In Donny Cates and Nic Klein’s Thor #6, a vision of the future Marvel Universe shows Thanos, the Mad Titan, armed with a new dark gauntlet.
WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Thor #6 by Donny Cates, Nic Klein, Matt Wilson and VC’s Joe Sabino, on sale now.
In Thor #6, the God of Thunder fought both Galactus and the Black Winter — and he won. By becoming more powerful than ever before, Thor drained the Devourer of Worlds pf his Power Cosmic, and he used his celestial body as a conduit to create a cosmic bomb that wiped out the Black Winter. After the confrontation between all three, all that was left of the Star Plague was a black snowflake that showed Thor a vision of the future that showed how he would ultimately meet his end.
In Thor #6, this vision saw the Mad Titan Thanos once again alive, wreaking havoc on the Marvel Universe by becoming a more powerful menace than ever before. Not only will he command an army of Marvel Zombies, he will also wield Mjolnir, which will serve as his new Infinity Gauntlet. And on top of all of that, Thanos will also wield a new dark gauntlet.
While it’s not exactly clear what this new gauntlet is, there are several disturbing possibilities that suggest how much power it could hold. Given the cosmic nature of this vision, one distinct possibility is that it has some connection to Knull, the God of the Symbiotes. Created by Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman in 2018’s Venom #3, Knull is a relatively new addition to the Marvel Universe, but his story stretches back to the birth of the cosmos itself. He is the creator of the symbiotes, and he was kept trapped by his creations on the planet Klyntar for thousands of years. After the events of 2019’s Absolute Carnage, Knull was finally freed, and he has since made Earth his target. Currently, the god of the symbiotes is on his way, and his attack will take place in the upcoming King in Black event.
Knull is able to create and control an army of symbiotes, something which already makes him incredibly powerful. And yet, there is still so much we don’t know about the ancient character. For all we know, King in Black will see the dark god use and old weapon — or create a new one — in the form of a black gauntlet that he will use as new means of attack.
If that happens, then perhaps Thanos could somehow get his hands on this weapon after King in Black comes to an end. While the Mad Titan may be dead for the time being, he could always return at any moment. And given that Venom, King in Black and Thor are all written by Donny Cates — who also previously wrote the fan-favorite “Thanos Wins” storyarc — all of the scribe’s works could be connected through this gauntlet.
Alternatively, the new gauntlet could have a connection to the Black Winter was introduced in Donny Cates and Nic Klein’s opening arc on Thor. It was revealed to be a powerful force outside of the universe itself that wiped out entire realities from existence. In fact, this Star Plague is what annihilated Galactus’ universe, back when he was still a man. In previous issues of Thor, we saw how dangerous the Black Winter was, and how it was able to kill entire worlds with its dark storm.
It appeared this new cosmic entity was being set up as the next big threat in the Marvel Universe, but the God of Thunder surprisingly destroys it in Thor #6. Now, the Black Winter is no more — but like Knull, there is plenty we don’t know about this ancient cosmic force.
Part of it may even still live on in the snowflake that taunted Thor with that grim vision. If that ends up being the case, then Thanos could be armed with a glove capable of destroying an entire universe.
Of course, there’s also the possibility that this dark gauntlet is something else entirely. Perhaps it’s some sort of weapon we know nothing about yet that will allow the Mad Titan to control his army of zombies. Whatever this gauntlet ends up being, it’s bound to make Thanos more dangerous than ever before. Before, he used the Infinity Gauntlet to wipe out half of all life in the universe. And with even a fraction of that much dark power in his hand, there’s no telling what he could do next.
