JAMES GUNN and JOSS WHEDON Fought Over Thanos. JAMES GUNN Won.

Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!

If James Gunn and Joss Whedon are Marvel Studios’ resident hunks, then Thanos is the super hot cheerleader that everyone wants to take to prom. You know, if that super hot cheerleader was a purple genocidal giant. The fact remains, he’s totes hot right now, and everyone wants a piece.

Since Joss Whedon’s earned Marvel $1.3 billion with The Avengers, I’d imagine he has first rights with the Mad Titan. Sort of an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” situation. Well, apparently James Gunn had a few words to say on the matter. He was so convincing, with his Thanos imperative (haha, see what I did there?), that he actually defeated Whedon in this grand Cosmic Battle.

When asked about introducing Thanos to audiences, and the creative differences involved, here’s what Gunn had to say:

“I wanted Thanos in the movie. I wanted to be attached to The Avengers. Admittedly, Thanos was a giant pain in the ass because I had to talk with Joss Whedon and those guys. That was the one part where there were a lot of discussions. At a certain point, I think everyone just gave up, and we just did what we wanted.”

Victory through annoyance? Sounds like every single one of my dating strategies.

Now that the resounding box office success of Guardians of the Galaxy has validated Gunn’s Thanos vision, I wonder if Joss Whedon’s iteration of the character in Avengers 3 will adapt? Hopefully, our Grand Ginger Deity will lighten up on his incessant quips (which just absolutely RUIN the authenticity of his characters) and script organic humor into his characters, a la James Gunn.