Beware A Scorned Avatar of Death

We all agree Thanos will be back in the Marvel Universe someday, right? Someone will want to use him, either as a big scary threat for their latest event story, or as a name villain to be punked out to a character they just created and are trying to convince us is the best hero ever.

But his style would almost have to be different now, wouldn't it? After being used by Death and then discarded like a snot-covered tissue, he wouldn't still be pining after Death. Well, I guess he could be, but at that point the writer might be better off doing a story about Thanos as the person who keeps going back to their abusive significant other*. I'm not sure who would want to read that story though.

So Thanos returns. I'm still unsure where he's returning from, because I don't know if the Cancerverse still exists and is just empty** and sealed off again, or if the universe collapsed entirely and Thanos exists in the space between universes. A realm between life and death, if you will. He escapes, because he's Thanos, and he's clever that way (plus desperate and/or brassed off) and now he's back. But now he's working against Death.

I guess, if he was in-between universes, Thanos could have come to an arrangement with the Many-Angled Ones, who were said to exist in that space. He could help them claim a new universe to replace the one they lost. But killing Mar-Vell supposedly knocked them silly for a few eons. Still, Thanos serving as Avatar of Life, when he was formerly an unkillable Avatar of Death, would be quite the challenge. You need an even better Avatar of Death than Thanos to beat Thanos. Good luck.

The other possibility is Thanos comes back on his own, and puts his intellect towards solving problems that plague societies across the universe. You know, the ones comic book writers don't usually have Reed Richards or Hank Pym solve, because it changes the world too much from ours? Thanos starts improving the quality of life, improving food production, generally extending people's lives. He's run across and experimented with so many arcane energies, he can probably cook up something to grant immortality, maybe even without any nasty side-effects. There couldn't be side effects if he wants a wide distribution, because it can't turn out that those who take it become reliant on Thanos for regular shipments.

Depending on how a writer wanted to handle it, he has one of a few goals. One, he's trying to destroy Death, since Death won't take him back. Two, he's trying to tip that balance between Life and Death to the point Death will have to get involved, either by powering up an new avatar, or dealing with Thanos directly. Either way, he can win by getting revenge, or ending up dead (again). Maybe the immortality stuff has no side-effect, but does give Thanos the means to kill everyone who has used it simultaneously (because his studies of whatever energy he's using have given considerable control over it). All he has to do is wait long enough, then bam! bigger than his Infinity Gauntlet "kills half the universe" moment. Which could tip things out of whack pretty good itself****.

I suppose Death could try calling in Galactus to try and eat Thanos, the way he once ate the death-immune Elders of the Universe, but that didn't work ultimately, and if Thanos is ensuring people immortality, he can probably rally enough widespread support to take down Galactus and however many Heralds he has at the time. Immortality is probably great, but not so much if you spend it floating stranded in space because a big purple guy ate your planet out from under you. Or worse, you're sentient energy within Galactus even after he digests you***.

It would still be true to Thanos' portrayals over the recent years. Works on a big scale, but for more personal reasons.

* I know, Death didn't ask Thanos to follow her like a lovesick puppy, killing half the universe as a gift to Death. The fact this devotion wasn't sought hasn't stopped Death from using it to its advantage.

** Except for Thanos, Nova and Star-Lord's corpses, and whatever's left of the Many-Angled Ones. I'd hope Nova and Star-Lord were dead. If Thanos is purposefully keeping them alive, that's not going to be pretty.

*** Though that could drive Galactus daffy after awhile, if those sentients can make themselves known.

**** After awhile, Thanos had gone far enough into left field with the Gauntlet that even Death turned on him. So if he messes things up enough, even as a gift to Death, it will intervene.