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Summary
“iconic counterpart.”
Uranos is Thanos’ grandfather, and was recently reintroduced as a huge threat to the X-Men, even killing Magneto.
Writer Kieron Gillen describes Uranos as Marvel’s
“god of fascism,”
and confirms he was reimagined with Thanos in mind.
When it comes to villains in the Marvel Universe, there are almost none who can match the Mad Titan Thanos. However, Marvel has spent the last few years revamping a major antagonist, specifically with the intent of giving Thanos an “iconic counterpart” – a villainous equal who operates on the same level as the Mad Titan, and even earned the mutual respect of the Infinity Gauntlet villain.
He was unleashed for a single hour and eradicated 98% of all life in a fifty-mile radius…
In an interview with Looper, writer Kieron Gillen discusses his intent in revamping the Eternals villain Uranos in Marvel lore. Reimagined in Gillen and Esad Ribić’s Eternals then utilized as a terrifying villain in X-Men: Red, Uranos is Thanos’ grand-uncle, however the villain is so ferocious, Thanos has since acknowledged him as his spiritual grandfather (while nevertheless refusing to free him from his imprisonment deep inside the Earth.)
Uranos was previously a minor character existing in the background of Eternals lore. However, Gillen recast him as essentially the godlike group’s answer to the devil – a despotic killer who believes all non-Eternal life must be wiped out. When the other Eternals turned against him, Uranos was imprisoned for thousands of years, and yet it’s clear he’s still waiting to make good on his horrific endgame. Gillen details the intent in reinventing Uranos from prior appearances:
For the best part of 700,000 years, he’s been sitting in his cell waiting, and he doesn’t care. He can wait, and eventually, one day, the planet will crumble, and Uranos will walk forth. At the same time, the Arraki still have the Uranos button. He’s a really interesting thing being left [for future stories] because he’s an interesting villain. I really like what we and the dear parted Ryan [Bodenheim] did with him in “Eternals: The Heretic.” I think we tried really hard to give an iconic counterpart to Thanos, and what Al [Ewing] did in the “X-Men Red” issues made him take on Magneto as an intellect, as with Uranos being like the god of fascism.
Uranos first appeared in Marvel lore in Jim Starlin’s
Captain Marvel #29
, however the character has been significantly altered since his 1973 debut.
Kang Is So Scared of Thanos, He Avoids Him in Every Time Period
Despite his own power as a time-traveling despot, Kang the Conqueror has a rule about staying clear of Thanos the Mad Titan (most of the time).
Uranos Made His Mark by Killing X-Men’s Magneto
Uranos is an ancient and powerful being who has collected an arsenal of planet-razing weaponry. These weapons are the reason that despite turning against him, his fellow Eternals couldn’t kill him – if Uranos is slain, his weapons will be unleashed upon the world. Fans have seen many of Uranos’ wild creations, however none are as terrifying as the villain himself. Immensely physically imposing, Uranos’ biggest showcase of power came in A.X.E.: Judgment Day #1 and X-Men: Red #5, where he was unleashed for a single hour and eradicated 98% of all life in a fifty-mile radius. Notably, this battle was against the warlike mutant society of Arakko, where every member is a powerful mutant trained for battle, and included dealing a fatal wound to former villain Magneto.
A.X.E.: Judgment Day #1
came from Kieron Gillen and Valerio Schiti – kicking off the Avengers, X-Men and Eternals’ shared event story – while the tie-in
X-Men: Red #5
(which focuses on the Uranos vs Arakko battle) came from Al Ewing and Stefano Caselli.
Uranos’ revamp was an incredible success, creating an imposing character who convincingly exists on a par with Thanos in terms of power and cosmic significance. It’s therefore cool to know that this is exactly what the creative teams handling him were going for, and that he was reconceived as a Darkseid-esque “god of fascism” – a description which makes his iconic X-Men: Red fight with Magneto all the more meaningful. It was a tall order for Marvel to establish a villain comparable to Thanos in just a few stories, and finding a counterpart for the Mad Titan within his own family was a masterstroke.
As Marvel lore currently stands, Uranos is once again imprisoned, and – as reparations for unleashing the terrifying being against them – the Eternals have gifted Arakko’s mutants a trigger which will unleash Uranos for another hour, this time on their behalf. It’s a huge weapon to still be floating around in Marvel lore, and as Gillen says, fans will be looking forward to seeing it used to bring back Thanos‘ “iconic counterpart” in future stories.
Source: Liam McGuire, Looper
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