The Avengers is behind us now, and Marvel Studios is paving the way for Phase Two by releasing Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World next year. While the events of the respective films will have an affect on what we will see in Joss Whedon‘s The Avengers 2, not much has been heard of that big purple raisin faced villain called Thanos.

Up until now, Thanos’ appearance in Guardians of the Galaxy and The Avengers 2 has been nothing but a rumor. But now that James Gunn has been named director of Guardians, we are getting a few more details about the film itself. Details that seem to confirm that Thanos will be the villain in both films.

Ever since Thanos showed his face, many speculated that the cosmic overlord would be involved with the Marvel Cinematic Universe in some sort of capacity. Then came word that Marvel Studios would be taking audiences into space with Guardians of the Galaxy. Marvel moving forward with such an ambition film may have come as a shock to some, but taking into account that Thanos is one of the big baddies crossing the Guardians‘ path in the comics, and some of the trinkets like the Tesseract and the Infinity Gauntlet making an appearance in a previous films, it makes a lot of sense that he would be the villain in Guardians and The Avengers 2.

The people over at Cosmic Book News were at the Montreal Comic-Con where Thanos creator Jim Starlin confirmed that the character would appear in both films. This bit of news comes right after James Gunn announced that he would be directing Guardians of the Galaxy. However Marvel Studios hasn’t backed up Starlin’s statements and refuse to comment on the rumors.

So until then, fans will just have to sit tight and await an official word from the people who are working on these films.

[Source: Cosmic Book News]