Cruz’s Thanos mention sets off Avengers debate

Sen. Ted Cruz drew the ire of comic fans Monday when he compared Democrats to “rabid environmentalists” — and to comic supervillains who orchestrate the deaths of millions. On a Monday taping of his podcast, “Verdict with Ted Cruz,” he likened the left to famous names in the comic world: the 2019 show “Watchmen,” based on a D.C. comic series with a plot revolving around mass genocide; and Thanos, the main antagonist in Marvel’s Avengers series, who ultimately kills half of the global population with a snap of his fingers.

“Have you noticed in how many movies how often rabid environmentalists are the bad guys?” Cruz said in conversation with the show’s co-host Michael Knowles. “The view of the left is, people are a disease. They buy into the Malthusian line that there are too many people in the world, that people are bad and everything would be better if we had fewer people.”

His remark circulated on social media Monday and drew thousands of comments, sparking debate among both Marvel and D.C. fans, many of whom argued that the theme of environmentalism is central to either comic series. The 2019 adaptation of “Watchmen” largely focuses on the fight against violent white supremacist groups in a dystopian version of the United States.

In 2015, Cruz made headlines for expressing his affinity for Rorschach, a “Watchmen” character who some see as a satire of right-wing principles.