Will Thanos Return to the MCU? Here’s What We Think!

The MCU built up the Infinity Saga for ten years, leading to the Mad Titan, Thanos. We first saw him, back in 2012, appear in the post-credit scene of ‘The Avengers’  and from there, he was built up in several films to be the main villain for ‘Avengers Infinity War’ and ‘Avengers Endgame.’ Josh Brolin gave a fantastic performance, and as much as he had a great ending, people have always wondered whether or not he would return. Here’s our theory on whether Thanos will return to the MCU and the odds of that happening! 

With the current Multiverse Saga of the MCU, Thanos may turn up as another variant. Another version of him has already shown up in animation with Marvel’s ‘What If’ show, with Josh Brolin coming back to voice the character, so it would be no surprise if he turned up again. 

Now that we have briefly discussed whether or not Thanos will return to the MCU, let’s analyze it in more detail. If you are interested in possible projects in which Thanos could turn up again in the MCU, what role he would play, and if Josh Brolin would even return to the role, stay with us and keep reading!

How did Thanos die?

After snapping away half of all life, Thanos went to live a life in solitude. The Avengers located him after he used the Stones for a second time, and after finding out he used the Infinity Stones to destroy them, Thor decapitated him. If Thanos died at the start of ‘Endgame,’ how did he appear again at the end of the film?

Thanos appeared again after the Avengers traveled back in time to get the Stones and created branch realities. Thanos, from 2014, managed to make his way to the future and fight the Avengers once again. This version of Thanos was then killed by Tony Stark, who used the Infinity Stones to erase Thanos and his army, killing Stark in the process.

This was technically Thanos from another reality, as when they traveled back, they created branches of other timelines once they changed something that happened in the past. This means Thanos had already technically returned from another universe. However, it was only a branch of reality, not a completely different universe. This was just a taste of what was to come from the Multiverse Saga and would lead the audience to expect bigger things in the future. 

Will Thanos be in ‘Deadpool 3’?

With ‘Deadpool 3’ exploring the Multiverse, it’s expected that tons of major Marvel characters from the past will appear in the film. In ‘Deadpool 2’, Josh Brolin played Cable, and his role as Thanos was referenced even though Disney did not own the rights to Deadpool.

So far, Cable has not been confirmed for ‘Deadpool 3,’ but it would be no surprise if Josh Brolin made a quick cameo in the film as a variant of Thanos. It does seem, though, that the cameos in ‘Deadpool 3’ will be more from the FOX universe of Marvel films, so we may not get Josh Brolin as Thanos or even as Cable, for that matter. 

Thanos in ‘What If’

During the first season of Marvel’s ‘What If,’ fans were lucky to see Josh Brolin return to voice Thanos as part of the Ravagers. This was in episode two of ‘What If,’ where T’Challa became Starlord and could talk Thanos down from pursuing the goal of erasing half the universe.

We will see a variation of Thanos in season 2 of ‘What If’ in the episode, ‘What If Gamora Killed Thanos?’ This episode was intended to be in the first season but was cut due to COVID-19 and production problems. It has yet to be confirmed if Josh Brolin will return to the role, but it would not be surprising if he did. 

Can Thanos be resurrected?

If Thanos were to be resurrected, it would take away the impact of his death in ‘Avengers Endgame.’ However, as said before, they could easily bring a variant in from the multiverse or even have a version from a branch timeline appear like in ‘Avengers Endgame.’

The main focus of the Multiverse Saga will be Kang, but there would be no reason for a version of Thanos to go up against Kang or even help the Avengers. If they follow the plot of the ‘Secret Wars’ comic, tons of variants will have to get together to save the multiverse, and that could include a variant of Thanos.

Would Josh Brolin Return as Thanos? 

Josh Brolin has come out and said that if Marvel wanted him back, he would return to the role. If they did want him, it would most likely not be in any large capacity but mostly just as a call back to the Infinity Saga. It would be a great way to show how strong Kang is by having him kill a variant of Thanos, showing how much of a bigger threat he is.

By having the current big bad kill the recent big bad it would be a great way to show what the heroes are up against. This would be similar to how Thanos killed Loki in ‘Avengers Infinity War,’ with Loki being the first villain the Avengers had to team up and fight against. 

Do you think Thanos will return to the MCU? Let us know in the comments!