According to "Avengers: Infinity War" director Joe Russo, Thanos will not need to steal the show from the ensemble cast of superheroes — because it is going to be his show to begin with.
Entertainment website Comicbook.com quoted Russo in an interview with Sina Weibo, a China-based blogging site saying that he is very excited for the audience to see the mad titan from a different standpoint.
"I'm most excited for the audience to learn about him. I think he's a very interesting and complex villain. That's why I like him. That's why I'm excited for the audience to learn about him. I think his motivations, albeit psychotic, are compelling. And I think that in a lot of ways this is his movie, so it's going to be very interesting to see how people respond to Thanos in the film."
Since the villain's first appearance in 2012, Thanos has been viewed mostly as a behind the curtain type of character. He never directly involved himself in the events of the movies, instead using his influence to make others do the work for him. While it has been made clear that his goal is to unite the all-powerful infinity stones, it is still for people to find out what his motives are for doing so.
In the comics, Thanos became very infatuated with the embodiment of death, ultimately to the point of obsession. With his initial attempts at wooing her failing, he attempts to impress her by offering countless lives from across the universe as a gift. Thus, his search for the infinity stones, which will grant him absolute power to wipe out every living being in existence.
It is unknown whether "Infinity War" will make Thanos follow this path, but based on Russo's comment that his motivations are "psychotic" and "compelling," maybe the idea is not too far off.
