What If…?: What’s hidden in plain sight in episode 2

Thanos the superhero?!

One quality which made T’Challa a different Star-Lord than Peter Quill that the episode kept repeating was his ability to persuade even the most hardened evil-doer. He reformed his own kidnappers, the Ravagers, into becoming his own band of Merry Men (with Yondu still having all his original teeth, to boot). He also recruits Korath the Pursurer (Djimon Hounsou), who was already his biggest fan. But the biggest surprise of all is that he somehow convinced Thanos (Josh Brolin) to abandon his quest to eliminate half of all life in the universe, become a fellow Ravager, and also make amends with his adoptive daughter, Nebula (Karen Gillan).

That’s right: Thanos, the Mad Titan, intergalactic despot and future wielder of the Infinity Gauntlet, is a reformed good guy in this alternate Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s certainly off-the-wall, but not as implausible or unheard-of as you might think. Crazy it might sound, this isn’t the first time Thanos has been depicted being on the side of the heroes. As a matter of fact, it happened more than once in mainstream comic book continuity.

First there’s the sequel to 1991’s The Infinity Gauntlet miniseries from which the third Avengers movie got it’s subtitle from, The Infinity War. There, a retired Thanos teams up with various superheroes to prevent the universe from being overrun by evil dopplegangers. Not long afterwards, he was instrumental in curing Thor after the Asgardian became inflicted with “warrior madness.” He even tried to save an alien race, whose previous planet he destroyed, from having their new planet be eaten by Galactus. Thanos even helped to save the universe he once tried to destroy and remake in his image during the 2006 comic book event, Annihilation.

As for ever having a (somewhat) healthy relationship with less cybernetic Nebula? Well, that definitely never came to pass in the comics. And the episode also shows that there are consequences in having a reformed Thanos, too.