It should be obvious that Thanos' appearance was inspired by Jack Kirbys'
Darkseid, but did you know that Jim Starlin's first pass on the character's design had the
Avengers: Infinity War baddie actually resemble the New God Metron? Marvel editors sent Starlin back to the drawing board with direction to "
rip off Darkseid, the really good one."
In the years since, Thanos has definitely grown into his own, as evidenced by the character's cinematic turn in what's likely to be the year's highest grossing feature film.
Recently, Jim Starlin departed a run on a
Thanos comic book with Marvel on somewhat less-than-stellar terms. But that didn't stop Marvel Studios from inviting Starlin to the premiere. Here's what he thought of the film [via Facebook].
"The Avengers the Infinity War! I really have to watch what I say here, so as to not spoil the many surprises this film holds (even for me). So let me stick with generalities, with a few specifics tossed in at the end, concerning Josh Brolin. Visually spectacular, as are all the Marvel movies. But this film hits emotional depths few of the others have even come close to, yet humor takes center stage at all the rights moments.
There are a couple times my chest constricted from what I was seeing, making me want to cry. You’ll recognize those instances when you watch the film. Brolin is an incredible Thanos, moving and emoting just as I tried to portray him in the comics. The movie’s two and a half running time shoots past nearly unnoticed. The thing is though, I feel I’m going to have to view the film a number of more times before I get a solid grip on just how good it is. Still at that rather stunned point.
Yes, I know my opinion should be considered a bit biased, because of my connection to the production but the Russos, Markus, McFeely and everyone else involved in this film get my heartfelt thanks for bringping everyone’s favorite Titan to life in the best way possible, in a jaw-droppingly awesome fashion. Ten out of ten thumbs up."
Here's yet another source of confirmation that The Russos and screenwriters Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus have knocked it out of the park with
Avengers: Infinity War. Even Thanos' creator is stating that he needs to see the film again to process everything he saw.
Starlin is known for giving his unbiased opinion (in another interview, he stated that he felt Marvel Studios didn't pay him enough creative fees) so it's likely that he means everything he said above. A lot of comic book fans thought Starlin would be critical of Brolin but it seems the Deadpool 2 actor did the creator proud.