Thanos is probably the most intimidating supervillain the superhero genre has ever seen. Although Avengers: Infinity War featured extensive screen time for Thanos, an update from Jim Starlin, the character’s creator, disclosed that a significant scene was removed from the final version.
In the film, Thanos was on a quest to get his hands on all Infinity Stones, while the Avengers were determined to prevent him from doing so. At the film’s start, Thanos had already acquired the Power Stone, following a fierce confrontation with the Nova Corps on Xandar. However, the film did not show the grand battle between the Mad Titan and the Nova Corps over the Power Stone.
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Why Did Marvel Cut The Epic Battle In The Film
During an interview with Near Mint Condition, Jim Starlin discussed a deleted scene from Avengers: Infinity War featuring Josh Brolin as the Mad Titan. Starlin initially revealed that he had to remain tight-lipped for eighteen months after the film’s screenwriters, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, divulged the entire plot of the two Avengers films to him.
“It was kind of funny. Just before ‘Infinity War’ came out, I have been in contact with Joe Russo, one of the directors. And when I was on the set, Markus and McFeely told me everything, what they were doing in the two movies, they ran me down this hallway that had all the concept paintings up on the wall. And so for a year-and-a-half, I had to keep my mouth shut.”
Just a month before the film’s theatrical release, Starlin received an email from directors Russo Brothers, informing about the removal of a 45-minute scene where Thanos obtains the first Infinity Stone at the beginning of the film.
The Real Reason Behind Removing The Scene
The writer for Marvel Comics also pointed out that the scene was removed because the studio was unwilling to allocate funds for the necessary visual effects. Besides, Marvel wanted to avoid replicating the length of Avengers: Endgame.
“But about a month before the movie came out, I got an email or something from Joe saying, ‘the 45 minutes of Thanos that we had at the beginning of Infinity War, we had it cut.’ There was a whole sequence of him getting the first gem and they had to cut that out. They shot it, but they never wanted to spend the money on the effects and they didn’t want the movie to be as long as the second one was. They didn’t realize it was going to be quite the hit it was.”
However, Starlin confirmed that the sequence was filmed and suggested that the 45-minute scene may still exist in the archives. Furthermore, with speculation mounting that a Nova project is in the works, the scene could likely be used for the character’s debut, providing a deeper insight into the downfall of the Nova Corps and Xandar and Thanos’ control over the planet.
Avenger: Infinity War is available for streaming on Disney+.
Source: The Direct
