A new behind-the-scenes photo from Joss Whedon’s The Avengers movie from 2012 reveals a closer look at the makeup for the original Thanos. Phase 1 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe was dedicated to introducing audiences to a new age of Marvel superheroes while also bringing them together for the first time to defeat Loki during the Battle of New York. However, throughout the film, it became quite apparent that Loki was merely doing the bidding for someone else: the Mad Titan Thanos.

Thanos was first teased during The Avengers‘ mid-credits scene (which was originally its only after-credits scene), but it wasn’t until James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy hit theaters two years later that Josh Brolin made his official debut as the MCU’s Thanos. Then, after sitting on the sidelines for another four years, Brolin’s Thanos and his loyal Black Order (aka the Children of Thanos) entered the fray in Anthony and Joe Russo’s Avengers: Infinity War. Unlike the version of Thanos seen in The Avengers, Brolin’s version was entirely CGI – and it looked great. But what did the original MCU version look like, at least behind-the-scenes?

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Ironhead Studios recently posted a new photo on Instagram, showing off a behind-the-scenes look at Damion Poitier’s Thanos makeup, which was done by Jose Fernandez in 2011, in preparation for Poitier’s scene. Although it has been widely believed over the years that the Thanos in The Avengers’ mid-credits scene was completely CGI, that doesn’t appear to be the case, as Poitier is clearly wearing makeup and prosthetics (something that was also done for Chris Evans’ appearance in Avengers‘ post-credits scene). Take a look:

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Flashback to a day on set for The Avengers circa 2011. Jose was hired to design and sculpt this makeup to be applied to actor Damion Poitier, who portrayed Thanos in the post-credits scene. Although Thanos ended up getting a digital sheen for the film and eventually became fully digitally rendered in Avengers: Infinity War, Jose still has a soft spot for this practical makeup design. The appliances were painted and applied by Thom Floutz. #thanos #theavengers #specialfx #makeup #spfx #sculpt #marvel #marvelcomics #damionpoitier #infinitywar #fxmakeup #mcu #paramount #disney #superhero #stanlee #jackkirby #villian #ironheadstudio

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Sometime after the movie released, Poitier revealed in an interview that he didn’t know he was going to be playing Thanos, even for a brief scene. Since the rumors at the time pointed to the Skrulls appearing in The Avengers, he had assumed that he was going to play one of them, if not Super Skrull. But that changed when he went into the makeup room, which he’s discussed multiple times before. And now, it appears that moment was captured on photo (above). While Poitier no longer portrays Thanos in the MCU, his appearance gave way for one of the most compelling villains the franchise has seen thus far.

For now, MCU fans can look forward to seeing Josh Brolin reprise his role as Thanos in the Russos’ Avengers 4 next year, before presumably calling it quits, unless, of course, Marvel Studios decides to bring back Thanos for the Eternals movie they currently have in development. But all of that remains to be seen.

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Source: Ironhead Studios

Key Release Dates
  • Captain Marvel (2019)Release date: Mar 08, 2019
  • The Avengers 4 / Avengers: Endgame (2019)Release date: Apr 26, 2019
  • Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)Release date: Jul 02, 2019
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Mansoor Mithaiwala
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Mansoor Mithaiwala is Screen Rant’s TV Lead Editor. He originally joined the site as a freelance writer on the Lists team before moving over to News and Features, eventually becoming an editor in 2018. Over time he’s done quite a few different things, including helping launch gaming on the site, often handling news, features, and guides simultaneously. Now he sticks primarily to movies and TV, and spends way too much time looking at analytics. It sure seems like he’s put his Political Science degree to good use, huh?

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