Top 10 Nicest Things Thanos Has Ever Done

Did you know that the Marvel universe has its own Illuminati? Just like our alleged one, the Marvel version operates from the shadows and counts some of the universe’s most influential people in its ranks. By 2014’s “New Avengers” #23, the organization had come to a fundamental disagreement about what to do about Earth-9004, which was on course to hit Earth-616. The Illuminati agree that they can’t wipe out one planet in favor of their own. All except Namor. While the others make peace with their fate, Namor secretly forms a splinter group with Thanos called the Cabal, who do what the Illuminati won’t. Obviously, the whole thing takes a dark turn real quick, and Namor comes to regret what he’d done, but at least the main Marvel Earth was saved, right?

Gamora, often called the deadliest and most dangerous woman in the whole galaxy, was once a young child living amongst the peaceful Zen Whoberis. Unfortunately for her people, other races in the galaxy weren’t nearly as peaceful, as they were attacked and wiped out by the Badoon. Luckily for Gamora, she was spared the fate of her people by Thanos. His reasons may not have been purely altruistic, and he may not have been the best father, but despite himself, Thanos did come to care for Gamora, even if he has a funny way of showing it.

In the comics, Deadpool and Thanos have more in common than just Josh Brolin. They’re both caught up in the universe’s strangest love triangle with Marvel’s living embodiment of Death. And, hey, if you don’t mind the skeletal face, we can kind of see why. Thanos has done some pretty mean things to his romantic rival over the years, like making Deadpool immortal to keep him away from Lady Death forever. But, in the “Deadpool Vs. Thanos” crossover comic, the pair were forced together to rescue Lady Death from the clutches of fellow cosmic being, Eternity. Even after they rescue her, Death only has eyes for Wade, so while Thanos played hero, he didn’t get the girl

As hard as it is to picture, Thanos became an honorary Guardian Of The Galaxy in “The Thanos Imperative” storyline after the Guardians discover a corrupted reality known as the Cancerverse. In this reality, death doesn’t exist, a discovery that isn’t as a great as you’d think. Thanos surprisingly agrees to help the team save it, and even ends up sacrificing himself to draw Lady Death into the Cancerverse in order to cure the imbalance and defeat an evil version of Captain Marvel. You wouldn’t think the Mad Titan would be capable of such a selfless act, but in this instance, you’d be wrong. Then again, he did kind of lose it when Death rejected him yet again. There’s the Thanos we know and love!

Sometimes the best way to take out one supervillain is with another. Annihilus is an old Fantastic Four enemy and the self-proclaimed “Lord of the Negative Zone.” In the 2006 “Annihilation” event, he became hellbent on wielding the Power Cosmic. After kidnapping a few of Galactus’ heralds, he set his sights on the big, purple guy himself, and found an unlikely ally in Thanos. Using the Power Cosmic, Annihilus hoped to destroy not just the Negative Zone, but the Marvel universe. That last part didn’t sit well with the Thanos, who wanted to rule the universe, not erase it. So, the Titan betrayed his former comrade, resulting in Galactus’ freedom and Annihilus’ plan being thwarted, which allowed the universe and its inhabitants to live on. It did result in his death at the hands of Drax, though. Oh well.

One of the first things Thanos did upon completing the Infinity Gauntlet is to bring his granddaughter Nebula back from the dead in an effort to win Lady Death’s affections. The move fails, and what’s worse is that Nebula is left in a zombified state between life and death. Biding her time, she later steals the Gauntlet for herself when Thanos is vulnerable. Her instability makes her an even greater threat than her father, and, knowing this, Thanos agrees to align himself with Adam Warlock, Doctor Strange, and Earth’s heroes to take his granddaughter down.

#4: Defeated Magus To Save Reality

Also in:

Top 10 Characters Who Have Defeated Thanos

Adam Warlock is one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel universe, so you can imagine the damage he could do if he turned to the dark side. Actually, you don’t have to imagine because that version of him already exists. In “The Infinity War” comics, Magus aims to get the Infinity Gems back in the Gauntlet and go one step further than Thanos. He wants reality itself gone, not just half of all life. This leads Thanos, once the scourge of the universe, to become one of its greatest protectors, as he tricks Magus into believing he had collected all the gems when in fact the Reality gem in his possession was a fake. The true Reality gem was safely under Thanos protection. Ok, maybe “safely” isn’t the right word.

Thanos may be known as the “Mad Titan,” but he’s not the only one whose emotions can lead to disaster. By the early ‘90s, the Asgardian thunder god was sinking into a depressive identity crisis. This manifested itself as an inner demon known as Valkyrie. Valkyrie poisoned Thor’s mind, eventually whipping Odin’s son into a savage frenzy in order to demolish Asgard, which kicked off the “Blood And Thunder” arc. With the fates of all Nine Realms at stake, a desperate Silver Surfer calls on Thanos to subdue the crazed god. Though the Titan relishes battling Thor at his strongest, he does as promised, nobly passing up a chance to off an old enemy.

Once again, when the fate of the universe was at stake, the Mad Titan was involved. This time, the being threatening all life was Adam Warlocks good side, the Goddess, who wanted to purge the universe of evil… which, to her, meant ridding the cosmos of all sentient life. To do so, she collected a total of thirty Cosmic Cubes in order to create a machine known as the Cosmic Egg which had the ability to grant wishes. The Goddess goes after Thanos, who’s saved by Adam Warlock. The two join forces to defeat her army of brainwashed heroes, and Thanos & Co. ultimately defeat her by tricking her into revealing her twisted plan to her loyal followers. The story ends with the Goddess being absorbed into the soul gem, and Thanos ordering the Cosmic Egg to destroy itself.

For readers of “Infinity Gauntlet,” the closing moments of “Avengers: Infinity War” would have looked very familiar. That’s because they were pulled right from the pages of the 1991 comic crossover event, but they weren’t used in the same context. After Thanos loses the Infinity Gauntlet to Nebula, Adam Warlock gives the depowered Titan some insight: having glimpsed inside his mind, Warlock believes Thanos doesn’t think himself worthy of victory. This observation foreshadows the story’s big finish. Faced with certain defeat, Thanos seemingly blows himself up. But, this was actually a cover for him to retire peacefully to an isolated planet in the near future. Thanos took the L with grace, which is far more than we could say about most comic book baddies.