10 Best Variants Of Thanos In Marvel Comics | ScreenRant
Thanos made an unexpected appearance in a recent episode of the animated What If..? series, with the Mad Titan becoming a heroic member of the reformed Ravagers under T'Challa's version of Star-Lord. MCU fans might have been startled by the face-turn by Thanos, but there are many powerful variants of him in the comics.
Like most other major characters in the Marvel Universe, Thanos has significant variants that exist both in divergent realities in the multiverse and within the main Marvel continuity of Earth-616. Some of them are very different takes on the character, while others take his lust for power and destruction to shocking lengths.
10 Captain America Thanos
One of the best variants from the What If..? comic book series is Thanos, and he's great because of how unlikely he is. What If? Infinity - Thanos introduces a version of Thanos who in his reality is Captain America.
In the story, Thanos joins the Avengers after brokering a deal to combine their forces against an invading alien army. With Captain America out of the picture, he takes possession of the shield, and the image of a Cap Thanos alone makes him one of the wilder versions of the character in the comics.
9 Cancerverse
The Thanos from Earth-10011 is one of the best because of how frightening he is. Thanos is a great Marvel supervillain because of his irredeemable determination, but in the Cancerverse, he is stripped of all agency.
He is poisoned by the alien Many-Angled Ones and becomes their figurehead. He retains his power and capacity for destruction but is more or less an empty shell. This in many ways is more frightening considering that Thanos, at least in his mind, is guided by what he considers limits.
8 Zero Day
The Thanos of Earth-15061 is among the best for how truly cruel he was. Thanos obtains a Cosmic Cube and uses it to form a pair of gauntlets which he then uses to erase half the life on Earth. He proclaims it Zero Day for the new world order and establishes himself as ruler of a devastated Earth.
This Thanos is so interesting because it shows that his capacity for death and destruction is not always tied to abstract ideas, as he often suggests. This Thanos was driven by pure revenge and anger.
7 King Thanos
The King Thanos of Earth-TRN666 is the embodiment of everything the character believes in the comics. He is the inevitable consequence, ruler of everything in a dark, dystopian Marvel future timeline.
He eventually defeated all of his opponents and killed virtually every living being in the universe. That left him alone with his few surviving minions. One of them was Cosmic Ghost Rider, one of the most interesting versions of that character. Though he's challenged by a younger version of himself, King Thanos wins out against all of his enemies and rules alone.
6 Poisoned Thanos
The Poison Hive is an aggressive parasitic alien race from Earth-17952 and in the Venomverse storyline in the comics, they were led by a corrupted version of Thanos from their native universe. His ambitions went far beyond killing half of life: he sought to control the entire multiverse.
This Thanos wasn't stripped of his agency or a puppet, but a willing participant in one of the most destructive battles to ever take place in the multiverse. He didn't care about being infected by the Poisons but simply wanted to exercise their power to satisfy Death, as always.
5 Ultimate Thanos
The Thanos from the Ultimate Comics universe of Earth-1610 was unusual in that he didn't seek the Infinity Gauntlet. He remains one of the best versions of the character as his goal isn't to please anyone else, but simply his own gratification.
Thanos seeks the Cosmic Cube to make him the ruler of all existence. He's immediately successful, conquering Earth and turning its population into mindless slaves. Thanks to the genius of Reed Richards, Mr. Fantastic, the Cosmic Cube he constructed actually kills him by using it.
4 Omega
Thanos' quest to impress Death is only matched by his desire for more power. Omega, a clone of Thanos that incorporates the power and genetics of Thanos, is one of the most unique versions of the character.
Given that Galactus is one of the most powerful cosmic beings in the Marvel Universe, Omega is one of the best variants of Thanos, as he is loaded with power. Omega actually hails from Earth-616 and was a product of Thanos' need to test himself against the power and potential of his enemies.
3 Thanoseid
Comic fans know that Darkseid from DC Comics and Thanos have a fair amount in common. Those similarities were exploited in the Amalgam Comics crossover between Marvel and DC back in the 90s to create one of the best and most powerful versions of Thanos ever.
Thanoseid combined the powers of both characters, giving him the Eternal strength of Thanos and the immortal physiology of the New Gods. As fans of the MCU and DCEU have seen, any combination of the two characters would be bad for their respective universes.
2 Heart Of The Universe
The Heart of the Universe is a cosmic entity with inconceivable powers. When Thanos acquired that power for himself, he became virtually a god.
This nearly omnipotent version of Thanos emerged in Earth-4321 and gave Thanos complete control of some of the most elemental aspects of creation. Thanos was able to time travel and completely absorb some of the most powerful beings in the entire Marvel multiverse, including the Living Tribunal, Eternity, and Infinity.
1 Astral Regulator
The Astral Regulator Thanos is arguably the most powerful version of Thanos and therefore the best. After acquiring the power of the Astral Regulator, a cosmic artifact created by the most powerful being in Marvel Comics, the One Above All, Thanos becomes a god.
He uses the artifact to absorb the power and knowledge of the One Above All along with all other cosmic beings, including Death. By the end of his journey, this Thanos is virtually unrecognizable as he takes on the appearance of his vanquished foes like Galactus and Death.