When it comes to weapons, you can’t really do much better than the reality-warping, time-altering, ultra-powerful awesomeness of the Infinity Gauntlet. But the story of Avengers: Endgame necessitated a Thanos that had not yet acquired any Inifnity Stones, and he needed a weapon to use on top of his brute strength. So we saw the Mad Titan wield a double-sided, ultra-strong sword, but Thanos could have had a very different Avengers: Endgame weapon. Take a look:
As you can see from Marvel Studios Visual Development Supervisor Ian Joyner’s tweet, instead of his double-sided sword, Thanos could have wielded an axe in Avengers: Endgame. Thanos looks incredibly imposing in this image and with the different armor and the axe in hand he gives off a very different feel than the Thanos we ultimately saw in the finished film.
Thanos looks positively gladiatorial here, like he’s about to enter the arena (perhaps to face The Hulk on Sakaar? They never got a rematch) as a long-reigning champion. If it wasn’t for his purple skin he almost wouldn’t even look alien with this medieval aesthetic. Holding the axe with one hand, Thanos is also reminiscent of God of War’s Kratos holding his Leviathan axe. The Mad Titan looks like he could do some serious damage with that thing.
The armor itself is also a bit different from what we got in Avengers: Endgame. This armor is black with gold accents whereas the armor in the film was more gold overall. The design is also different, with different lines giving each a unique feel. The one we see here from Ian Joyner looks a bit more like it’s made for battle to me, whereas the armor in Endgame appears a bit more ceremonial.
I don’t know that I have a preference between the axe and the sword for Thanos in Avengers: Endgame, but I think I can understand why the filmmakers ultimately went with the latter. For one thing, Thanos wouldn’t have been the only one swinging an axe on the battlefield. Thor got Stormbreaker in Avengers: Infinity War, so two characters wielding axes might have seemed like one too many. The sword gave audiences something new.
From a functional standpoint Thanos’ sword actually works better too. When he faces off with Thor, Captain America and Iron Man at the end of Avengers: Endgame, he is able to do so, in part, because of the double-sided sword, which allows him to attack and defend from both sides. The axe would not have had that capability. So Thanos seems a bit more of a handful thanks to his sword.
And while the axe looks a bit more brutal, the sword appears more alien and more lethal, like the kind of weapon an intergalactic tyrant and self-proclaimed savior would wield.
Thanos is gone, but the MCU rolls on. Phase 4 begins this year and you can check out all of the upcoming Marvel movies and everything else headed to theaters this year in our 2020 Release Schedule. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for all your movie news.
