Only a few antagonists have made as large an impact within and beyond a movie franchise as Thanos from theMCUhas. Many traits about this Mad Titan have cemented him asarguably the best-written comic book villain in cinema history. And this is not by chance. Much creative and intelelctual effort was infused into Thanos’ character arc and design that you can not help but acknowledge him.
This is due to many factors. First ishis unquenchable, if unorthodox, desire to fulfill his destiny of eliminating half of life with a snap of his fingers. Another isThanos’ antinatalist theoryof life having no meaning and overpopulation being the genesis of extinction. There are aspects of Thanos that we cannot ignore. Although he is universally regarded as the personification of cruelty, inescapable death, and infinite destruction, he reminds us to hold fast to our ideologies and, more importantly, to live by them.
Thanos faces off against the best teams in the cosmos, yet he still prevails after completing the Infinity Gauntlet. In addition to his unbreakable will, one major unmissable attribute that makes Thanos a memorable villain within and beyond the MCU is the memorable lines he delivers with all conviction. Here are 20 of his best quotes.
20"Fine, I’ll do it myself."
Thanos is introduced in the MCU’s Phase 2 as a purple alien awaiting the results of Ultron’s mission to eliminate humanity inAvengers: Age of Ultron. But when Ultron succumbs to the first assemblage of the Avengers, Thanos is ready to step into the scene.His first line in the MCU franchiseproves the famous saying, “If you want something done right, you do it yourself.”
19"You’re not the only one cursed with knowledge."
Upon meeting with Tony Stark, Thanos states he already knew of Tony and cites their shared genius as the reason why. Although Tony generally seems proud of his intelligence, the MCU doesn’t stray away from portraying the character’s darker moments.The scene is one of the first times the audience sees Thanos as somewhat sympathetic, his use of the word “cursed” indicating that he feels burdened with what he knows. Given the context of Thanos' appearance in the MCU, this line makes it seem as though Thanos almost wishes he didn’t have to take half the population but feels it’s an inevitability he can’t ignore because of what he knows.
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18"Undying? You should choose your words more carefully."
Thisbrilliantly cold lineperfectly sets the tone for the first major death at the hands of Thanos and his plans. When Loki attempts to trick the Titan, Thanos picks up on this and swiftly delivers this line before strangling Loki. Not only does this demonstrate Thanos' quick thinking, but it also shows his brutality. Loki’s death sets the tone for the film going forward, and Thanos has no time for tricks and games, briskly bringing anybody who stands in his way to an end.
17"All that for a drop of blood."
Perhaps one of the most chilling lines delivered by the Titan, after the heroes fight with their all to bring down Thanos, he remarks how unsuccessful their attempts have been. When watching the battle, it’s easy to ignore that Thanos doesn’t appear particularly hurt until he draws attention to it.This line casts a shadow of impending doomover the heroes and the audience alike, making it clear that they’re out of their element in a way we haven’t seen before. Tony, Spider-Man, and the other heroes have given it their all and only managed a small scratch on Thanos; it’s pretty terrifying!
To kick-start his killing spree, Thanos stands over the fallen bodies of Asgardian soldiers. But what makes this opening quote inAvengers: Infinity Waris Thanos' show of tenderness for Thor and Loki. In one monologue,he empathizes with their feeling of defeatwhile assuring them of their weakness and the futility of their resistance.
The bad guy always loses in Marvel movies, but it becomes even more terrible to have one who has experienced it and still returns to fight. Thanos was familiar with failure, heartache, and loss but persisted because he believed his cause was essential. All of this demonstrates how frightening of a villain he was because, instead of quitting when he lost the first time, Thanos learned and persisted in his fight, which helped him win.
15"The hardest choices require the strongest wills."
Thanos is unlike any villain who wants to commit evil for the sake of it.He believes his genocidal solution to overpopulation and the preservation of environmental resources is the bestdespite being the hardest, seeing that he had just sacrificed his daughter, Gamora, to attainthe Soul Stone.
To further prove his ideology to Doctor Strange, Thanos presents an image of what would befall Earth, hoping the sorcerer will see his logic and join his crusade. This line reflects an unnoticed layer of Thanos, revealing him in a new light like never before since his MCU debut. Deep down, if there were another realistic solution for him, he would take it rather than kill half of life. Thanos even goes on to explain, in detail, how his Snap is merciful and fair.
14"I am a survivor."
ThroughoutInfinity WarandAvengers:Endgame, there are moments where fans find themselves empathizing with or feeling terrible for Thanos, particularly in the scene where he describes what happened to his native planet of Titan, of which he is the sole survivor.Thanos saw his home on the verge of doom and offered them a solution, but they rejected it (rightly so), and as a result, the planet perished. Since he wants to avoid the same happening to any other planet, he makes it his ambition to ensure that there are survivors on every planet.
13"You have my respect, Stark. When I’m done, half of humanity will be alive. I hope they remember you."
No matter how you felt about him, Thanos wasn’t your typical villain. He was motivated by his moral convictions and by his own set of rules for life. Given that Thanos initially debuted in the pages of an Iron Man comic book, when Tony Stark/Iron Man confronts him in a hand-to-hand confrontation for the last time, it’s an epic comic book-to-screen moment.The Mad Titan knifed Tony Stark in the chest before paying his respectsand obliviously foreshadowing Stark’s death inEndgame.
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12"Reality is often disappointing. Now, reality can be whatever I want."
After Thanos traveled to Knowhere, and took the Aether from the Collector, solidifying it into the Reality Stone and adding it to the Infinity Gauntlet. Heplayed a mind trick on Quill and Gamorabefore reiterating his possession of the reality-altering gem.
11"Perfectly balanced as all things should be."
This statement captures Thanos' mentality. Due to his intense conviction that what he was accomplishing was right, he thought everything should be in its proper place, even if that meant wiping out half of the universe. In a flashback, this dialogue between a war criminal and his soon-to-be-adopted daughter reveals Gamora’s childhood and Thanos' early planetary raids. While death and destruction occur behind them, Thanos, with zero remorse, demonstrates the need for equilibrium between life and death.
