If Thanos were featured in a live-action Marvel movie, . . .

[nervmeister]

Should he be a guy in a suit and makeup or a CGI character?

Should the way he looks/dresses be changed from his comic book counterpart? And if so, should he changed slightly or radically?

Who should play as him?

Should his powers be downgraded, kept the same, or upgraded?

Discuss

[Shellhead]

1. Probably CGI. Otherwise you would need a really big guy who also sounds articulate and intelligent. Not many guys like that.

2. His appearance shouldn't deviate much from the comic books. Maybe make his purple skin more grayish, and possibly tone the colors of his costume by making them darker or lighter.

3. If he's CGI, just get somebody who can sound both intelligent and menacing, then filter the voice to make it deeper. If this is a guy in a suit, get Ron Perleman, or maybe Abraham Benrubi.

4. His power will probably need to be downgraded, depending on who he is fighting. Since he usually handles entire teams without much trouble, and most of the good comic book movies focus on solo heroes, I'm guessing that Thanos would need a downgrade.

5. Thanos is a great villain, but the nuances would probably get lost in a Hollywood production. It's also difficult to envision him being used in a decent movie, because he is not a regular villain for most heroes that are likely to get a movie, though he did originally appear in Iron Man #55.

[GRANT!]

1. Probably CGI. Otherwise you would need a really big guy who also sounds articulate and intelligent. Not many guys like that.

They could just have a large actor play the body and dub in his voice later.

[Tetsuo_man]

I'd say suit from the neck down with cgi only on his head.

[GRANT!]

I'd say suit from the neck down with cgi only on his head.

Why do you need to CGI his head?

[The Batman]

Maybe digital head replacement like they did with Chris Lee in the Star Wars movies?

[Cyke]

In some books, Thanos is just as big as the Hulk. I'm not too confident in the idea of a CGI Thanos as huge as the 10-foot tall behemoth we saw in the Incredible Hulk, but I'd be definitely frightened of a Hulk-like alien who had cosmic powers AND immense intelligence.

[Tetsuo_man]

Why do you need to CGI his head?

Well I meant cgi to enhance the look of make up.

[Jmacq1]

In some books, Thanos is just as big as the Hulk. I'm not too confident in the idea of a CGI Thanos as huge as the 10-foot tall behemoth we saw in the Incredible Hulk, but I'd be definitely frightened of a Hulk-like alien who had cosmic powers AND immense intelligence.

Other appearances have him considerably smaller, though. Just kinda depends on the artist. I tend to prefer the more imposing version, myself.

[SlightlyMad]

I could picture a Clancy Brown (Kurgan from Highlander & voice of Lex Luthor in Superman/Justice League Animated/The Batman) under a lot of make-up/CGI playing the part well. After all, it comes down to the voice...

[Black Atom]

He doesn't really need to be ridiculously huge. I'd put a good actor in a suit with prosthetics, a la Hellboy. Keep the design mostly simple, probably like the one from the recent Annihilation mini.

[Naetnalta]

Thanos is not as big as Mongul. He's listed as 6'7" (http://en.marveldatabase.com/Thanos_%28Earth-616%29).
http://jigsawmen.googlepages.com/IC1MongulMWHE.JPG

You can get away with having a guy in a rubber suit like Chiklis as the Thing, but I'd CGI his head because his face should be more expressive than the Thing's rocky face.

[Abrojo]

Hellboy is actually a very valid reference on how to handle the Thanos visual appearance.

Regarding his powerset, yes.
Unless they make him appear on some Fox Silver Surfer movie or something.

[PKIronMan]

Kevin Levrone fits the bill of big and well spoken as far as it goes. No acting experience to my knowledge but I know he has/had a band so he isn't opposed to non-bodybuilding entertainment.

http://www.ciclopeweb.com/aaban/3levrone.jpg

[Mr. Croup]

How about the Rock?:biggrin:

[PKIronMan]

How about the Rock?

I have no idea how I forgot about Dwayne Johnson. I kept thinking Vin Diesel which I didn't think would work (hence the Levrone suggestions). The Rock would be even better as I think he is taller and could fill out a bit more as necessary.

[Jared]

The actor's height is easy enough to get around. Vin's voice would work better for Thanos than The Rock's.


A Silver Surfer movie is probably the only thing he would appear in. I do not want to see him fighting Iron Man.

Given how DC has abused Darkseid over the years, a well-done Thanos could really cement him as the ultimate cosmic villain in pop culture.

[ForeverTaskmaster]

I'd cast Brian Thompson as Thanos and not use CGI. Also, if Thanos appears somewhere then only in an Infinity Gauntlet movie.

[nervmeister]

I liked the idea someone suggested here about getting a tall actor and adding prosthetics to his body to simulate freakish body mass, but using limited CGI to capture the intricacies of Thanos's facial expression.