THE MAN BEHIND THE MAD TITAN…
Veteran comic-book writer/artist Jim Starlin is the creator of Thanos (who first appeared in 1973) and writer of the original Infinity Gauntlet storyline (1991). He also had a big hand in Marvel’s Shang-Chi and – working for Marvel imprint Epic Comics – built his own universe with space saga Dreadstar. And on top of all that, he cameos in Avenger: Endgame…
When you created Thanos, did you ever imagine that he might become a movie star?
No. We were just trying to sell damn comic books, you know? Cinema was incapable of doing things like [Avengers: Endgame] at that point. I could draw 1,000 spaceships on a page; the movies couldn’t come close to that. But now, one moment of Endgame is more than I’m capable of drawing in a year!
Do you feel some sense of ownership of Thanos?
I’ve always felt a sense of ownership because I was the only one doing him, most of the time. I’m letting him go at this point because I’ve done my last Thanos story [The Infinity Finale, 2016] and I’m not going to be working with Marvel Comics any more. But for the longest time, I thought of him as my first born… one who didn’t turn out too well!
Is Josh Brolin’s performance close to how you pictured Thanos on screen?
Actually, I used to imagine Arnold Schwarzenegger – or Idris Elba doing his Luther voice. I never pictured Josh Brolin at all, and now I can’t imagine anyone else doing it. Even though he isn’t completely the same Thanos, because they had to make changes, the spirit of the character is there.
Why does Thanos resonate with audiences so much? He’s become a sex symbol…
I think it’s his lack of inhibitions. He acts on his [darker impulses]; not impetuously, but he doesn’t hesitate. I think that determination is something people like. The sex symbol part, I’m still having trouble with!
Was it unexpected?
Everyone on the movies kept telling me it was going to happen and I didn’t believe them. And now I’m seeing ‘thicc Thanos’! [laughs] Just recently someone showed me this one-piece men’s bathing suit, which Thanos’ head fills from chest to crotch. I thought that was bizarre… until I saw the bikini. The bottom part, with the smile? Disturbing.
How big was your creative involvement in the Infinity War
and Endgame movies?
Next to nothing. There’s a division between comics and movies, and I understand that. I just came into shoot my Endgame cameo. They said to me, “The scene is about a support group… you decide how many people you’ve lost.” And I said, “I lost everybody!”
What expectations do you have for
Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings?
Not expectations, but questions: how do you make a Shang-Chi movie that’s unlike a million other kung-fu movies? I think maybe the way to take it is to stick with that grim story of an assassin – which is what he is to begin with – who gets enlightened, and then give it a little light edge. And lose Fu Manchu.
Which comic characters would you like to see on screen?
I’d like to see Adam Warlock, who they talked about [in Guardians Of The Galaxy: Vol. 2]. And Pip the Troll [Warlock’s sidekick]. I’ve been talking to some folks about Dreadstar. We had it set up at Universal a while back and then one of the producers died… but it’s getting close again.
Finally, which Infinity Stone would you most like to have?
The Time Stone, so I could change the result of the last US election! [laughs] Matthew Leyland