Thanos Has One Fear... And It’s Tony Stark.

Thanos has one fear... and it’s Tony Stark.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: 

“Because the Soul Stone” is not a good enough reason why Thanos knew Stark.

I think we, the audience, are supposed to be asking ourselves, “Why does Thanos know him? How?” Because it was a dramatized moment. The narrative deliberately pulled our attention to this scene. Thanos says, “Stark,” like it’s significant somehow–and clearly Tony feels the same way because he stops to ask Thanos, “You know me?” It’s very much a “did I hear that right?” beat. Thanos then says, “I do. You’re not the only one cursed with knowledge.” 

If this was all the Soul Stone granting Thanos knowledge of every person in existence, why doesn’t Thanos call anyone else by their name after he gets the Soul Stone? Why don’t we see any more displays of this power? Why didn’t the Soul Stone light up when Thanos said Tony’s name such as it did when Thanos used the Soul Stone to pinpoint which Strange was the real one after Strange multiplied himself?

Many point to Red Skull’s comment on Vormir to mean that the Soul Stone somehow imparts wielders with the ability to know people’s identities. Admittedly, it is incredibly similar language used in both scenes – but maybe there’s a reason for that. 

Like Thanos, Red Skull indicates he knows who Thanos and Gamora are by dropping their names (”Welcome, Thanos, son of Alars. Gamora, daughter of Thanos”). Then a similar response: “You know us?” and Red Skull says “It is my curse to know all who journey here.” Like Thanos’s quote, Skull is comparing knowing people’s identity to a curse–and perhaps Red Skull is even knowledgeable of what Thanos and Gamora’s fates will be.

But later Red Skull says the Soul Stone is a “treasure [he] cannot possess,” which makes it pretty clear that Red Skull is not getting this ability from the Soul Stone, but it is perhaps part of his banishment. A punishment given to him by the Infinity Stones. 

Furthermore, I think some scenes in Avengers: Infinity War were meant to demonstrate that Thanos has absolutely no idea who the other Avengers are – nor can he magically sense them. 

When Thanos arrives on Titan, he is taken by surprise that Strange isn’t alone. When Strange says, “our will,” Thanos is like “Our?” and then gets surprise attacked. If the Soul Stone granted the passive ability to know people, wouldn’t Thanos have just… sensed that Strange wasn’t alone? 

When Steve Rogers holds back Thanos for a few seconds, Thanos has a look of abject WTF on his face. 

Either Thanos has no idea who Steve is (hence the look of confusion) or he at least didn’t know enough about him to know Steve had that kind of raw strength, in which case… womp womp to the “Soul Stone grants you knowledge of every soul in existence” theory – Thanos shouldn’t have been shocked by Steve at all.

Given all that? I don’t see how it was the Soul Stone. It just doesn’t fit. 

Now, what about other ways Thanos could’ve known Tony? 

First, let’s examine the line itself. What does Thanos mean when he says, “You’re not the only one cursed with knowledge.” 

One interpretation of this is that Thanos is indicating on some level he and Tony are the same. After all, both of them foresaw the destruction of their home-worlds and did their best to mitigate the threat. 

In which case… Thanos has intimate knowledge of the events of Age of Ultron. And, if that this is true, then Thanos must’ve been spying on the Avengers this whole time–or at least spying on Tony in particular. Did Thanos play some role in the events of that film? (He does have an appearance at the end when he says, “I’ll do it myself.”) Is Thanos literally inside Tony’s head, able to scour his thoughts? (Because how else does he know Tony has been having nightmares about Thanos for the past six years?)

One possibility is that Thanos, being the master tactician he is, wanted to gather more intel about the red-and-gold Avenger who took out his Chitauri army. I mean… who wouldn’t want to know the person who destroyed an entire fleet? It’s smart.

But what blows a hole in that theory is: why was it only once Tony spoke that Thanos recognized him? That’s what I keep circling back to anyway: Thanos only called Tony out once he heard Tony’s voice, which I think is a clue. Perhaps it’s something as simple as he didn’t recognize Tony in his new armor, but given Tony’s known on Earth as “Iron Man” and the “armored Avenger,” wouldn’t the Earthling in the red-and-gold metal suit (albeit upgraded) be enough of a tip-off? Like… Thanos is a genius and he wouldn’t put two-and-two together?  

The other interpretation of this is that not only is Thanos aware of Tony’s penchant for prophecy (by saying Tony is “cursed with knowledge”), but, by virtue of simply knowing who Tony is, Thanos himself is cursed.

In which case… knowing Tony’s identity is somehow comparable enough a “curse” to foreseeing the destruction of your planet. (like damn in this case what the hell Tony? what did you do to Thanos to rattle him so bad?)

If this is true, then perhaps Thanos sees Tony as his own “nightmare,” much like how Tony sees Thanos as his. Maybe Thanos has seen into a future where Tony is the one who stops Thanos from fulfilling his goal.

This could fit why Thanos wanted to not just kill Tony, but absolutely murder him. Notice how Thanos doesn’t kill anyone who doesn’t “have” to die. Yes, he kills Loki, but Loki was already on his shit list for losing the Space and Mind Stones (attempting to stab him was just the nail in the coffin). Thanos “had” to kill Gamora (to acquire the Soul Stone). And Thanos “had” to kill Vision (to acquire the Mind Stone). Yeah, he kills half the populations he comes across, but he sees that as mercy (and that’s his whole game). 

But otherwise? Thanos bats the other heroes out of the way as though they’re nothing. He doesn’t go out of his way to end their lives. He lets Quill, Drax, and Mantis live after the scuffle on Knowhere (even though he easily could’ve left them for dead). He doesn’t kill Peter, Strange, or Nebula on Titan (even after they attacked him). He doesn’t kill any of the heroes in Wakanda aside from Vision (like he smacks Steve down, pins Natasha, traps Bruce in a rock, flings Rhodey to the side, etc.).

But Tony? Not only is Tony no longer a threat after their fight (since he’s been stabbed and is choking up blood), but Thanos is prepared to use all four of his Infinity Stones on him. Like… he was going to obliterate Tony. 

WHY!? Why was Thanos going to do this to Tony when he let everyone else just lay out of commission on the side? Tony wasn’t going to get up again. He was “done.”

Only reason? Thanos sees Tony as a threat. A very real and dangerous threat. More than Thor. More than Steve. More than all the other Avengers.

Anyway, I am not sure exactly how Thanos knew Tony, but I am sure it wasn’t the Soul Stone – and I think it’s going to be something covered again in Avengers 4. There’s something going on there between the two of them.