Thanoscopter

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About

Thanoscopter is a yellow helicopter with the word THANOS displayed on its tail, piloted by Thanos in two issues of Marvel comics. The panels of the comics gained notoriety following the release of Marvel's Avengers franchise, with Thanoscopter later appearing in fan art, memes and online petitions.

Origin

In March 1979, issue 39 of Spidey Super Stories comic series was published by Marvel Comics. In several panels, villain Thanos is shown piloting a yellow helicopter with the word THANOS on its tail.^[1]

On April 8th, 2015, Thanoscopter appeared again in the 250th issue of Deadpool comic series (shown below).^[2]

In addition to the comics, Thanoscopter also appeared as a selectable vehicle in 2016 video game LEGO Marvel’s Avengers, and as an exclusive Hot Wheels model at 2016 San Diego Comic-Con. ^[3]

Spread

On June 14, 2010, CBR.com posted an article titled "I Love Ya But You're Strange – The Birth of the Thanos-Copter!", showing panels from the Spidey Super-Stories #39.^[4] In the following years, multiple users on Reddit and Twitter posted that they would like to see Thanoscopter appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe,^[5]^[6]^[7] with the helicopter also appearing in several articles dedicated to MCU movies by Comicbook,^[8] WhatCulture^[9] and other outlets.

On January 26th, 2015, Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn tweeted "Whoa! Can't wait to see the Thanos-copter in the MCU!" (shown below, left), with the tweet gaining over 330 retwets and 630 likes in four years.^[10] On May 28th, 2016, James Gunn made a Facebook post writing that he asked Marvel to add Hulkcopter to be added to Avengers: Infinity War and for the movie to feature a 20-minute aerial battle with the Thanoscopter (shown below, center and right).^[11] The post gained over 13,00 likes and 1,100 suhares in three years.

The Gunn's post prompted larger awareness of the Thanoscopter in the Marvel fandom, with a large amount of the posts dedicated to the phenomenon posted prior to Avengers: The Infinity War release, including memes, fan art and calls for Thanoscopter to be included in the film (shown below).

On July 6th, 2018, Redditor Ogopogo-Stick made a post titled "Petition to get the Thanoscopter to appear in Avengers 4", attaching an image of Thanoscopter. The post gained over 12,900 upvotes in six months.^[12]

In September 2018, posts referencing Thanoscopter saw a spike in popularity following the spread of Thanos Car memes.^[13]^[14]

On February 4th, 2019, Change.org user Thanos Has launched a petition calling for Thanoscopter addition to Avengers: Engame.^[13] The petition received over 11,200 signatures in four months.

In the months preceding the premiere of Avengers: Endgame , Thanoscopter appeared in multiple notable posts on Reddit. For example, on April 4th, 2019, Redditor Nobody_Cares posted a meme which gained over 23,300 upvotes in three weeks.^[15]

Thanoscopter Blade

Thanoscopter Blade is a nickname given to the double-bladed sword wielded by Thanos in 2019 Marvel superhero film Avengers: Endgame.

Loki Easter Egg

On July 7th, 2021, episode five "Journey into Mystery" of the Loki superhero series, set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, premiered.^[16] In one scene of the episode, abandoned, decrepit Thanoscopter can be seen (still image shown below).