Thanos endured multiple struggles to obtain all six Infinity Stones and construct the Infinity Gauntlet (in both the comics and the films). In the MCU films Avengers: Endgame, Thanos literally fought armies of Marvel superheroes to accomplish his goal of wiping out half the universe’s population. In the comic book miniseries The Thanos Quest, Thanos likewise traveled across the galaxies and dimensions to assemble the stones, engaging god-like beings in challenges of mind, body, and will, showing his utter devotion to his task.
And yet, in at least one comic book, Thanos decided to give up his quest... for a decidedly different goal. Yes, hard as it may be for fans to believe, in one blink-or-you’ll-miss-it comic the Mad Titan Thanos once decided he’d rather be a cosmic supermodel than a god.
This ridiculous concept was showcased in Marvel Age, a Marvel magazine that featured behind-the-scenes stories and articles about future Marvel projects. Fans could enjoy reading interviews with their favorite comic creators and even catch a glimpse of exclusive photos of early Marvel movies (like the infamous Fred Hembeck Destroys The Marvel Universe where he preceded both Deadpool and Thanos himself in killing off beloved Marvel characters in cartoonish and silly ways.
For Marvel Age #91, Hembeck decided to give fans a sneak peek into the miniseries The Thanos Quest, a two-issue comic book written by Thanos’ creator Jim Starlin, which provided the original source material for MCU’s Avengers: Infinity War. Hembeck’s comic strip showed him bragging to his wife that his “close, personal volleyball buddy Jim Starlin” would soon be giving him the inside scoop on Thanos Quest very soon.
When Hembeck’s wife points out that Starlin enjoys playing pranks on Hembeck, the nervous writer decides to call Starlin (at 555-COSMIC), only for Starlin to claim he’s forgotten Hembeck’s name. He then insists on being called, “Mr. Starlin, sir” before giving Fred Hembeck a shocking exclusive. According to Jim Starlin, The Thanos Quest will no longer be about Thanos’ quest for the Infinity Stones, but a story of how Thanos’ body is possessed by the spirit of a cosmic fashion model searching for “The Infinite Closet” of the universe in hopes of finding the perfect outfit for the real Miss Universe contest. To top it off, Starlin has decided to change the title from “The Thanos Quest” to… The Thanos Dress.
Thrilled that he’s gotten an exclusive story from Starlin himself, Hembeck runs off to share the information with his readers – but the fun’s not over yet. In the last three s, the reader sees Thanos himself prance onto the scene wearing a sleeveless purple dress and sneering about how “my good buddy” Starlin was able to fool a “patsy” like Fred Hembeck into drawing mighty Thanos in a dress. In the final , however, Thanos strikes a pose and its he regrets this is the only time he’ll ever be able to wear such a gorgeous outfit since broad shoulders are finally “back in style” and the purple color looks “just divine” on him.
Sadly, this hidden gem of a comic strip did not end up influencing Avengers: Infinity War (unless there are some still-unreleased deleted scenes with Josh Brolin that fans don’t know about). Thanos has been lauded as one of the MCU’s more multi-layered villains, after all, and considering it took several movies for him to take center stage, it’s certainly not inconceivable that he spent a lot of his alone time getting in touch with his feminine side.
