The Marvel Cinematic Universe is now over with the Infinity Saga and so Thanos has been left behind, but this universe still has a big unanswered question about the Mad Titan and one of his most important alliances. The MCU’s first three phases saw the formation of the Avengers and Thanos’ quest to acquire the Infinity Stones and the Infinity Gauntlet, this with the purpose of wiping out half of life in the universe to “bring balance” to it. Thanos’ presence was felt early on in the MCU as he made his first appearance in the post-credits scene of The Avengers, and he became the main villain in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.

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However, before his first proper appearance in an MCU movie, Thanos turned out to be the mastermind behind the plans of other bad guys and thus was the real villain in some stories. Thanos made alliances with Loki and Ronan the Accuser, with the purpose of tracking down some of the Infinity Stones, specifically the Space Stone (contained in the Tesseract) and the Power Stone (contained in the Orb). Thanos was also the mind behind the Chitauri Invasion in The Avengers, led by Loki, and which didn’t turn out as the Mad Titan planned as it cost him not only the Space Stone but also the Mind Stone (kept in the Scepter), and Loki was no longer on his side after that battle.

The post-credits scene in The Avengers not only confirmed Thanos’ presence in the MCU but revealed that the Chitauri weren’t serving Loki but Thanos, and Avengers: Infinity War later showed that they had been working together for years. The Chitauri accompanied Thanos when he attacked Zen-Whoberi, where the Chitauri killed half the population as part of Thanos’ idea of bringing balance to the universe. However, everything else about the Chitauri and their alliance with Thanos is a mystery, and one that might not be solved now that both have been left behind and the MCU is moving forward with other characters, events, and concepts, like the multiverse.

The Chitauri are a sentient, reptilian warrior race who are also a hybrid between organic beings and machines. They operate under a hive mind intelligence controlled by a Mother Ship, and while they are born as fully organic beings, they are cybernetically enhanced at an early age with electronic neural networks and armor fused into their bodies – but who exactly is responsible for those enhancements remains unknown. It’s also unknown how their alliance with Thanos began, as he surely promised them something in return for their services and loyalty. Now, with Avengers: Endgame branching the timeline, in the alternate one where 2014 Thanos and his armies invaded Earth, the Chitauri army disintegrated along with the Mad Titan as a result of Iron Man’s snap, but in the main timeline, it’s unknown what happened to them and who they serve now that Thanos is gone (as he was decapitated by Thor in the main timeline).

This leaves the door somewhat open for the return of the Chitauri at some point in future Phases of the MCU, but with Thanos now left in the past, it’s unlikely this universe will solve the mysteries of how their alliance began, where the Chitauri truly come from, and who’s behind their enhancements, but it could show who they’re serving now and make them part of this universe again.

Key Release Dates
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  • Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)Release date: May 06, 2022
  • Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)Release date: Jul 08, 2022
  • Black Panther: Wakanda Forever/Black Panther 2 (2022)Release date: Nov 11, 2022
  • The Marvels/Captain Marvel 2 (2023)Release date: Feb 17, 2023
  • Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)Release date: Jul 28, 2023
  • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)Release date: May 05, 2023
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Adrienne Tyler
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Adrienne Tyler is a features writer for Screen Rant. She is an Audiovisual Communication graduate who wanted to be a filmmaker, but life had other plans (and it turned out great). Prior to Screen Rant, she wrote for Pop Wrapped, 4 Your Excitement (4YE), and D20Crit, where she was also a regular guest at Netfreaks podcast. She was also a contributor for FanSided’s BamSmackPow and 1428 Elm. Adrienne is very into films and she enjoys a bit of everything: from superhero films to heartbreaking dramas, to low-budget horror films. Every time she manages to commit to a TV show without getting bored, an angel gets its wings.

When she’s not writing, you can find her trying to learn a new language, watching hockey (go Avs!), or wondering what life would have been like had Pushing Daisies, Firefly, and Limitless not been cancelled. Breakfast food is life and coffee is what makes the world go round.

Guillermo del Toro said “hi” to her once. It was great.

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