There was a sizzle in the air during that post-credits sequence in The Avengers. Who is this purple guy, and what are his plans for Earth? He's gone unmentioned in the Marvel films since - though comic book fans know him as the Mad Titan Thanos. And while the character will be showing up in Guardians of the Galaxy and finally name-dropped, it looks like it's going to be a while before we know much more about him
During San Diego Comic Con, Marvel head Kevin Feige revealed to Comic Book Resources that Josh Brolin's Thanos will not be making an appearance in Avengers: Age Of Ultron.
"He's not a part of Avengers 2. I think Thanos kind of does what he wants, shows up where he wants to. And I'm not going to tell him otherwise, so you don't know exactly. Smirking at the end of the first Avengers. But you know, we're still making Avengers 2, so nothing's definitive one way or the other, actually."
Ah, a "no" with some wiggle room for a "yes." What's interesting about Thanos is that villains get no bigger than him. So if the Avengers face off against him in Age Of Ultron, what do you do for a potentially trilogy-ending third film? Part two not only sounds like it will belong to Ultron, but it also sounds like Ultron's not about sharing the spotlight with any other villains. Then again, Marvel tinkers with their films until the very last minute, so, again, Feige is being coy when he leave open the possibility that Thanos might show up and at least talk in Age Of Ultron.
As mentioned, fans are about to get acquainted with the giant purple baddie in this weekend's Guardians Of The Galaxy , but it's a very modest introduction. While Guardians expands the world of Marvel, it also emphasizes that the intergalactic story is going on against the backdrop of a more massive universe where Thanos reigns supreme. The film's gamble is that Lee Pace's Ronan The Accuser is a world-devouring villain worthy of fear, but Thanos is an even bigger threat lurking in the shadows - poised to bring even further danger to the heroes of the Marvel universe. It's quite a gamble, assuming that audiences will stick around to possibly see Thanos in all his glory in Avengers 3. But he's probably pretty confident. Or as he would say,
