Thanos = This Generation's Darth Vader

[DarthSkywalker]

You are confusing my posts with what you are doing.

So where are your facts?

 

[wampa1]

Its Voldemort of Joffrey from GoT. Which is of course a television show that started as a book, and a lot of Voldemort's cred comes from the book, but there you go. Actually the GoT villains on the whole probably up there.

I use my mum as a barometer for these things. She has never read/seen GoT and couldn't name a single character. She's also never read/seen any Harry Potter yet could name 5-6 characters and tell you who the hero and the villain are. Likewise, I don't think little kids are watching/reading GoT but I bet they've read/seen Harry Potter.

 

[KBX]

Maybe Thanos will stand on his own over time, not being the next Joker, Vador, Voldemont, Lector etc but be known as a villain that the heroes who had to sacrifice their own lives to defeat

 

[Brutikus]

The '80s - Darth Vader (I know he debuted in the '70s, but Empire was his best film...even if the only people he killed in that were his own men)

It's his signature move to attack his allies from way before he took on the suit

 

[Spider-Aziz]

So where are your facts?

"I'll paint the starway in your blood" ~ Thanos

You need no more proof that he's more popular than Darth "I don't like sand" Vader.

 

[DACrowe]

I think Ledger was amazing as the Joker and I am not comparing performances here, and I thought it was obvious from all my other posts. I think Ledger's was a greater performance than Brolin's but I feel Thanos was a much better character than The Joker.

And the mediocre trilogy made billions not JUST because of Vader but because it was Star Wars. You act as if Obi and others did not exist. I know you hate to have your bubbles burst but sorry, while I take your point that we have to wait and see if he is this popular 40 years from now, that does not take away from actual OP or what I have explained later here. And its not just about memes or maybe you don't understand what popculture impact actually means. It means to pervade so many different facets of everyday life and Thanos IMO has. Like I said, no one speaks about Vader in cricket match commentaries but everyone was talking about Thanos months after IW was released. It was there in the local soccer games, it was there in a tennis tournament. Its simply something that has injected itself into the heart of daily conversations around various different subjects in social media, memes are just one very small part of it.

But hey, you gotta step outside the bubble to understand it, something you seem to hate.

If your entire argument is based on people talking about him after a cricket game, does this mean Bane is as big as Vader too?





The latter was five years later, so that counts for something.

 

[Drizzle]

I don't think you know much about other countries or their entertainment tastes or even basic news of how well Marvel movies do in certain Asian countries compared to Star Wars...

Ohhh, I'm pretty certain I know a lot more about the world than someone who gauges a character's popularity based on a cricket match and memes, sweetie. I hope your thread gets shut down and have a nice day.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

Ohhh, I'm pretty certain I know a lot more about the world than someone who gauges a character's popularity based on a cricket match and memes, sweetie. I hope your thread gets shut down and have a nice day.

But Hype needs entertainment of this caliber.

 

[Drizzle]

But Hype needs entertainment of this caliber.

You want entertainment? Go to the Politics forum.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

You want entertainment? Go to the Politics forum.

That place makes me space out way too much.

 

[shauner111]

Thanos won't even be remembered by the masses in 5 to 10 years. I'm not even sure who is talking about him right now, besides some hardcore Marvel fans.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

Thanos won't even be remembered by the masses in 5 to 10 years. I'm not even sure who is talking about him right now, besides some hardcore Marvel fans.

$2 billion in box office earnings for a movie = Popular and awesome villain.
Don't let anyone tell you the opposite.

 

[Brutikus]

Thanos won't even be remembered by the masses in 5 to 10 years.

 

[wampa1]

Darth Maul has more cultural cache than Thanos.

 

[DACrowe]

Darth Maul has more cultural cache than Thanos.

In terms of pure visual iconography, you might be right. Again, even that's a little early and hard to tell at the moment.

 

[Lantern Venom]

I know the Russos mentioned this is what they set out to do but I think its important that we take a moment and realize what a MONUMENTAL achievement this whole movie has been, especially Thanos. Darth Vader is THE word when it comes to a villain in sci-fi fantasy and they actually made a character who is now seeped into pop culture to the same level. I am from India and in every cricket game and commentary there are folks talking about Thanos and the Infinity Stones. Heck, the reddit cricket threads (and countless others) are full of references and /r/unexpectedthanos everywhere. I just wanted to start this thread to doff my hat to Feige, The Russo Brothers, Markus & McFeely, Josh Brolin and everyone else who were involved in this phenomenal feat. It has been a privilege to have followed this movie from announcement to home version release.

Don't misconstrue my response as harsh criticism of Infinity War, because it was an outstanding movie, but Thanos wasn't done nearly as well as he should have been. He's the most important villain so far, but he's not the best that Marvel Studios has done. Thanos isn't on par with his comic counterpart, at least at this point. We'll see if IW2 elevates him.

 

[pr0xyt0xin]

This generation? Probably not. But maybe he's the best villain of this decade.

The '10s - Thanos
The '00s - Ledger Joker
The '90s - Hannibal Lecter
The '80s - Darth Vader (I know he debuted in the '70s, but Empire was his best film...even if the only people he killed in that were his own men)

I kinda feel like this is accurate. I've never been a Hannibal fan, but I could see where this is coming from. The only alternates i'd throw in are Terminator/Xenomorph/Agent Smith. But then I think we get into territory where we have to talk about all the big horror villains. Only because we are talking recurring villains who have a pop-culture impact.

Will Thanos be more well known in social circles than the Terminator or Freddy Krueger.

 

[Herofan]

Magneto or Voldemort are already this generation's Darth Vader unless they are considered more the millennials' and we're already in a next generation (I don't think we are); if we are maybe but there's a lot of time to go to see if Thanos becomes/remains so iconic.

 

[Frodo]

I would distinguish between how GA see Thanos and how fanboys see Thanos when answering whether he's basically this generations Darth Vader. As far as GA are concerned , no he isn't .

If we're talking about how fanboys may rank him on the other hand , there seems to be more of a debate as to whether he is on a Darth Vader level .

 

[Spider-Aziz]

What exactly does make Darth Vader so special and significant in pop culture? His theme? The epic voice of James Earl Jones? His outfit? That Obi Wan Kenobi stopped fighting and allowed himself to be sliced by Vader? That he revealed himself as Anakin Skywalker to his son? That he force chokes his generals?

He's a villain that stands and talks, that is the most of what he does, and when he does something, it's not the kind of things that elevates the empire as an intimidating force.

Voldemort is even more useless as an arch-nemesis of a young boy who was saved by his mother's love, he died off-screen/off-page to be later revealed to be a ghost in need of servants that have no use for him existing but somehow choose to serve him.


Can any villain truly be more overrated than these two useless characters?

 

[KBX]

I would distinguish between how GA see Thanos and how fanboys see Thanos when answering whether he's basically this generations Darth Vader. As far as GA are concerned , no he isn't .

If we're talking about how fanboys may rank him on the other hand , there seems to be more of a debate as to whether he is on a Darth Vader level .

Oh the GA over time will be very kind to Thanos as to compared to Darth Vader. Star Wars blew up 40 or so years ago which made him, the sky walkers, Han Solo, etc. house hold names. Some similar similarities from Stars wars then to what Marvel is doing now. 40 years from now Thanos, Cap and Ironman will have the same luxury and be house hold names.

Thanos isn’t on DV level now, but things change over time. Also Thanos after A4 might be able to claim he took out a main marvel character(Cap or IM) something DV, joker, Voldemort didn’t do.

 

[KBX]

What exactly does make Darth Vader so special and significant in pop culture? His theme? The epic voice of James Earl Jones? His outfit? That Obi Wan Kenobi stopped fighting and allowed himself to be sliced by Vader? That he revealed himself as Anakin Skywalker to his son? That he force chokes his generals?

He's a villain that stands and talks, that is the most of what he does, and when he does something, it's not the kind of things that elevates the empire as an intimidating force.

Voldemort is even more useless as an arch-nemesis of a young boy who was saved by his mother's love, he died off-screen/off-page to be later revealed to be a ghost in need of servants that have no use for him existing but somehow choose to serve him.


Can any villain truly be more overrated than these two useless characters?

The reason these 2 villains are talked about the best villains of all time is because it’s not what they did in their movies, it’s the franchises, Star Wars and Harry Potter are 2 of the most successful.. Again something Thanos has going for him over time.

 

[Herofan]

What exactly does make Darth Vader so special and significant in pop culture? His theme? The epic voice of James Earl Jones? His outfit? That Obi Wan Kenobi stopped fighting and allowed himself to be sliced by Vader? That he revealed himself as Anakin Skywalker to his son? That he force chokes his generals?

He's a villain that stands and talks, that is the most of what he does, and when he does something, it's not the kind of things that elevates the empire as an intimidating force.

Yes that he intimidates and is ruthless to his own forces, he once was good and with Empire has a strong personal link with Luke, he's very intense in defeating enemies & seems pretty omnipotent/unstoppable in the first two films (despite Obi-Wan and Luke having moments in fighting him) and it turns out he has very mixed feelings about his own superior.

Voldemort is even more useless as an arch-nemesis of a young boy who was saved by his mother's love, he died off-screen/off-page to be later revealed to be a ghost in need of servants that have no use for him existing but somehow choose to serve him.

True there's not a great deal of either depth or coolness to him but he still is a pretty intimidating foe, particularly from his long-term scheming, mental influence and connection and how unjustified his hate of Muggles is especially given his own ancestry and how devastating it could be. And OTOH wanting to refuse to accept death and being bitter about his status as a child (and so wanting revenge) are pretty relatable. The best villains are usually those that strongly parallel and contrast with the heroes and he does have that with Harry.

BTW I would have preferred if Umbridge had been bad without turning out to also be a Death Eater sympathizer.

 

[Breogan]

To me Vader was more intimidating when I only knew him from the original trilogy, the cold, heartless, mystic/mechanical walking death mask.
The horror of his existence, as experienced through Luke, who had to struggle with the knowledge of what he was, and conquer that side of himself.
His back story, and tragic fall to darkness was only a hint, and I had to imagine that there was once a human being in there. The last bit of real "humanity" revealed with his final act, all that was left was the puss-filled albino head, and strange ghost, at the end of RotJ.
The prequels, casting and telling of that back-story (although it kept him in the public eye for a brand new generation) to my eyes, it took allot of that mystery and intimidation away, and dropped him down several notches.

Even still, Thanos doesn't come close, I barley care about him, or the "heroes"\ (except one or two) who he turned to dust.

HAL-9000 was more interesting, complex and intimidating. And is thematic and visually still more relevant and Iconic. LOL.

 

[Mjolnir Reborn]

It's hard to be a new Vader as Vader came at a time where there was less competition and he was in films that revolutionized the business when it came to effects. It's just not quite the same playing ground anymore.

That being said Thanos has a great chance of being a legendary villain as the MCU is also breaking new ground and is extremely popular, plus that few popular films have left the audience in the kind of state that Infinity War did, both in my personal experience and in what I've read from around the world. Not only was he a great villain in himself, he also got to kill characters that people have spent years loving.

Of course Avengers 4 can both increase or decrease his impact, but at this point I'm not in the business of doubting the Russos.