Even without the supercharged Infinity Stones, Thanos is (was?) still a pretty formidable foe.
Not that we saw much of the Mad Titan in action prior to Avengers: Infinity War, mind you, given Josh Brolin’s musing mega-villain spent his time ruminating on his levitating space throne. It wasn’t until Infinity War – both the film and the intergalactic battle over those precious ingots – that fans were given a taste of Thanos’ immense power.
Had things panned out differently, though, Avengers: Endgame would’ve included a scene for 2014 Thanos to help put that near-limitless power into perspective. As revealed within the pages of The Art of Avengers: Endgame (h/t ScreenRant), concept illustrator Josh Nizzi detailed an alternate entrance for Marvel’s Mad Titan.
Marvel wanted to show how powerful Thanos was even before he had any of the Stones. There was going to be a huge battle sequence where he fights a military alien race. The aliens actually did show up in the film, but only for a few seconds before being killed by Gamora and Nebula.
Incorporating a space battle into the already-massive Avengers: Endgame would have been a huge (and potentially ill-advised) feat, one that may have threatened to disrupt the pacing of Marvel’s biggest ever movie. Ditto for the deleted scene in which Thanos and his army arrive on Vormir, only to discover that Black Widow has willingly sacrificed herself to leave the Soul Stone in the wanting hands of Hawkeye. And don’t get us started on Tony Stark’s afterlife scene.
Despite its parallels to Infinity War, it’s a strange, oddly uninspired moment that just feels a little off – partly due to the chemistry (or lack thereof) between Robert Downey Jr.’s hero and the adult Morgan – so it’s small wonder why the Russo Brothers and Marvel’s writing team ultimately decided to omit it from Avengers: Endgame when all was said and done.