The Mad Titan, Thanos – A Throwback Thursday

With Infinity War on the heels of this post, it seemed appropriate to reflect back on some of my Thanos writing! This post is from late 2013, and I did a pretty good job of predicting where the MCU was going, if not the comics. My links at the end are also probably somewhat spoilers, in that they are clearly basing at least some of Infinity War on Hickman’s Infinity event! Enjoy, and remember, #ThanosDemandsYourSilence!

From The Infinity Gauntlet

Marvel’s recent crossover event Infinity recently ended, and with all the events with “Infinity” in the title, this was a crossover that included the Mad Titan, Thanos, as the villain. In Infinity, he had to share the stage with the Builders, and was only one front of a two-front war. Nonetheless, his parts in Infinity tied in heavily to who he is as a villain, and what motivates him.

Of course, other Thanos events like the Infinity Gauntlet help inform us as to who Thanos is and what he’s up to, but Infinity drew from more than that. They did a limited-run, 5-issue series called Thanos Rising which explored the origin story of Thanos. It’s interesting, because with this story, it’s hard to tell where the previous Thanos events fit in. Nonetheless, the psychological underpinnings of the character are explored and revealed in Thanos Rising.

And what they lay out is that this is a mentally unbalanced, overly powerful character, willing – and wanting – to kill anyone and anything. Conquering or razing worlds because he can. So I’ve read the Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos Rising, and Infinity, so let’s take a look at who this villain is! Spoilers to follow!

Character Study: Scott Lang (Ant-Man)

Real Name: Scott Lang

Powers: Thanks to Pym Particles, Scott (Ant-Man) can shrink to the size of an ant. He can also communicate telepathically with insects. When he shrinks, he retains his human strength.

Abilities: Scott has expertise in electronics.

Background

Scott Lang is the current Ant-Man, though he achieved the title by unorthodox means. He stole the Ant-Man suit from Dr. Henry (Hank) Pym, in order to save his daughter’s life. Not the first time Scott stole in order to support his family. He turned to crime when he was no longer able to support his wife and daughter, and became a skilled thief as a way to make ends meet. Of course this path didn’t end well, and Scott spent a time in prison.

After his release, he worked in the design department at Stark International; trying to turn over a new leaf. When he discovered his daughter had a fatal heart condition, he decided to call on the help of Dr. Erica Sondheim. It turned out she had been kidnapped by Darren Cross of Cross Technological Enterprises, who had a heart condition of his own. Scott stole Hank’s suit to rescue Dr. Sondheim and save his little girl. The mission was a success, and Hank allowed him to keep the suit – as long as he continued to use it for good.

Character Study: Elizabeth

Elizabeth as a character in Bioshock Infinite is pretty interesting. At first she comes across as a typical damsel in distress. There is even some worry that the whole game will be a huge escort quest, which did not look appealing. Then you meet Elizabeth and there is so much more to her. As you progress some of the initial things is that you are not escorting Elizabeth, you need her just as much as she needs you. Her abilities and the fact that the game itself does not give her a health bar gives her a unique position. At the same time she is a vital element in the story.

Her characterization is also interesting through out the game. She starts out seemingly naive because she has been so sheltered from the world. She wants to escape, but at the same time she knows that the Songbird will never truly let that happen. As the story progresses we see her personality change and grow. As she sees more of the world she becomes hardened by the situation around her. The progression that they take Elizabeth on definitely ties with the various story reveals throughout the game. (Spoilers for Bioshock Infinite after the jump)

O is for Olaf

David and I only watched Frozen a few weeks ago because the initial trailers had not made the movie look that interesting. One of the issues I had was actually that Olaf was going to be an annoying gimmick and not a fully formed character. You often see this in movies and it usually comes across more annoying than anything else. When I heard about how popular Frozen was and still is I knew that we needed to make an effort to see it and was pleasantly surprised. One of the surprising things was that I really did love Olaf, he was a great character and was fun to watch on screen. The part that was great about him is that he is so child like, it creates an innocence and amazement as to what is going on. Everything is incredible to Olaf, which makes him fun to watch.

I is for Ianto Jones

Courtesy of http://www.fanpop.com

Ianto Jones is a great character from Torchwood, partly because he character grows. He starts out as someone trying to stay below the radar with plenty of secrets. He eventually becomes a trustworthy friend, ally, and companion. As he gains more trust he gets more responsibilities and even though he starts as a kind of door man, he eventually is going out on missions with the rest of the team. Besides his work as a member of Torchwood he gets in to a relationship with Captain Jack Harkness and while at first it seems casual it definitely blooms in to something more.