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In the 2018 battle in Avengers: Infinity War where Thanos acquires the Time Stone, we have Thanos vs. Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Star-Lord, Nebula, Spider-Man and Mantis. We are led to believe that the only reason they are unable to beat Thanos is because Quill loses his cool and because Thanos is wielding all but one of the Infinity Stones.

Yet,

In the 2018 battle with Thanos three weeks after the events of Infinity War, on his "retirement planet" (the Garden), we have an arguably superior force of Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Captain Marvel, Hulk, and Rhodes all in peak form against an unarmed and unarmored Thanos (with zero stones) who is weakened and injured already -- not to mention that he no longer has any motivation to live. But he holds his own for a surprisingly long time. (Until he is eventually beheaded.)

Why is Thanos able to hold his own? Does it have to do with whatever his natural characteristics/powers are and/or are there other plotpoints at work?

... besides the needs of the movie to offer some excitement here, of course.

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    Related, borderline dupe: How did Thanos beat Hulk so easily?
    – Jenayah
    Apr 29, 2019 at 17:23
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    He's immediately restrained and killed at the beginning of Endgame. Did you mean at another time? Apr 29, 2019 at 17:35
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    @AzorAhai: I would question the "immediately restrained and killed". It actualy lasted surprising long if you ask me. Apr 29, 2019 at 17:38
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    @ThePopMachine What are you talking about? They blast him, then cut off his hand. Then kill him after interrogating him briefly. I guess, are you asking: How did he survive Captain Marvel's blast? Apr 29, 2019 at 17:45
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    @ThePopMachine Yes? Apr 29, 2019 at 17:49

2 Answers 2

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[In Infinity War] We are led to believe that the only reason they are unable to beat Thanos is because Quill loses his cool and because Thanos is wielding all but one of the Infinity Stones

No, we're not.

In Infinity War, the rag-tag assemblage of heroes on Titan are just about able to use their combined powers and the element of surprise to pacify Thanos long enough to nearly get the gauntlet off, and they can only do that thanks to Mantis' psychic powers, which are so strong they put a Celestial to sleep.

While pacified, he's not actually using the Stones (of which he has all but two — Strange and Vision still have the Time and Mind Stones respectively), as that requires him to make a fist with the gauntlet. Despite that, it's all they can do to keep him subdued until Mantis gets knocked off him and it's essentially game over.

In contrast, when Thanos is on the front-foot and face-to-face with the other Avengers one-on-one in Wakanda, it's mostly no contest at all, even before he uses the Time Stone.


[In Endgame] we have an arguably superior force... all in peak form against an unarmed and unarmored Thanos (with zero stones) who is weakened and injured already -- not to mention that he no longer has any motivation to live. But he holds his own for a surprisingly long time

No, he doesn't. (Also they have Captain Marvel; it's inarguably a superior force, physically.)

In Endgame on the Garden, he’s immediately knocked down and put in a headlock by Captain Marvel, then has his arms held by Banner in the Hulkbuster armour and War Machine. He's apparently unable or unwilling to break free from this restraint, unlike on Titan.

Thor then immediately cuts his gauntlet hand off with Stormbreaker, and Rocket discovers the Infinity Stones aren't there. Captain Marvel releases the headlock as Banner pushes Thanos to the floor and punches him. That's the extent of the physical confrontation. Thanos stays down, and the Avengers aren't trying to fight or kill him. They just want to know where the Stones are.

Once Thor decides the interrogation is futile, he immediately chops Thanos’s head off, with no apparent defensive reaction from ol’ Purple Chops.

He had already been nearly killed in the act of ensuring that his life’s purpose couldn’t be reversed, so he’s both in poor physical shape (as we see when he climbs the stairs to his shack), and has nothing to fight for. He didn't hold his own; he did nothing.

He was done, and ready to die.

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    I figured it was harder for Mantis to knock out someone who was fighting her vs. trying to sleep. Apr 29, 2019 at 23:45
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    Don't forget to mention that Thanos is quite clearly in a very poor state. He can't even walk up the stairs one at a time, can't pick up his bag easily, etc
    – Valorum
    Apr 29, 2019 at 23:45
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    Pretty sure that he got out of the restraint because he was punched by one of the Avengers (I'm thinking Hulk or Thor?), who accused him of lying when he claimed that he had destroyed the Infinity Stones.
    – user45266
    Apr 30, 2019 at 5:57
  • The real question is how Thanos did so well at the end without any stones. Oct 31, 2019 at 22:09
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    @JimmyVailer: Well, uber-powerful is accurate for MCU, which is the context for PaulDraper's comment. Nov 1, 2019 at 21:32
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When the Avengers hunt down Thanos at the beginning of Endgame, they weren't going for the kill, at least at first. When they go in, they don't know what Thanos has done with the stones, so they need to interrogate him. Captain Marvel attacks Thanos with a small blast of energy which he was able to avoid by deflecting it with the gauntlet. After this, the Avengers quickly restrain him, chopping off his hand to prevent him from using the gauntlet.

Thanos doesn't fight back at all. He has, quite literally hung up his armor because he accomplished what he wanted to and doesn't need to do more. Because Thanos wasn't fighting them, there was no need for the Avengers to blast him with all their strength.

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    I think he was using his armor as a scarecrow, in fact. Apr 30, 2019 at 2:30

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