Marvel’s Dark Guardians Shows How Thanos Can Return to The MCU

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thanos has been defeated for good by the Avengers, and the likelihood of the villain returning is relatively low. However, if the MCU ever wanted to use the Mad Titan again, a Dark Guardians storyline shows how he can be brought back. In a recent Guardians of the Galaxy series, Thanos was resurrected following his death and took on the form of one of his own family members.

Marvel killed Thanos twice in his likely final live-action appearance in Avengers: Endgame. Early in the MCU film, Thor cuts the Mad Titan’s head clean off on Titan II after learning he destroyed the Infinity Stones. Later in the movie, a version of Thanos from the past attempts to stop the Avengers from undoing his ultimate victory, leading to an epic final battle where Iron Man snapped the villain out of existence. Thanos meeting his end at the hands of the Avengers was a satisfying conclusion for the villain’s multi-film arc. But, if Marvel wanted to bring Thanos back into the fold in a new way, a 2019 Guardians of the Galaxy story shows how it could be possible without messing too much with past MCU canon.

In Donny Cates, Geoff Shaw, Cory Smith, and David Curiel’s run on Guardians of the Galaxy, Eros formed the Dark Guardians after learning his brother Thanos would be resurrected in somebody else’s body following his death at the hands of Gamora. The team consisted of powerful players across Marvel’s cosmic universe, including the Cosmic Ghost-Rider, Wraith, Gladiator, and Nebula. Their mission was to track down the person Thanos would be resurrected as before it was too late. Ultimately, Eros believed Gamora could become the new host of Thanos.

In the end, it wasn’t Gamora who Thanos planned on taking over, but Eros himself. Gamora would kill Eros as a broken Thanos would return – only to get sucked into a black hole before he could cause further damage. In the current arc of Eternals, Thanos has returned (with his broken body) with the assistance of Phastos. While the Mad Titan wasn’t resurrected as planned, he eventually would return from the dead – albeit more broken than ever before.

Bringing back Thanos to the Marvel Cinematic Universe would be a risky move for Marvel to make. He had a satisfying story arc that ended in one of the most epic defeats imaginable. But, if Marvel ever wanted to bring him back and introduce a handful of cosmic characters in the process, they need to look no further than the Dark Guardians arc, as it represents a viable storytelling path for Thanos to return.

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Liam McGuire
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Lead writer for Screen Rant’s comic team. [email protected]. Find me on Twitter @LiamRMcGuire for comic news and reporting.

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