*Spoilers below for The Avengers movie*
[[wysiwyg_imageupload:1697:]]If you haven’t been wrapped up in some cosmic cocoon, you certainly know by now that Thanos is in The Avengers movie.
Thanos was created by cosmic scribe, Jim Starlin, and the LA Times HeroComplex caught up Starlin to discuss Thanos and The Avengers.
Seems Marvel Studios didn’t exactly reach out to Starlin, as the writer didn’t even know Thanos was going to be in the movie.
I was only alerted by friends to Thanos appearing in the film a few weeks before the opening. They’d come across rumors about it on the Internet. So I had no problem at all about keeping that particular secret.
And as you would expect from that, Jim Starlin had to pay for his own ticket to The Avengers, meaning he didn’t get a special invite to one of the premiers – even though he is listed in the credits – and it seems Starlin didn’t get any (or much?) compensation for The Avengers and Thor movies as well.
Very mixed. It’s nice to see my work recognized as being worth something beyond the printed page, and it was very cool seeing Thanos up on the big screen. Joss Whedon and his crew did an excellent job on “The Avengers” movie and I look forward to the sequel, for obvious reasons. But this is the second film that had something I created for Marvel in it — the Infinity Gauntlet in “Thor” being the other – and both films I had to pay for my own ticket to see them. Financial compensation to the creators of these characters doesn’t appear to be part of the equation. Hopefully Thanos’ walk-on in “The Avengers” will give a boost to a number of my own properties that are in various stages of development for film: “Dreadstar,” “Breed” and the novel “Thinning the Predators.”
So what did Jim Starlin think of the Mad Titan?
My only surprise when I saw Thanos up on the screen was how violet he was. I always saw his exposed hide as being more grayish violet. I’ve only seen the film once and the Mad Titan appears quite briefly, but I had the impression he could perhaps use a bit more chin, but I could be wrong about that. I liked the voice.
The treatment of Starlin by Marvel only adds fuel to the recent fire and controversy surrounding how the big companies treat their creators. Recently both Chris Roberson and Robert Langridge have sworn off working for DC Comics and Marvel over ethical concerns.
I can’t say I blame them.
