10 Best Thanos Stories in Marvel History, Ranked

Thanos stands as one of the greatest Marvel Comics villains of all time, as his pursuit of power and lust for death make him a truly terrifying foe. Not only that, but Thanos is also insanely powerful, even without the assistance of cosmic artifacts like the Infinity Gauntlet or the Cosmic Cube. An Eternal with Deviant Syndrome, Thanos was effectively marked from birth as someone destined to bring the cosmos to its knees, and throughout his Marvel history, Thanos has lived up to that expectation.

While he may have gotten widespread fame thanks to the MCU, Thanos has been a mainstay villain in Marvel Comics since he first appeared as a seemingly one-off Iron Man villain back in the ‘70s. Since then, Thanos has been at the center of a number of epic Marvel Comics storylines and events. Sometimes he’s the main villain, other times he’s a secondary villain, and there are even times when Thanos proves that he can actually be quite heroic. There’s no shortage of awesome Thanos stories in Marvel Comics, and out of them all, these are the 10 best, ranked!

10 Thanos Created a New Infinity Stone with the Very Essence of Death

Thanos Vol. 4 #1-4 by Christopher Cantwell and Luca Pizzari

During one of Thanos’ most recent Marvel Comics stories, the Mad Titan searches desperately for Mistress Death, who was temporarily mortal after expressing a desire to live life as a human. Thanos was disgusted by this, that the woman he pined for would so easily give up her god-tier status to sully her essence as a human, even for a relatively short amount of time. So, Thanos decided Death was no longer worthy of his love, and he used that as an excuse to try to wield her power himself.

Thanos trapped the essence of Death in an all-new Infinity Stone, the Death Stone. Currently, the Death Stone is a major element of Marvel Comics’ ongoing Infinity Watch event, making this Thanos story not only one of his best, but also immensely significant to Marvel Comics’ most recent continuity.

9 Thanos Fights Alongside Adam Warlock, Proving He CAN Be a Hero (When It Suits Him)

Warlock #9-11 by Jim Starlin

Up until this moment in Marvel Comics canon, Thanos has only been presented as a cosmic villain, one who even attained godhood for a time before ultimately being defeated by Marvel’s greatest heroes. However, in this story, Thanos is introduced as a hero who partners with Adam Warlock to defeat the villainous Magus. Without Thanos, Warlock would likely not have survived his future, corrupted self – and Thanos couldn’t let that happen.

While his actions were heroic, his motives were purely self-serving. Thanos only tries to keep Warlock alive to siphon the power of the Soul Gem that was embedded in Adam’s forehead. But, a hero is as a hero does, and Thanos proved in this story that he can be a hero when it suits him.

8 Thanos Gains a Life-Long Rivalry with Captain Marvel During the THANOS WAR

Captain Marvel #25-33 by Jim Starlin

Thanos was famously introduced in The Invincible Iron Man #55, but when he was created, Jim Starlin thought he’d just be a one-off villain, and that came across in the issue. With Thanos War, however, Starlin was given the freedom to truly bring the Mad Titan to life in a big way. Thanos War was Thanos’ first major Marvel Comics story arc, and it saw him using the Cosmic Cube to become an Abstract Entity above all others, as he came to be known as Thanos, the Mad God.

Thanos battled practically every hero in the Marvel Universe during this event, but his main challenger was easily Captain Marvel. In fact, Thanos War established the two of them as life-long rivals, which eventually led to a shockingly heartfelt goodbye in The Death of Captain Marvel – further proving how significant Thanos War truly was.

7 Thanos Forged an ‘Infinity Gauntlet’ Before Infinity Gauntlet

Avengers Annual #7 by Jim Starlin

Avengers Annual #7 is the culmination of every story arc that came before it. The comic recounts the events of Thanos War, it exposes Thanos’ true motives in helping Adam Warlock fight Magus, and it shows readers the end result of Thanos’ latest scheme to conquer the universe: Thanos merged the energy of every Infinity Stone into one massive Stone that holds the combined power of all of them. In other words, Thanos forged an ‘Infinity Gauntlet’ before the Infinity Gauntlet.

Not only is Avengers Annual #7 the ultimate payoff for fans who have been following Thanos’ exploits thus far, it’s also just an awesome comic. Thanos has an army of bizarre aliens who are battling the Avengers in practically every panel, and the ruthlessness of Thanos himself is put on full display. When it comes to early Thanos stories, this one is a definite standout.

6 Thanos Saves the Entire Marvel Universe from a Cosmic Cancer

The Thanos Imperative #1-6 by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, and Miguel Sepulveda

In an alternate universe known as the Cancerverse, god-like beings that are seemingly the incarnation of cosmic horror called the Many-Angled Ones eliminate death, granting everyone in their universe eternal life. So, the Many-Angled Ones and their most powerful servants – who are corrupted variants of the Avengers – take to the multiverse to spread this ‘gift’ of immortality, which thereby increases the Many-Angled Ones’ collective power. However, the Many-Angled Ones didn’t count on one thing: Thanos aka the Avatar of Death.

Thanos used his standing as the Avatar of Death to quite literally bring Death to an entire reality, bringing an end to the Many-Angled Ones’ crusade across the multiverse, saving all of Earth-616 and beyond. This story is epic on a cosmic scale, and it’s all centered around everyone’s favorite Mad Titan.

5 Thanos Weaponized the Power of Galactus While Working with Annihilus

Annihilation #1-6 by Keith Giffen and Andrea DiVito

Thanos’ lust for power truly knows no bounds, and his opportunistic nature means he’ll align with literally anyone if it serves him. Readers previously saw this in Warlock when Thanos temporarily played the role of a hero just to get the Soul Gem. And in Annihilation, fans get the opposite end of that proverbial coin, as Thanos allies himself with Annihilus.

During Annihilation, Annihilus is trying to conquer the Marvel Universe, and Thanos tries to take advantage of the villain’s ambition to eventually turn on him and claim the universe for himself. To that end, Thanos orchestrates the capture of Galactus, at which point, Thanos flexes his scientific genius and creates a giant ‘Death Star’-like superweapon, using Galactus’ Power Cosmic as its power source. This is a truly epic display of both Thanos’ engineering brilliance and ruthless prowess, and one of his most impressive feats to date.

4 Thanos Defeats the Elders of the Universe to Gain the Infinity Stones

Thanos Quest by Jim Starlin and Ron Lim

The story of how Thanos got the Infinity Stones leading up to the Infinity Gauntlet storyline is nearly as great as Infinity Gauntlet itself, and that story is told in Thanos Quest. After being brought back from the dead by Mistress Death herself (as detailed in Silver Surfer #34), Thanos gets to work holding up his end of the bargain: eliminating half of all life in the universe. To do that, Thanos must gather all six Infinity Stones, though that task is easier said than done.

A number of the Infinity Stones were being guarded by Elders of the Universe, including the Power Stone which was in the possession of the Champion, and the Gardner who had the Time Stone. But, no matter how seemingly powerful, all fell beneath Thanos’ might – and Thanos Quest tells that story magnificently.

3 Thanos Conquers the Marvel Universe, & Can Only Be Defeated by… Thanos

Thanos Wins by Donny Cates and Geoff Shaw

In an alternate universe, Thanos finally had enough of being the Marvel Universe’s biggest loser, and he decided to do something about it in the most cataclysmic way imaginable. Thanos murders practically everyone in the universe, and the few who remained were either too powerful to kill right away (like Galactus and the Silver Surfer), or they were made into Thanos’ slaves (like Hulk and Cosmic Ghost Rider). However, when a younger Thanos travels to the future, he’s horrified by what he sees, and becomes the last ‘hero’ who has a chance to take himself down.

Thanos Wins is a masterclass in showing Thanos’ duality. Throughout his history, Thanos has proven to be a hero and a villain depending on the situation, and in this one, he’s both – with one literally fighting the other.

2 Thanos Became a Literal God, Ending and Then Resurrecting the Entire Marvel Universe

Marvel: The End by Jim Starlin

Marvel: The End is an alt-universe story that – true to its name – marks the end of the Marvel Universe, but also the beginning. In it, Thanos is imbued with the power of the Heart of the Universe while attempting to destroy another villain who wielded such power, Pharaoh Akhenaten. Once the power of the Heart of the Universe was his, Thanos used it to destroy the universe, offering Death every life form in existence.

This victory was a hollow one, however, as Death still didn’t care about Thanos’ offering, leaving him stranded in eternal darkness, the ruler of nothing. So, Thanos decided to use his power to restart the Marvel Universe, even though that meant sacrificing himself to do it.

1 INFINITY GAUNTLET is Thanos’ All-Time Best Marvel Comics Story

Infinity Gauntlet by Jim Starlin and George Pérez

Above all others, the best all-time Marvel Comics story starring Thanos has to be Infinity Gauntlet. Not only is this event the primary inspiration for the MCU’s Avengers: Infinity War, but it is also just an absolutely phenomenal story in its own right. The suspense, the scale, and the sheer cosmic power driving Infinity Gauntlet throws readers into the depths of Marvel lore like few stories have before or since.

Infinity Gauntlet shows Thanos at his highest highs and lowest lows, wielding the awesome power of the Infinity Stones while making every beloved Marvel hero look like an absolute joke, until finally, Thanos is beaten in a way that doesn’t feel cheap or undeserved given the level of power he’s wielding. All-in-all, it seems like no contest, Infinity Gauntlet is Thanos‘ best Marvel Comics story.