The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been building up Thanos as a villain since 2012: we've seen the stone he wants show up in a bunch of different movies and we know that he's got his eye on Earth. Aside from that we don't really know that much about him. In the comics he wants to kill everyone because he is in love with Death, but are they going to use that plotline in this movie? Maybe, we've found some hints in an interview from Entertainment Weekly and from Marvel mega-boss himself, Kevin Feige.

"He's from a planet called Titan that's no longer inhabited because of things that he thought he could help prevent, and he was not allowed to do that," Feige says. "What he feared most happened, and the planet and everybody on it basically went extinct. He vowed not to let that happen again. He thinks he sees the universe going down the tubes. He thinks he sees life expanding outward unchecked. That will bring ruin, he believes, to the universe and to that life."

So basically he plans to slaughter half of the universe to save the other. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, which is not so good for Earth since Earth seems to fall on that half which Thanos plans on killing.

"That's either genius or horrific, depending on your point of view, and most of our point of views say it's pretty horrific," Feige says.

While it is horrific and a lot of work that doesn't mean Thanos doesn't enjoy what he does, in fact he probably enjoys it a little too much. At least that's what Josh Brolin says. (EDITORS NOTE: it's unclear in the EW if this is Brolin talking. We are making an assumption that it is though.]

"All the kind of grabbing-of-the-moon because of the gems, and all …?" the actor says with a deep laugh. "That's the fun stuff."

Thanos is essentially on a fetch quest that we see heroes partake in so often in video games. He needs to go out and find all of them gems so he can win. The problem is there are people standing between him and the stones that could end in tragedy. Director Joe Russo said:

"He's on a hunt. We're using a bit of a '90s heist genre component. Thanos is on a smash-and-grab, and everybody's trying to catch up the whole movie."

So it's a heist movie, which on a certain level makes sense. Thanos and the stones are there to be the ultimate big bad but what he really wants to do doesn't really matter. If it gets all of the Avengers working together then he's accomplished his task. If he's a compelling villain on top of that, that's great. However, at this point Marvel could probably release a movie of the Avengers all interacting on a day-to-day basis and people would love it.

Summary: As the Avengers and their allies have continued to protect the world from threats too large for any one hero to handle, a new danger has emerged from the cosmic shadows: Thanos. A despot of intergalactic infamy, his goal is to collect all six Infinity Stones, artifacts of unimaginable power, and use them to inflict his twisted will on all of reality. Everything the Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment – the fate of Earth and existence itself has never been more uncertain.

Avengers: Infinity War, directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, stars Robert Downey Jr., Josh Brolin, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Hiddleston, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Olsen, Sebastian Stan, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Bettany, Chadwick Boseman, Benedict Wong, Zoe Saldana, Karen Gillan, Vin Diesel, Dave Bautista, Pom Klementieff, Scarlett Johansson, Don Cheadle, Tom Holland, Bradley Cooper, Sean Gunn, and Anthony Mackie. It will be released on April 27th.