Thanatos (comics)

Thanatos is a fictional villain character in the Marvel Comics Universe, originally appearing in Spider-Man 2099. He has since appeared in other comics, specifically ones relating to Rick Jones, who may be his progenitor.

Fictional character biography

Thanatos first appears in Spider-Man 2099 as a Destiny-Force powered villain occupying an “interspace”, the entrance to which was generated by the Virtual Unreality Project funded by the Alchemax corporation. Thanatos called the space “the nexus of all realities” but is unclear on how he came to be there, or the true nature of interspace.

Prior to battling that era’s Spider-Man, Thanatos claims that he was “marooned on Earth, discorporated, powerless since the end of the heroic age … until the first tests uon the virtual unreality portal some weeks back gave [his] nebulous form the energy it needed.”

It has been speculated that Thanatos was once the fictional character Rick Jones. At one time Rick was yanked back and forth through time and encountered two older versions of himself, one of which was Thanatos. Later publications expounded upon this story, revealing that Thanatos is actually Rick Jones from an alternate timeline, where, during the Kree/Skrull war, he stayed with the Supreme Intelligence instead of reuniting with Captain Marvel. The Eon War resulted in the deaths of most of the Marvel heroes, and resulted in Thanatos becoming stranded in the interspace. Thanatos was finally destroyed by Captain Marvel.

It has never been confirmed that the future 2099 incarnations of the heroes is a canon reality or merely possible future events. If this is the case, then Thanatos’ true origins are purely speculative.

Powers and abilities

Thanatos possesses invulnerability and size-altering abilities, and is armed with several weapons, most notably a spear and an energy pistol.

External links

* [http://www.marvel.com/universe/Jones%2C_Rick Marvel Universe character bio on Rick Jones]
*Wiki article on Rick Jones