‘Avengers: Infinity War’ Directors Compare Thanos to Genghis Khan

Chris Tilly
Movies Marvel
Movies Marvel MCU

Thanos is coming! Avengers: Infinity War is nearly upon us, so when FANDOM caught up with the film’s directors — Joe Russo and Anthony Russo — we asked why the world should be scared of the big bad. As well as what his henchmen ‘The Children of Thanos‘ bring to the story.

“They are dimensionalising Thanos as a villain” explained Joe. “What I think is interesting is he’s sort of a cult figure, Thanos. He’s a world-conqueror like Genghis Khan. He’s been moving throughout the universe conquering worlds. He destroys half of a planet because that’s his goal – to bring balance to the universe by destroying half of all life.

“He then collects orphans from each race that he’s conquered. These are called the Children of Thanos. Some of them, like Gamora and Nebula, have broken free from the Cult of Thanos. His cult of personality. Others, like Ebony Maw, celebrate and are the greatest acolytes of Thanos.”

Ebony Maw is the leader of the Children of Thanos, so we followed up by asking what Irish actor Tom Vaughan-Lawlor brings to that role.

“Tom’s a remarkable actor” came the response from Anthony. “The character he’s embodying, similar to Thanos, is largely a CG creation. So it’s a very challenging role for an actor. You’re almost acting as a puppet-master in a sense that you have to become familiar with how you move, how you speak, what effects does it have on this character who is larger than life. Different from you in a physical sense. Different visage. Different body. So Tom worked very hard to give that character a life and a presence. He’s very compelling and he’s perhaps Thanos’s biggest believer. And he is a very threatening presence in the film.”

Avengers: Infinity War hits screens next week. Though if you want to watch the Russos discuss the chances of an Avenger dying before then, check out the below video…

Chris Tilly
Freelance writer. At this point my life is a combination of 1980s horror movies, Crystal Palace football matches, and episodes of I'm Alan Partridge. The first series. When he was in the travel tavern. Not the one after.