Before Thanos became the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s resident universe-threatening problem, Jim Starlin was drawing Hulk stories on a homemade desk while stationed in the Philippines. Recorded live at San Francisco Comic Con in Oakland in June 2018, this conversation traces the psychology class that inspired Thanos, the surprise of seeing Josh Brolin bring him to life, and the storytelling tricks behind The Infinity Gauntlet. Jim also explains how a grease-stained paper bag changed a Captain Marvel story, why he rescued Adam Warlock from a box of old comics, and what made The Death of Captain Marvel so personal.
- A villain born in a classroom — After coming home from military service, Jim took a psychology class that introduced him to Eros and Thanatos. Those ideas grew into Thanos and his brother Eros, with the Mad Titan driven by an endless hunger for something that never satisfies him.
- Thanos gets the Hollywood treatment — Jim expected a deep-voiced animated character, not Josh Brolin walking around in motion-capture equipment with a tennis ball marking Thanos’s height. Brolin won him over, although Jim still has a complaint about the movie version’s pupils.
- Captain Marvel’s final chapter — Marvel wanted Captain Marvel killed off, but Jim rejected a conventional heroic death. His own father’s death from cancer helped inspire a more personal story that editor Jim Shooter supported despite resistance from other editors.
“I think there’s three Thanoses. Basically, there’s mine, which is the best.” — Jim Starlin
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