The National Hockey League (NHL) turned the Philadelphia Flyers mascot, Gritty, into Thanos to promote Marvel's Super Hero Day.In the promo, shared by Gritty's official Twitter account with the caption, "I am inevitable," the mascot finds Thanos' Infinity Gauntlet abandoned in the stadium. After putting it on, Gritty only has to snap his fingers to transport himself all over the world and through various costume changes, eventually donning Thanos' armor himself. According to the NHL, the video was part of a promotion for Marvel Super Hero Day presented by SeatGeek, which took place on March 5 during the Flyers' home game against the Chicago Blackhawks. During the game, Gritty came out onto the ice dressed as Thanos as well, flanked by two people donning Captain America and Iron Man masks.
Announced on Feb. 21, fans attending the NHL's Marvel Super Hero Day event were encouraged to dress as their favorite Marvel character. They also received a Flyers Marvel Poster, drawn by Marvel artist J.L. Giles, depicting Gritty and the Philadelphia Flyers. The poster was meant to pay homage to the original cover for 1991's Infinity Gauntlet #1 from Marvel Comics, written by Jim Starlin and drawn by George Perez.
On top of that, the first 5,000 fans received a limited, exclusive variant cover edition of Avengers #53 featuring Gritty and Iron Man, drawn by Ron Lim. This issue of Avengers is not available in stores and was only available to those attending the game, which was won by the Flyers (4-3). Marvel Comics editor-in-chief C.B. Cebulski was also in attendance at the game.
Gritty is the most recent actor to portray Thanos, after being played by Josh Brolin in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since his first uncredited appearances in Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers: Age of Ultron. He would go on to be the main antagonist in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: End Game, using the Infinity Stones to wipe out half of all life in the universe. As for Gritty, he has been the official mascot for the Philadelphia Flyers NHL team since he was created in 2018 and has often been the subject of viral internet memes.
Though Thanos was defeated at the end of Avengers: Endgame in 2019, the effects of the Mad Titan are still present in the MCU. For example, Marvel Studios' recent Disney+ series, Hawkeye, featured a running theme about whether or not "Thanos was Right," a phrase that recurred throughout the show.