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Thanos has a consistent internal weakness that helps ensure he can never truly gain victory over Marvel’s heroes.
Thanos is one of Marvel’s most powerful villains, with the capability to hold his own against entire teams of heroes at once. Multiple times over the years, he’s come close to wiping out all opposition in his mission to appease death itself. But each time, he’s been defeated by the universe’s heroes. Although there have been multiple methods to beating him, they all quietly share a single, perfect in-universe reason. The mad titan is his own worst enemy.
Thanos’ ultimate weakness is somewhat surprising, but also perfectly explains why even when he fights against forces he’d normally overpower with ease, like Squirrel Girl or the Pet Avengers. The Mad Titan just can’t catch a break.
Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers by Chris Eliopoulos and Ig Guara focused on a team of animal sidekicks to the Marvel heroes uniting to form a new team. Assembled by Lockjaw, the team consists of himself, Speedball’s cat Hairball, Kate Pryde’s dragon Lockheed, Sam Wilson’s falcon Redwing, the empowered frog Throg, and May Parker’s Ms. Lion. Together, the group is able to assemble the Infinity Gems before Thanos can. The Mad Titan eventually confronts the group and even kills Ms. Lion in an attempt to claim the Gems. However, the Pet Avengers are able to hold their own long enough for Lockjaw to take all six gems and combine them into a single weapon capable of bringing down Thanos. Lockjaw used this weapon alongside his amplified teleportation abilities to trap Thanos in a different dimension.
Although the events of Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers technically are non-canon (as they happened on Earth-97161), the same can’t be said for Thanos’ largely off-panel defeat at the hands of Squirrel Girl. In the GLX-Mas Special #1 written by Dan Slott, Squirrel Girl’s history of defeating villains seemingly outside of her power-class (such as Doctor Doom and M.O.D.O.K. earned her an offer to join S.H.I.E.L.D. Although she turned down the chance to become an agent, she’s soon forced to confront Thanos all on her own right after he gained access to the life force of every being on Earth. Squirrel Girl rushed to confront him, with their battle (entirely off-panel) taking a surprising turn when Squirrel Girl earned a victory. Even Uatu arrived on the scene to seemingly confirm this was indeed the true Thanos.
What’s perhaps most surprising about these victories is that they’re actually consistent with Thanos’ characterization over the years. The Mad Titan has gained near omnipotence multiple times in the past, most notably in Infinity Gauntlet by Jim Starlin and George Pérez. Claiming the Infinity Gauntlet and all six of the Infinity Gems, Thanos effectively wiped out all of his enemies with relative ease. But Thanos ultimately was defeated, in part, Adam Warlock would go on to explain, because Thanos doesn’t want himself to win. In Infinity Gauntlet #5, Warlock explained how each time Thanos gains the advantage he’d need to destroy everything and take over the remnants of the universe, he subconsciously allowed himself to be defeated. Horrified by this revelation, Thanos notably can’t even fully deny it.
It’s the most consistent way for Thanos to lose despite all of his advantages even carrying over into storylines like “Thanos Wins” from Thanos by Donny Cates and Geoff Shaw. Even with his ultimate victory literally within his grasp, Death watching and waiting for him to commit one more murder and end all life across the universe, Thanos refuses to simply allow himself to win. This means that no matter what heroes stand against him, regardless of their own power, whether they be cosmically attuned or capable of primarily communicating with squirrels, Thanos has the ultimate weakness to exploit. Even at his most powerful, Thanos’ defeats make perfect in-universe sense.
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