Villains As Mirrors

The Moment I Couldnt Hate Thanos

June 29, 2025
by Mish'al K. Samman

There’s a point in life where villains stop being monsters.
They become mirrors.

Not because you agree with them.
Not because you want them to win.
But because, suddenly, you understand why they had to try.

For me, that moment came with Thanos.

By the time Endgame rolled around, I wasn’t a kid watching heroes save the day anymore.
I was older. Tired. A little weathered.
And when he looked at them ... calm, composed ... and said:

“I am inevitable.”

I felt that in my bones.

Not because I wanted him to win.
My heart was still with the heroes ... the ones I grew up loving.
But my logic? My logic quietly nodded.
Because what he was really saying... was something I’ve lived with:

That death is not cruelty.
It’s not vengeance.
It’s the natural conclusion of all things.

Thanos didn’t just fight the Avengers.
He confronted the truth we all try to ignore:
That humanity, by nature, is reckless. Destructive. Unsustainable.
That something has to give.

And I’ve been there.
Not on a battlefield.
But in my body.

Living with MS has forced me to face my own inevitability... the slow erosion of what I thought I’d always have.
Strength. Time. Certainty.

Thanos wasn’t a monster to me.
He was a man carrying an impossible burden.
A being who destroyed the very Infinity Stones he used to “save” the universe... because he knew what he did would never be accepted.
He stripped away his only protection, just to make sure no one could undo it.
And in doing so... he became just Thanos again.

Alone. Unarmed. Still hunted.

And then... he was punished.
Not because he was wrong.
But because he forced the universe to look at itself.

He became a martyr. Not for violence.
But for the hard truth of survival.

And maybe that’s why he hit too close.

Because he didn’t fight for chaos.
He fought to restore balance ... and paid for it with everything he had.

No applause. No redemption.
Just silence. And a garden.

And the irony?

His actions forced the heroes to evolve.
To grow.
To find new paths forward... even if those paths meant unraveling the very balance he tried to protect. And rip the fabrics of the multiverse and create even more problems.

Thanos didn’t win.
But he did change everything.

And I sit and contemplate, Was it worth it? Or did we dig a worse hole?

Then again sometimes, that’s all the villain was ever there to do in the first place.

About the Author
Mish’al Samman is a writer, performer, and lifelong fanboy who began his career covering comics, film, and fandom culture for Fanboy Planet in the early 2000s. With a voice rooted in sincerity, humor, and cultural observation, his work blends personal storytelling with pop-culture insight. Whether he’s reflecting on the soul of Star Wars or exploring identity through genre, Mish’al brings a grounded, human perspective to every galaxy he writes about.