WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Infinity Wars Prime #1 by Gerry Duggan, Mike Deodato Jr., Frank Martin and Cory Petit, in stores now.


For as long as Marvel's been building towards Infinity Wars, the publisher's next major cosmic event, it's been promised that there would be a major character death. When the first teasers for the comic series were released, we already knew there was a mysterious hooded character named Requiem at the heart of this story, and that she would be the one delivering the death blow.

Marvel warned us that this was coming, but we had no idea when in the story it would take place. At the close of Infinity Countdown? During, or at the end of, Infinity Wars? It was anyone's guess.

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Turns out Marvel wasn't planning to hold back -- at all. The major demise is what effectively kicks off the event in Infinity Wars Prime #1. We had some theories as to which character would fall at Requiem's sword, but what actually happens is so outside the realm of suspicion, it is a genuine surprise -- and how nice is that? It's not a hero that dies, nor a member of the new Infinity Watch. Instead, it's a major villain. Marvel's biggest villain, perhaps.

Infinity Wars Prime #1 features the shocking death of Thanos, the Mad Titan.

Infinity Wars Thanos death

Thanos' death is surprising, to say the least, considering that he's nearly always at the heart of stories revolving around the Infinity Stones. After all, just a few weeks ago, Infinity Countdown #5 ended with a final page that showcased the villain, with narration that hinted at the fact that he was the being coming to collect the powerful gemstones once more.

In hindsight, Marvel actually played on our knowledge of Marvel history, as well as the notion that Thanos was the mains threat of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movie Avengers: Infinity War. With the cosmic event at hand, we all expected Thanos to be at the heart of Infinity Wars, especially considering that the movie and the comic basically share the same name.

Marvel must have known we'd make those instant connections, and they used it to take us by surprise. As Thanos gears up to go about collecting the Infinity Stones on Chitauri Prime in Prime #1, the Mad Titan is stabbed from behind by Requiem. Thanos recognizes his assailant -- and the design of the blade she wields -- but before he can say or do anything else, she slices Thanos' head clean off... and follows that by slaughtering the entire Chitauri army.

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Of course, Thanos is a character who has seen his fair share of death, and he has always found a way to come back. This being comics, death rarely has any finality, and the question of Thanos returning is more of a when than if. But we also can't help but take into consideration the narration that accompanies the Mad Titan's death scene.

At the beginning, Thanos tells his Chitauri troops that he doesn't fear death because he has seen the future and the vicious monster he will become. He knows that victory is in his future, because he has seen it. This is a reference to Donny Cates and Geoff Shaw's "Thanos Wins" storyline, which recently came to a close in the Thanos solo series.

Thus, when Thanos dies at the hands of Requiem, he says that the future he feared would thankfully no longer come to pass. And for that reason, he says he is "made whole."

There is certainly a bit of finality to these words, and this entire moment. The fact that Thanos refers back to the events of Cates and Shaw's series is noteworthy, because it was such an important story arc for the character. By having him say here that the future has been changed, nothing is certain anymore. Requiem has altered the course of events as they unfolded for King Thanos, and we just don't know what will happen next.

Then again, with such powerful weapons as the Infinity Stones involved in Infinity Wars, there are many ways Thanos could return. Be it thanks to the Reality Stone, the Time Stone or Soul World, Thanos may not exactly be down for the count. For all we know, he could be the only hope the Marvel Universe has at defeating Requiem. If that is the case, than Doctor Strange, Captain Marvel and the rest of the heroes that make up the new Infinity Watch may have no choice but to bring back the most fearsome villain in the entire cosmos.

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