Warning: contains spoilers for The Eternals #11
The Mad Titan only “people” Thanos truly respects.
Back in the original Infinity Gauntlet storyline from 1991, Mephisto acted as Thanos’ advisor after he assembled all the Infinity Gems, both in his battle against Marvel’s heroes and his romantic pursuit of Mistress Death, who he hoped to impress by killing half of all life in the universe. When the Snap and other displays of power fail to win her over, Mephisto convinces Thanos to fight the Avengers with only one Infinity Gem to demonstrate his bravery. Ultimately, however, Mephisto proves to have his own agenda. Hoping to become a new god-like supreme being, Mephisto tries and fails to steal the gauntlet before fleeing and abandoning Thanos. The move was highly predictable, but that only makes Thanos' willingness to work with Mephisto more curious.
Since being Thanos brutally explains why Druig disappoints him: "There is no poetry in you and your attempts to pretend we share anything offends me."
The contrast Thanos draws between these two partnerships says a lot of things, especially about Thanos’ self-conception. Mephisto may have double-crossed him during the events of Infinity Gauntlet, but Thanos seems to feel a kind of kinship with him. Mephisto possesses "poetry" and true callousness, enabling him to appreciate what Thanos sought to accomplish, as demonstrated by his calling the Mad Titan a "god" and himself his "first acolyte." Like Druig, Mephisto is a flatterer seeking his own ends, but Thanos never mocked or spoke ill of him, treating him like an advisor with insight to offer. Although Mephisto ultimately betrayed him, Thanos’ opinion of him seems to come from a sense of mutual understanding. Mephisto’s ambition parallels Thanos’ own: to become a supreme being and rule over all of existence.
Thanos may be one of Marvel's most fearsome villains, but his appearances in The Eternals prove he has a long memory and complex emotions. With his near-divine status and demonic powers, Mephisto - like Mistress Death - reflects how Thanos sees himself and what he wants to be. In clarifying why he lacks respect for Druig, Thanos reveals a strange affection for Marvel's devil. On some level Mephisto is Thanos' perfect ally who got away: who better than the devil himself to advise the most powerful being in the universe?
Eternals #11 is available now from Marvel Comics.
