After intense speculation and rampant consternation, this week we got confirmation that Thanos, seem in the mid-credits scene of Marvel’s The Avengers this past summer, will indeed be a part of both the Avengers sequel and the Guardians of the Galaxy movie. Cosmic Book News’ Armand Rock spoke with Thanos’ creator Jim Starlin at last week’s Montreal Comic-Con, with Starlin confirming the Mad Titan’s appearance and revealing that he had worked out his disagreements with Marvel.

(How involved Thanos will be in each film is unknown at this point and open to speculation.)

Thanos is one of Marvel’s cosmic luminaries and one of the publisher’s most powerful villains. Originally debuted as a thorn in the side of Iron Man in 1973’s Iron Man #55, the purple-skinned Avatar of Death was propelled to greatness in 1992’s The Infinity Gauntlet event mini-series, single-handedly subverting the entire Marvel Universe to his whims and putting the entirety of Marvel’s heroes under his thumb. Recently, Thanos has re-appeared in Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley’s Avengers Assemble run, conveniently timed with Thanos’ big-screen debut in the Marvel’s The Avengers movie. If you recall, in the Avengers movie Thanos was revealed as the shadowy figure who provided Loki with the alien army he used to attempt to conquer Earth.

There’s been no word yet as to who will play Thanos in these two live-action appearances. Actor Damion Poitier played the wrinkle-chinned alien in the mid-credits scene in Marvel’s The Avengers, but many people are speculating that Thanos will be re-cast given the expansion of the role in these upcoming movies.

With this most-excellent news however, fans need to be prepared to wait: Guardians of the Galaxy isn’t set for release until August 1, 2014, and The As Yet Untitled Marvel’s The Avengers 2 is penciled in for May 1, 2015.