The MCU has had a lot of villains, but none have loomed larger than the mad purple titan, Thanos. He first turned his head towards Marvel fans in the post-credits scene of The Avengers, sparking years of build-up on the way to Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Josh Brolin gave a terrific performance in the latter movies, but he didn’t play Thanos in that first appearance.
Damion Poitier was the man behind the MCU‘s first glimpse at one of the best Marvel villains from the comics. The actor and stuntman was best known for his voice role as Chains in the Payday videogame franchise before his memorable cameo in one of the biggest new movies of all time. He never played Thanos again, but he did join the Captain America cast for the 2016 movie Civil War.
Poitier showed up as one of the mercenaries assisting Crossbones in his attack on a Nigerian weapons facility. So with his roles in The Avengers and Civil War, he’s actually been in two of the best movies in the entire MCU. Next time you work your way through the Marvel movies in order, keep an eye out for his brief Civil War appearance.
It turns out that Poitier just can’t stay away from superheroes, in fact, as he has also crossed the floor to appear as part of DC’s television universe. He appeared in six episodes of The Flash as the metahuman crime boss Keith Kenyon, named Goldface after his ability to… turn his skin to gold. It’s an obvious one.
Poitier’s work in the MCU as Thanos might only have been brief, but his intimidating visage set the table for Brolin to come in and deliver one of the most memorable villains we’ve seen on the big screen.
We’re now deep into Marvel’s Phase 5, and they’re still searching for a bad guy with even half the heft of Thanos to face off against the most heroic MCU characters.
Poitier had a big part in making Thanos intimidating right off the bat. Those of us in the audience who weren’t in tune with comics lore still knew immediately that, even though we didn’t recognize this guy, he was someone we should fear. That face, that smile, that… very prominent chin.
The Avengers still stands among the best superhero movies ever made and, despite everything the MCU has achieved since, we’ll still always remember that post-credits scene as one of the most significant reveals in the history of the franchise. That has to be worth a rewatch?
But now it’s time to look to the future of the upcoming Marvel movies and Marvel series on the horizon. Next out of the gate, we’ve got the Echo release date on the small screen and Deadpool 3 arriving into multiplexes.
Soon, we’ll be into Marvel Phase 6 and we think the Fantastic Four movie could be great if they get one thing right. Finally, look back in time to find out about the hilarious overlooked mistake in Infinity War.