Marvel Confirms Thanos in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’

There were a lot of big reveals at Comic-Con 2013, but none as accidental as the slip from actor Djimon Hounsou on the 'Guardians of the Galaxy' panel. While talking about his character, Korath, Hounsou revealed that he was close allies with both Ronan the Accuser (the film's main villain, played by Lee Pace) and Thanos in the film. Nearby, director James Gunn and Marvel president Kevin Feige shared a "whoops" look.

Later, Feige explained and elaborated on the role Thanos plays in the film.

Talking to IGN, Feige confirmed that, yes, Thanos is in 'Guardians of the Galaxy,' even if Ronan the Accuser is the main villain. Says Feige:

I think someone on the 'Guardians of the Galaxy' panel let loose that Thanos is a part of the movie, which he is. Thanos plays a part in 'Guardians' as a mastermind. He very much exists at nearly another plane than any of the other characters. And we have big plans for him, over the course of a very long, long time.

We'll get to our big theory in a bit, but first, while we all sort of assumed that 'Guardians of the Galaxy' was here to introduce some major Thanos elements that would eventually pay off in 'Avengers 2,' we now know that 'Avengers 2' will instead focus on Ultron. So the "big plans" for Thanos over a "very long, long time" looks like it could play out all the way through to 'Avengers 3' instead. If he is as all-powerful as we know he is, it would stand to reason that he could cap off the 'Avengers' trilogy with the Infinity Gauntlet saga.

So, if we now have it confirmed that Thanos will appear in 'Guardians of the Galaxy,' we're instantly curious as to who will be playing him in the film. And, we've got a theory on that.

Benicio Del Toro was recently confirmed to be playing The Collector in 'Guardians of the Galaxy' but we think that's just a clever cover-up for who Del Toro is really playing in 'Guardians' and (this is key) the other Marvel films that he has signed on to appear in: Thanos. Think back to Ra's Al Ghul, "John Harrison" and Miranda Tate for just a few examples of major fanboy franchises hiding their big villains under alternate names.

Now, we could be wrong but hints are pointing in that direction and, frankly, we think Del Toro could pull of the look and demeanor of Thanos perfectly.