"We do have plans for him. I wouldn't say we ever feel the need to rush anything one way or the other. We succeeded in Phase One because we stuck to our guns and we stuck to the plan. That plan took place over many, many years and it ultimately paid off. I see Phase Two unfolding in the same way of us taking our time, us doing what's right for each individual movie, while folding in elements that will not only build up to the culmination of Phase Two, but even Phase Three." .... Kevin Feige.
I love Kevin Feige. It's this kind of long term planning that is the most exciting part of what Marvel has created with it's cinematic universe. There is clearly a broader vision but we already knew that. What this little comment by Feige confirms is that Marvel not only understands how powerful a villain Thanos is but it seems they are going to create a genuine story around him, not just make him the big baddie for the Avengers 2 that the team has to assemble for and defeat. I know it seems like a silly statement to say that Marvel understands Thanos, I mean they created him. But to give a little bit of counter balance to what I mean about understanding a character and the way he should be treated just think about what WB did to Parallax. Marvel doesn't appear to be making that same mistake with Thanos.
I'm going to assume that most of us are familiar with Thanos and the mythology surrounding him so I wont go into a whole lot of back story. Suffice it to say that he destroyed half of the universe and is as powerful and formidable a villain that comic book lore has to offer. So how do you portray that on screen? How can Marvel establish the gravity of the threat that Thanos poses to the universe? If a hero is only as good as his adversary then the reverse is true as well. The team of Avengers as it's currently constituted wouldn't stand a chance against the Thanos that we know from the comics. My original thought when I saw him at the end of Avengers was that they would have to really power him down. Now I'm beginning to reconsider that. With the announcement of the Guardians of the Galaxy movie we know that even more powerful hero's will be making their way into the MCU. I mean really, Hawkeye and Black Widow (and even Captain America) aren't fit to fight the Mad Titan.
The beauty of the story that Marvel is telling is that it is taking place in multiple realms. Earth, Asgard, Space (with the Guardians we don't even know if it's the same time. They could be set far into the future) and ware ever it is that Thanos lays his head. As Captain America and Iron Man keep the story (presumably) grounded on Earth, Thor and the Guardians will take the story beyond Earth. Feige said that they are going to patiently tie these story's together, as they did with P1. This means that even more powerful beings will begin to make their way into the MCU. Marvel is apparently gearing up for an all out battle with Thanos. To that end the Hero's need to be on par with the villain. With out the ability to use the Silver Surfer, and lets face it, the Surfer is as powerful a hero as there is in comics, Marvel needs to find alternatives. One of these alternatives is Nova. He has the Nova Force (similar to the Power Cosmic in that, it's powerful!) and is a huge part of the Guardians of the Galaxy story lines. It wouldn't be a stretch for Nova to appear in the Guardians. With Nova's introduction, the Rumor of Dr. Strange making an appearance in Thor 2 and the inevitable creation of Ultron by Hank Pym we start to see a group of hero's that would, collectively, be capable of going to battle with Thanos. I'm well aware that Ant Man is way down the line and that there has been no mention of, well anything, having to do with the story line. But Ultron is intrinsic to Pym. Along the same avenue a character such as Nova can be introduced at pretty much any time within the Guardians universe. The only thing that may keep him out of Marvel's plans would be his basic Green Lantern origin rip off. Other then that he seems like a natural. I know that many of us would like to see Adam Warlock because just like Pym and Ultron, Warlock would seem intrinsic to a Thanos story. Except he made his first appearance in Fantastic Four so I have no clue if Marvel can use him. It would be very interesting to find out if Marvel owns Warlock and if not did they attempt to acquire him like they did the Surfer?
From the brief comment that Feige made, it seems that Marvel is willing to take it's time and really build this story into what it should be. A universe spanning epic. I still don't think that Thanos will be the main villain in the Avengers Two. I don't think they will be ready for him. I think it will be a Masters of Evil type plot that builds towards a Phase Three that sees every individual movie centered around the battle against Thanos. I'm probably wrong. More then likely Thanos is going to be the culmination of Phase Two with Ultron being the villain in the Avengers Three. That's the easy way, the path of least resistance. But what if Marvel is truly attempting to do the Infinity Gauntlet, to the best of their ability (considering character restraints and what is and isn't "movie feasible") and bring that story to life?
.... for the record i have only ever had 3 real interests,, football, comic books and movies. One of the absolute joys of football season is the time right before the draft when you try to project what player teams are going to pick. I'm rarely right because they know a hell of a lot more then I do. This, for me, is similar. There are so very many directions that they can go. Marvel has combined my two favorite mediums and they have done it the right way. For me, the speculation is half the fun. Cheers.