Marvel reveals that Thanos has returned in Avengers Assemble #3 following his live action introduction during the mid-credits scene of Marvel's The Avengers. The cosmic villain revealed himself as the mastermind behind the new Zodiac and Tom Brevoort had this to say about his return. "Since we designed AVENGERS ASSEMBLE to be a nice, easy entry point for people coming out of the film, for all that it still exists within our current Marvel Universe, it was a bit of a no-brainer to have Thanos be the villains behind our first storyline. More than simply bringing him back, this storyline will be setting him up for bigger things that are just off on the horizon—it’s the first step towards something we’ve been working on behind the scenes for a while now."
"He’s a villain of such power and stature that he can give the Avengers a fight all by himself," he adds. "There’s no such thing as a small Thanos story—he operates on an intergalactic scale. And he’s a fascinating, nuanced character, with passions and neuroses all his own that make him stand apart as an individual, and not just a cookie-cutter moustache-twirler." This doesn't come as too much of a surprise, especially as the series (met with a mostly negative reaction from critics) is basically only in existence to to tie-in with the film. While Marvel claim that it is set in current continuity, many fans have found fault with how some of the characters are portrayed.