The MCU's Thanos was a powerful enemy for the Avengers but would easily lose against DC's Darkseid, unlike another unlikely MCU villain.

While Thanos was the MCU's first big bad villain, he'd likely come up short against DC's own heavyweight, Darkseid, leaving the MCU with few options capable of matching the DC villain–save for one. Both Thanos and Darkseid are massively powerful, cosmic villains who've endured in the comics as among the most dangerous foes the Avengers and Justice League have ever faced, respectively. However, for as long as the debate regarding the power tiers of the two inescapably similar characters may go, the MCU may have already introduced a character that's an even better match for Darkseid than the Mad Titan.

The debate was revived upon the eventual release of Zack Snyder's Justice League, which featured a flashback sequence of Darkseid battling a combined force of Old Gods, Atlanteans, Amazons, including Artemis, and more on Earth, ultimately being driven back. At least where the cinematic universes are concerned, everything suggests a clash between the two would go to Darkseid. However, another MCU villain - one introduced in a rather unlikely place - might stand a better chance.

Marvel What If...?'s final three episodes introduced the concept of Infinity Ultron - a version of the homicidal android from the second film in the Avengers franchise who succeeded in getting his enhanced body. Infinity Ultron would likely fare far better, as the android killed Thanos immediately upon his arrival and took the remaining five Infinity Stones, becoming a being quite possibly on par with Justice League's Darkseid himself.

Thanos Was Created In The Template Of Darkseid

It's no secret that Thanos was created in the image of Darkseid. The Mad Titan made his debut in Invincible Iron Man #55 (1973), three years after Darkseid's debut in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #134. Jim Starlin saw the work that Jack Kirby did with the New Gods over at DC and created a character reminiscent of that style, effectively making a character based on the New God character Metron. Thanos was later buffed up in an intentional bid to more resemble the Lord of Apokolips, Darkseid. Jack Kirby later returned to Marvel in 1976 and created the Eternals, filling the void left by the New Gods' cancellation. So it's fitting that after this, Thanos's origin was retconned to include a link to the Eternals, thus bringing everything full circle.

This is ultimately where the comparison between the two cosmic warlords comes from. Their real-life origins are effectively linked. Thanos came after Darkseid and everything about his origin is derived from a storyline and series of characters that were, themselves, highly derivative of the New Gods. Sealing this comparison, of course, was the prominence of Thanos as one of the biggest villains in Marvel, thanks in no small part to the massively successful Infinity Gauntlet crossover mini-series. With the additional power of the gauntlet effectively making Thanos a god, it naturally followed that the question of who'd win in a fight between him and Darkseid began to percolate.

Thanos Would Lose To Darkseid (Even With The Infinity Gauntlet)

The debate is ongoing, especially in the comics. However, the cinematic universes seem to very heavily favor Darkseid. For one thing, Thanos appears to be exceptionally weaker in the MCU than his comic book counterpart. This tracks with the tendency of films to garner an overall lower suspension of disbelief but bodes poorly for Thanos, whose only powers without the gauntlet seem to be immortality, immense strength, and resilience. He lacks his greater array of normal abilities and is only all that powerful with the use of the Infinity Gauntlet.

Admittedly, the DCEU hasn't gotten around to fully representing Darkseid on screen at his peak. With a reboot looming in The Flash, it's possible it never will. However, what's seen of him in Zack Snyder's Justice League does appear fairly consistent with his power in the comics, at least as it pertains to a Darkseid avatar. One of the deciding factors in any battle between the two, however, is the true nature of the Ruler of Apokolips. In the comics, the physical being that the Justice League regularly fights - the being that appeared in the war flashback of Zack Snyder's Justice League and was ultimately defeated by Ares - isn't the real deal. It's an expendable, weaker copy of himself that he sends out to physically interact with the multiverse. His true form exists in the Fourth World's higher plane and is so potent that being in any universe outside of that dwelling would unravel the laws of reality and cause that universe to cease to exist.

With this in mind, it's possible that Thanos could take the fight to Darkseid with the MCU's gauntlet, but the Infinity Gauntlet traditionally has a massive flaw. It can only be used in the universe in which it was created. If Thanos wanted to defeat the true Darkseid, he'd be forced to go to the Fourth World and fight him there, leaving Thanos without his gauntlet-granted abilities and Darkseid with no such limitations. This would seem to track with the MCU, as Loki revealed in its explanation of why the Infinity Stones don't work in TVA headquarters.

What If...'s Infinity Ultron, However, Could Beat Darkseid

The Ultron variant introduced in What If...? episode 8 threatens the entire multiverse, which surprises even Uatu the Watcher, who states that such a thing shouldn't be possible. This implies that the Infinity Stones of the MCU would all have this kind of power and Thanos is incapable of using that power, or too shortsighted to grasp that power. Alternatively, the Infinity Stones of the MCU might share the limitation of its comic book counterpart and Ultron simply adapted a way around that, which would be consistent with Ultron's nature as an adapting, evolving artificial intelligence.

Either way, it means that Infinity Ultron very likely could use the Infinity Stones even in the Fourth World, thus making him more than capable of at least rivaling Darkseid in his true form, if not being an outright threat. Infinity Ultron could use the gauntlet to shrug off the disintegration of Darkseid's Omega Beams, undo any time displacement Darkseid would be able to inflict upon him, and escape from the pocket dimension of infinite looping deaths brought about by Darkseid's Omega Sanction. Infinity Ultron isn't merely superior to Thanos, he'd even be a considerable match for the likes of the DCEU's embodiment of tyranny, Darkseid.

Next: Doctor Strange 2 Theory: What If...?’s Guardians of The Multiverse Were Defeated