Thanos became the overarching villain of the first decade of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, eventually serving as the antagonist for Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
But according to a former visual effects artist for Marvel Studios, Thanos was initially set to feature more heavy earlier in the franchise.
During an interview with Looper, former head of visual development for Marvel Studios Charlie Wen revealed that Thanos was originally set to play a much larger role in the first Guardians of the Galaxy film.
"We would have seen some of the relationship [and] tensions play out between him and his kids," Wen said. "Ronan's role would have decreased, with Thanos taking on more."
While Thanos' relationship with Gamora and Nebula could've been a big part of the film, the decision to reframe Thanos as a bigger threat to the universe as a whole led to the character briefly being removed from the film entirely.
Eventually, Thanos did return to the film in a reduced role, which came as a surprise to Wen.
"We cut Thanos out of Guardians completely in order to have a slower reveal of him," adds Wen. "It wasn't until right before the shoot that I was told that Thanos would have a role in the film, so designing him and his throne was pretty rushed."
Of course, Thanos and his relationship to both of his daughters ended up being big parts of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, Avengers: Endgame stars Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Chris Evans as Captain America, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, Brie Larson as Captain Marvel, Paul Rudd as Ant-Man, Don Cheadle as War Machine, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Danai Gurira as Okoye and Bradley Cooper as Rocket, with Gwyneth Paltrow Pepper Potts, Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan, Benedict Wong as Wong, Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie and Josh Brolin as Thanos.