Nebula May Defeat Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War

When Thanos (Josh Brolin) confronts Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Guardians of the Galaxy and whichever other hero that wants to stop him come Avengers: Infinity War, it won't be about collecting the Infinity Stones as some sort of power trip. Instead, it'll all be part of the Mad Titian's "noble" crusade to fill his Infinity Gauntlet to reshape the order things, and in the process restore balance to the cosmos.

So far, it looks like he'll have the upper hand against all comers, especially with the Children of Thanos (aka the Black Order) and his Outriders helping carry out this cosmic conquest. Given that we've also glimpsed the Mad Titan himself beating down Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) and seemingly getting ready to unleash his rage on Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), well -- it really paints a bleak outlook for Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

However, amid the heroic factions and alliances formed against Thanos, there could be one secret weapon that the villain might not see coming: His adoptive daughter, Nebula.

In James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1, we were introduced to the character, played by Karen Gillan, as well as Thanos' other adoptive daughter, Gamora (Zoe Saldana). They were tasked with finding the Orb (Power Stone) for the villain, but Gamora scuttled those plans, defecting to the Guardians along the way. Nebula, on the other hand, sided with Ronan the Accuser, not just against the Guardians, but Thanos as well -- stemming from her hatred of how turned her into a warrior against her will.

Luckily for her, Thanos never found out about her traitorous actions, and by continuing to feign allegiance, she can remain close enough to betray him as soon as he lets his guard down. After all, Thanos is still under the impression that Nebula wants to kill her sister for turning on the family, a plotline that spilled over into Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Ultimately, Nebula realized the error of her ways, undergoing her own redemption by saving her sister's life. But because Thanos doesn't know about this, either, as far as he's concerned, Nebula's still his dedicated assassin.

Nebula can work this to her advantage, clouding Thanos' judgement with her loyalty so that he forgives her failures and keeps her by his side. Once she plays off his emotions (we did see Thanos holding a young Gamora's hand in an endearing flashback, after all) surrounding Gamora's treason, Nebula can easily set a ruse up where she promises her sister's head once and for all. This creates a window of opportunity for her to function as a true double agent, waiting to take her father out when least expects it. In GotG Vol. 2, she pledged "I will hunt my father like a dog and I will tear him apart piece by piece," so with this deception, we get the perfect setup for Nebula to make him pay.

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Taking this route with Nebula would align nicely with Marvel Comics' Infinity Gauntlet comic from Jim Starlin, Ron Lim and Josef Rubinstein. This Nebula was different from her MCU counterpart (she was Thanos' granddaughter), yet still very crucial. In the story, Thanos was reshaping the universe in order to woo Mistress Death, but she wasn't impressed. To sweeten the deal, Thanos offered a charred version of Nebula, someone caught between life and death, as a tribute of his love.

Death still wasn't impressed, even after Thanos then defeated the likes of Captain America, Iron Man, Vision, Thor, Spider-Man, Drax and more. However, while this courting was going on, Nebula was simply biding her time, watching Thanos triumph over the Cosmic Pantheon (which included beings such as Galactus, Eternity, the Living Tribunal, etc.), and ascend into a cosmic plane of supreme power. In doing so, Thanos left his physical form behind, as well as the Gauntlet, and Nebula sprung into action, grabbing it for herself and gaining its full power.

She then tried to undo Thanos' destruction across the universe, but as it turns out, she was just as mad and corrupt as her grandfather. Unsurprisingly, her less-than-altruistic endeavors saw a coalition of heroes, villains and even Thanos himself come to stop her, but as this new battled ensued, Adam Warlock was able to help defeat her and take the Gauntlet away for safe-keeping.

She may have failed in the comics but it's this kind of sneaky behavior that fits right in with the MCU's Nebula; playing on her father's weaknesses, which of course, only his adoptive kids would know. She has proven to be more cerebral than first assumed, as seen with her Ronan alliance, and we can easily see her using her brains over brawn to topple Thanos.

So far, we've seen Nebula on what seems to be Titan, Thanos' dead home world. It's here that Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Star-Lord and Spider-Man are fighting among the wreckage of the Q-Ship. However, there's no suggestion that Nebula's on their side, which could all be part of her end-game. With Thanos as unsuspecting as ever, Nebula may end up stealing some of his Infinity Stones, snatching the entire Gauntlet itself, or even attempting to kill him. There's no better place to do so than on the planet that he hates so much, and by engaging in this trickery, Nebula might well be that ace-in-the-hole our heroes so desperately need.

Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Infinity War stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Paul Bettany, Anthony Mackie, Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Olsen, Tom Holland, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chadwick Boseman, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Tom Hiddleston and Josh Brolin. The film opens April 27 worldwide.