealed, "There is an actor. I’m not sure we want to announce it yet."
Which begs the question: who would dare step into the shoes of Marvel’s most menacing interstellar villain? Surely Feige isn’t referring to Damion Poitier, who stood in for Thanos in The Avengers. If it were him, Feige would likely say, "Yes, Damion is reprising his role and we’re happy to have him in the Marvel fold." Feige knows the fans expect major casting for a role like this, and will tease this out as long as he damn well pleases.
Of course, maybe this "actor" isn't yet required, and like Avengers, Guardians will feature a stand-in. Avengers: Age Of Ultron seems pretty crowded already, Ant-Man will have his own villains to battle, and the third Captain America will probably be pretty Earth-bound as well. At this rate, Thanos won't show up until late 2016 or 2017, so why cast an actor now? It's likely he's motion-captured in Guardians Of The Galaxy, and the actor Feige is speaking with is ready for a more sizable role down the line. Which is probably why Feige is hesitant to discuss this casting decision: maybe he's talking to two different actors right now, and he's going to have them put in a cage to fight to the death for the role.
Feige also throws down the gauntlet in regards to Captain America 3 vs. Batman/Superman. Neither side is budging from that spot, and in conversation, Feige non-diplomatically claims ownership of the spot himself. When asked about not budging from the slot, Feige puffed his chest out a bit.
"Well, I'm glad people think that way. We had the flag there first. What other people do and where has always been less of our concern. It's about keeping our head down and doing what we would believe would be cool for an audience to see.."
In some cultures, the word Feige actually means swag.
Guardians Of The Galaxy emerges on August 1st.
