The Mad Titan makes his comeback in Marvel’s What If…? Episode 2. But the purple chinned megalomaniac’s return is not flawless. Thanos does return but there’s a twist in the tale no one would have ever saw coming. In Marvel’s What If, Thanos ends up being nerfed down to ridiculous levels. Why is Thanos so weak in the second episode of Marvel’s What If? let’s find out.
The second episode of Marvel’s What If completely changes the MCU saga. With one minor temporal detour, the fate of the whole universe changes. T’Challa is abducted by the Ravagers. Under Yondu’s tutelage, T’Challa becomes the Robin hood of the whole universe. But in the process, eh averts many disasters. His positive influence on people changes them, turning even the worst of super-villains into allies, a force for good. Thanos, in Marvel’s What If Episode 2, is one of the many allies of T’Challa. After the Wakandan Prince manages to talk Thanos out of universal genocide, he joins the Ravagers as one of T’Challa’s team mates.
The Infinity Saga of the MCU? In this timeline, it never happened.
What Happens Next Now That Thanos Has Changed Paths?
With Thanos now gone, their is a major power vacuum. The universe felt the terror that was Thanos and after the Mad Titan turns coats, the Collector takes up that role. All of Thanos’ Black Order now serve the Collector, the ruler of an inter-galactic criminal empire. T’Challa and the Ravagers, including Thanos, travel to the Collector’s lair to retrieve a powerful artefact called the Embers of genesis, a tool that can bring life to barren worlds with just a touch.
And this is where we see Thanos, now a mere shadow of his former mighty self.
Marvel’s What If: Thanos Now Feels Pain (But It’s A Good Thing)
In the subsequent clash with the Black Order, Cull Obsidian and Proxima Midnight directly engage with their former master. Thanos does look like he is giving them a tough fight but in the end, it is too much for him to handle. A guy who almost brought the entire roster of the Avengers to their knees singlehandedly now struggles against just two of his henchmen. That is a huge fall from grace.
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But that is not a bad thing. In the MCU, Thanos needed to keep control of his emotions. he needed to project an image of strength and power. Since he is no longer burdened with a fate and a purpose, he is happy where he is now. He is now just someone who follows orders and a part of a larger team. He is able to freely express his emotions, without a persona to maintain.
Is the Marvel’s What If Thanos the weaker version? Absolutely! Is the MCU Thanos the better version of the two? We wouldn’t be too sure about that.
