Most people love the Marvel movies. They've provided parents and the middle-aged men who live in their basement something to actually share an opinion about. But there's one over-arching complaint we’ve heard again and again, and it’s regarding the infamous Marvel “villain problem.” Even Marvel head Kevin Feige has heard your groans over the villains of these hit films and, for the most part, he’s right there with you.
While speaking on the set of GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2, Feige spoke to the aforementioned issue fans have with Marvel’s villains, but then assured us we probably won’t have those same complaints when it comes to Thanos in INFINITY WAR:
We've been criticized… if a big criticism of ours is that we focus on the heroes more than the villains, I think that's probably true. I don't think it will always be true, and I think some of you spoke to Chris [Markus] and Steve [McFeely] at the Civil War junket. … And they talked about, in appropriately oblique terms, Thanos. Thanos in Infinity War is — in a movie that has a lot of characters, you could almost go so far as to say he is the main character, and that's a bit of a departure from what we've done before. But that was appropriate for a movie called Infinity War.
This isn’t the first time the villain problem has been addressed. Last year our own Paul Shirey got a chance to visit the CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR set, and there Markus and McFeely addressed the problem, citing the fact that these movies are about the heroes, not villains, but that once they get past the origin story it allows for more freedom with the bad guys. On that note, Thanos has the potential to challenge our superhero pals in a way no other villain has, as it’s a threat that equally effects everyone we’ve seen up to this point.
Thanos, the galactic space tyrant played by Josh Brolin, has been teased as a massive villain since being seen at the end of 2012’s THE AVENGERS, and his arrival will finally be upon us next year. We got a great look at him in 2014’s GUARDIANS, and he promises to be an imposing, vicious antagonist for our hero friends. Or he’s just misunderstood and could use a puppy.
The villain problem is one that’s quite obvious (not just here, but in most blockbusters), but I’ve never had a huge opinion on the matter. I get what the writers are saying in that these movies are about the heroes and not their foes, so the former is where they put their focus. As long as they admit they can, and will, do better is step one, and if Thanos is as impactful a figure as they’re hinting I think INFINITY WAR will stand out in the MCU for more than a few reasons. Still, there's nothing that can't be solved with a puppy.
AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR is set for May 4, 2018.