The man who first dragged the Avengers onto the big screen, Joss Whedon, has praised how well Thanos was handled in Infinity War.

First teasing the Mad Titan at the very end of his 2012 superhero blockbuster, Whedon admitted to having trouble understanding Thanos' cinematic plight.

He told IGN: "Honestly, I kind of hung [Thanos] out to dry. I love Thanos. I love his apocalyptic vision, his love affair with Death. I love his power. But, I don't really understand it.

"He's had a lot of power, and he was cool in the comics. And I'm like, Thanos is the ultimate Marvel villain! And then I was like, I don't actually know what I would do with Thanos."

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He went on: "So, I liked what [the Russo brothers] did so much, and I thought Josh Brolin killed it. And they did an amazing job of keeping that performance on-screen.

"But it wasn't like I was like, 'Here's a set of directions'. I was like, 'I'm gonna get through Ultron, nap for four years, and then I'll come to the premiere'. Which I did! It was like, 'This is so cool!'"

Whedon then acknowledged that Thanos' comic-book storyline, with sees him romancing the personification of Death, wouldn't have translated all that well to the big screen – and suggested the Russo brothers were wise to avoid it.

The Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator added: "It's sometimes also an easy out for a villain. To say, 'I love destruction! No, really, I'm in love with it.' And yet, you're still just a nihilist. Whereas they gave him an actual perspective and made him feel righteous to himself, which is always a better idea.

"So I liked what they did very much. I did not know about it, I certainly didn't come up with it."

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