Involving Thanos
The mid-credits sequence in The Avengers gave one significant hint about the future of Marvel's Cinematic Universe – Thanos is plotting against the Avengers. While presumably this means Thanos will be the major villain in The Avengers 2 down the road, it's been suggested that we may see more of the Mad Titan along the way. One interesting theory floating around the Internet is that the Chitauri invasion in The Avengers was really just an elaborate ruse to get Loki sent back to Asgard. Once there, Loki can sneak into Odin's armory and steal the real object of Thanos' desire – the Infinity Gauntlet.
Guardians of the Galaxy is rumored to involve Thanos in some form as well. As mentioned, several of the characters on the team have direct ties to Thanos, so this makes sense. But will he serve as the villain of the movie or something else?
Latino Review suggested that the movie is inspired by a storyline called The Thanos Imperative. If true, this would actually make Thanos an ally of the Guardians rather than an enemy. The Thanos Imperative depicted a conflict with Thanos and the Guardians defending the universe against an invading force of Lovecraftian monsters called the Many-Angled Ones. These creatures had expanded and consumed all resources in their home dimension, and they saw the Marvel Universe as a logical expansion point. But as the Avatar of Death for the Marvel Universe, Thanos was the only being capable of halting their expansion.
Frankly, we're not convinced The Thanos Imperative is a logical source of inspiration given how little moviegoers have seen of the villain so far. Why depict Thanos as a reluctant hero before you've had the opportunity to establish him as a monumental villain? At best, the source material would have to be heavily modified to fit the framework of these movies.
But whatever the case, we do hope this movie is used as an opportunity to explore and define Thanos' character. Hero or villain, we want to see what makes him tick and learn more about his twisted fascination with Death. And if The Avengers 2 is going to adapt a major Thanos-centric storyline like The Infinity Gauntlet, now would be a good time to lay the groundwork.
Other Potential Villains
We don't necessarily picture Thanos being the lead villain of Guardians of the Galaxy if he's also intended to battle the Avengers in their next film. But if this movie is intended to showcase a wider range of cosmic characters, there's no shortage of worthy villains to battle the team.
One character we wouldn't mind seeing is Michael Korvac. In the comics, Korvac is a human from the 31st Century who is experimented upon and eventually receives godlike powers. Naturally, his mind wasn't really equipped for the transformation. He battled the Avengers and the 31st Century version of the Guardians before finally being defeated.
The episode “Michael Korvac” in Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes showed how this storyline could easily be adapted to include the contemporary Guardians rather than the futuristic ones. This would also nicely address the problem of needing to keep part of the film grounded on Earth while also showcasing the wider scope of the Marvel Universe.
If Adam Warlock is going to be a major player in the movie, it might make sense to include his dark alter-ego Magus as a villain. Warlock's power comes from a Soul Gem embedded in his forehead (similar to the gems that power the Infinity Gauntlet). Magus is Warlock's future self, driven insane by his overuse of the Gem.
Another common foe the Guardians have faced is the Church of Universal Truth, an organization started by Magus himself. This sinister church has trillions of worshipers across the universe, and they've developed technology that can harness the energy of faith to power weapons of mass destruction.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/06/29/how-to-make-a-guardians-of-the-galaxy-movie-work
The mid-credits sequence in The Avengers gave one significant hint about the future of Marvel's Cinematic Universe – Thanos is plotting against the Avengers. While presumably this means Thanos will be the major villain in The Avengers 2 down the road, it's been suggested that we may see more of the Mad Titan along the way. One interesting theory floating around the Internet is that the Chitauri invasion in The Avengers was really just an elaborate ruse to get Loki sent back to Asgard. Once there, Loki can sneak into Odin's armory and steal the real object of Thanos' desire – the Infinity Gauntlet.
Guardians of the Galaxy is rumored to involve Thanos in some form as well. As mentioned, several of the characters on the team have direct ties to Thanos, so this makes sense. But will he serve as the villain of the movie or something else?
Latino Review suggested that the movie is inspired by a storyline called The Thanos Imperative. If true, this would actually make Thanos an ally of the Guardians rather than an enemy. The Thanos Imperative depicted a conflict with Thanos and the Guardians defending the universe against an invading force of Lovecraftian monsters called the Many-Angled Ones. These creatures had expanded and consumed all resources in their home dimension, and they saw the Marvel Universe as a logical expansion point. But as the Avatar of Death for the Marvel Universe, Thanos was the only being capable of halting their expansion.
Frankly, we're not convinced The Thanos Imperative is a logical source of inspiration given how little moviegoers have seen of the villain so far. Why depict Thanos as a reluctant hero before you've had the opportunity to establish him as a monumental villain? At best, the source material would have to be heavily modified to fit the framework of these movies.
But whatever the case, we do hope this movie is used as an opportunity to explore and define Thanos' character. Hero or villain, we want to see what makes him tick and learn more about his twisted fascination with Death. And if The Avengers 2 is going to adapt a major Thanos-centric storyline like The Infinity Gauntlet, now would be a good time to lay the groundwork.
Other Potential Villains
We don't necessarily picture Thanos being the lead villain of Guardians of the Galaxy if he's also intended to battle the Avengers in their next film. But if this movie is intended to showcase a wider range of cosmic characters, there's no shortage of worthy villains to battle the team.
One character we wouldn't mind seeing is Michael Korvac. In the comics, Korvac is a human from the 31st Century who is experimented upon and eventually receives godlike powers. Naturally, his mind wasn't really equipped for the transformation. He battled the Avengers and the 31st Century version of the Guardians before finally being defeated.
The episode “Michael Korvac” in Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes showed how this storyline could easily be adapted to include the contemporary Guardians rather than the futuristic ones. This would also nicely address the problem of needing to keep part of the film grounded on Earth while also showcasing the wider scope of the Marvel Universe.
If Adam Warlock is going to be a major player in the movie, it might make sense to include his dark alter-ego Magus as a villain. Warlock's power comes from a Soul Gem embedded in his forehead (similar to the gems that power the Infinity Gauntlet). Magus is Warlock's future self, driven insane by his overuse of the Gem.
Another common foe the Guardians have faced is the Church of Universal Truth, an organization started by Magus himself. This sinister church has trillions of worshipers across the universe, and they've developed technology that can harness the energy of faith to power weapons of mass destruction.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/06/29/how-to-make-a-guardians-of-the-galaxy-movie-work
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