Which actor portrays Thanos?

The actor who portrays Thanos in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is Josh Brolin. Brolin performs the character through voice acting and motion-capture techniques, creating the digital appearance of the towering alien warlord.

Thanos first appears briefly in The Avengers (2012), but Brolin makes the role his own in Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame. His major storyline follows Thanos's attempt to collect all six Infinity Stones so he can eliminate half of all life in the universe, an event called the Blip or Decimation.

Brolin's performance is sometimes confused with the actors who portray other major Marvel villains. Hugo Weaving played the Red Skull, Tom Hiddleston played Loki, and Benedict Cumberbatch plays Doctor Strange. Brolin also appears in another comic-book role as Cable in Deadpool 2, but Cable and Thanos are separate characters.