Thanos returns to comics with a brand-new four-issue limited series by writer Christopher Cantwell and artist Luca Pizzari, with a main cover by superstar Leinil Francis Yu, and a variant cover by Phil Noto paying homage to George Perez’s iconic cover for Infinity Gauntlet #1. Cantwell has previously had success writing about another famous villain in his Doctor Doom series (which was nominated for an Eisner Award for Best New Series), so it makes sense to see him take on another major villain.
Cantwell also wrote the acclaimed short story, “All That Is,” with artist Travel Foreman and colorist Rachelle Rosenberg, in last year’s Thanos:Death Notes one-shot, so this is not his first time writing the Mad Titan.
What is the new Thanos series about?
The plot behind this series is about Thanos looking for some sort of mysterious powerful object on Earth that is part of his latest campaign of conquest. However, the item was hidden from Thanos by the Illuminati, the secretive collective of powerful and influnetial superheroes that have helped shape the world of Marvel’s sueprheroes since the days of the Kree-Skrull War, and now the Illuminati must stop Thanos from discovering the object in question.
The Illuminait will maintain a number of its classic members, like Mister Fantastic, Iron Man and Doctor Strange, but there will be two new members, including Emma Frost (who had previously served on Doctor Doom’s villainous answer to the Illuminati known as The Cabal) and Blue Marvel. With these heroes getting in Thanos’ way, they will soon learn what it is like to have Thanos actively angry at you.
What do Christopher Cantwell and Luca Pizzari have to say about the new series?
Asked about the series by Marvel for its press release, Cantwell noted, “I’ve had the honor and joy of writing some of Marvel’s greatest villains, so you can imagine how excited I am to not only tackle the Mad Titan himself, but pit him against some of the most powerful brains and fists out there—this latest lineup of the Illuminati. But I think folks will find the backdrop of this story quite unexpected, mischievously funny, and heartbreakingly human, for what has drawn Thanos back screaming into the universe is a singular pain and desire for connection that he believes only one essence in existence (and non-existence) can give him… while this being is in turn grappling with some deeper questions about what they are, and what they want to be. Plus, Thanos hot-wires a pickup truck.”
Pizzari, meanwhile, pointed out, “I could tell right from reading the first panel description that this book was gonna be something else. I never even met Chris before and yet it’s like he wrote this book reading my mind; there are a lot of characters I’ve always wanted to try my hand on. Thanos himself is, of course, unbelievably fun to draw, I’m constantly telling myself to make him bigger and bigger!”
Thanos #1 is due on sale on November 8.
Source: Marvel