Avengers: Infinity War Villain's Creator Is Quite Unhappy With Marvel

There's a whole other Infinity War going on at Marvel Comics, and it concerns the co-creator of the supervillain Thanos, Jim Starlin. Starlin, who also helped create the Infinity Gauntlet and Guardians of the Galaxy characters Drax the Destroyer and Gamora--all of which factor into Avengers: Infinity War--is currently at odds with the comic book publisher. It seems the two sides had a falling out in December 2017, the latest bump in a very long road between the two.

This time, though, it sounds serious. Speaking to Vulture about his long career with the comic giant, Starlin says "I'm not working for them anymore and this time, I think that it's for good." At the heart of the problem is the Mad Titan himself, Thanos. In December, Starlin revealed that Marvel was going in a different direction with the character. At the time, he told Cosmic Book News, "Thanos is the property of Marvel Entertainment, and with the movies on the horizon, Big Purple is about to enter the rarified classification of being a cultural icon, a character bigger than the comic books, writers, and artists that birthed him. Marvel Editorial has made it clear they want fresh takes on the Titan, so who am I to argue with them?"

Interestingly, part of the problem also seems to stem from the fact that there were two Thanos comic book projects in the works--one of which he was involved in--that shared a similar plot. Speaking to Syfy Wire in February, he explained, "What I took exception to was I accidentally found out what the plot was to the Thanos ongoing that was going to appear before the graphic novels that Alan Davis and I were working on that an editor of that book started--on his own volition--telling me what the plot was, and I went, 'Well that's the exact same plot that we have for the Thanos story arc and the graphic novels.'"

Still, while Starlin and Marvel Comics may not be on the best of terms, the same can't be said of his relationship with Marvel Studios. While he wrote on Facebook in January 2017 that he wasn't making much from the film studio for using characters he helped create, Vulture reports that he has reached an agreement with them.

Now, as Marvel prepares to show the world the newest Avengers movie, Starlin is in Hollywood and ready to walk the carpet before seeing the film--he's even documenting the experience on his Facebook page. Avengers: Infinity War is in theaters on April 27.