There were many questions left after viewing Avengers: Infinity War, and one of them that seems to come up, is why Thanos didn’t kill any of the Avengers who were coming at him in the moments before he snapped his fingers and wiped out half of the universe. Surely, he may have wanted to kill a few who were trying to stop him before reaching his ultimate prize of completing the Infinity Gauntlet, right?
Marvel Studios Head of Visual Development Ryan Meinerding discussed this question in the new book, The Art of Avengers: Infinity War, saying:
“The plan of getting all the Infinity Stones is putting [Thanos] in the position of being so powerful that he is sort of calmer, more single-minded, and more reasonable. He is not necessarily worried about killing the heroes. As long as he ends up with the stones, he can accomplish what he wants to.”
It makes sense. After all, Thanos could have finished off Tony Stark, but instead let him survive when Doctor Strange let him take the Time Stone. We already know the reason Strange did that, as he saw all of the possible outcomes, and this was the only one that worked. The other reason being that Disney wanted another movie in Avengers 4, and with Thanos being defeated, we wouldn’t have gotten that.
Either way, Avengers: Infinity War was a massive success both financially and critically, and Avengers 4 is shaping up to be one of the biggest movies of all time, as it will see this current 10 year arc of storytelling in the Marvel Cinematic Universe come to a close. If that’s not enough to get fans excited, then I’m not sure what will.
How do you feel about this explanation on Thanos not killing the Avengers in that scene? Be sure to tell us your thoughts in the comments!