This November, it is going to be Thanos vs. the Illuminati!
Marvel Comics has announced a four-issue limited series that will pit the Mad Titan against the new enemy. In the new series whose first part will be called Thanos #1, the Mad Titan descends upon Earth to retrieve something he has lost. And the Illuminati must band together to stop him, because they’re the ones who hid it from him.
The series is written by Christopher Cantwell, whose previous work includes Marvel’s Doctor Doom. It is illustrated by Luca Pizzari, the acclaimed artist known for his work on X-Men: Before The Fall – Heralds of Apocalypse #1.
The synopsis of the new series on Thanos reads: The saga will follow Thanos as he rockets to Earth from the darkest depths of the cosmos to undertake his most ambitious conquest yet. The only ones that can quell his passionate fury is a new Illuminati. Mr. Fantastic, Doctor Strange, and Iron Man have reunited to guide the superhuman world from the shadows, and joining this new incarnation are Emma Frost and Blue Marvel. This cabal composed of Marvel’s greatest minds has wasted no time in sharing a secret that will shatter the heavens and provoke Thanos’ deadly wrath like never before!
About the series, the writer Cantwell said, “I’ve had the honour and joy of writing some of Marvel’s greatest villains, so you can imagine how excited I am to not only tackle the Mad Titan himself, but pit him against some of the most powerful brains and fists out there—this latest lineup of the Illuminati. But I think folks will find the backdrop of this story quite unexpected, mischievously funny, and heartbreakingly human, for what has drawn Thanos back screaming into the universe is a singular pain and desire for connection that he believes only one essence in existence (and non-existence) can give him… while this being is in turn grappling with some deeper questions about what they are, and what they want to be. Plus, Thanos hot-wires a pickup truck.”
“I could tell right from reading the first panel description that this book was gonna be something else,” the artist Pizzari shared. “I never even met Chris before and yet it’s like he wrote this book reading my mind; there are a lot of characters I’ve always wanted to try my hand on. Thanos himself is, of course, unbelievably fun to draw, I’m constantly telling myself to make him bigger and bigger!”
Leinil Francis Yu has designed the main cover of Thanos #1. A variant cover by Phil Noto pays homage to George Pérez’s iconic Infinity Gauntlet #1.