The Black Order—Thanos’ evil henchpeople—aren’t very well known to MCU fans who haven’t read the comics. We know they look threatening as hell, but who are they?
If you prefer your run-downs audiovisual, the video above does a great job of cycling through the Black Order basics to get you prepped pre-Infinity War. Amaze and dazzle your friends at the theater by being able to name these folks on sight!
If you can’t watch video at the moment or just really like words, let’s do a quick cheat-sheet. And if you prefer in-depth dives into canon, my old colleague James Whitbrook at io9 has done an excellent overview of the Black Order’s history in comics.
Also known as “the Children of Thanos,” these guys and one gal are kind of like the anti-Avengers. Yes, Gamora and Nebula once numbered in their ranks, or were at least being groomed to join up. So, like, there’s no actual “children” here but rather murderous generals who are helping Thanos collect the Infinity Stones in order to wipe out half of the population in the galaxy. (This motivation sounds silly to me, but whatever.) Here are your new bad guys (and lady):
CORVUS GLAIVE
Leads the Black Order and generally commands Thanos’ destructive armies. Thanos’ right-hand man, but not in the fun Alexander Hamilton way. Not a nice dude. Lots of teeth. Superhuman strength/speed/endurance. Has a mega-weapon (that would be the “glaive”) that can cut through anything—like Hulk’s skin, or Vision’s forehead. As long as the glaive is intact, he can’t really die, which is a pretty good deal.
Known for: Scary sharp weapon that makes him kinda immortal! If he seems dead, may not be quite dead.
PROXIMA MIDNIGHT
Shackin’ up with Corvus Glaive. Super-strong skillful warrior woman, but not in the fun Xena: Warrior Princess way. Blue in the face. Like her husband, has a mega-weapon (maybe it’s their thing, let’s not judge), a spear that can transform into rays of light that will kill you dead. We’ve seen her fighting with Black Widow in the trailers because ladies gotta fight each other, apparently. Really loyal to Thanos. Likely doesn’t question her life choices much.
Known for: Okay listen up y’all, Proxima’s spear was made for her by Thanos himself from, get this, a sun distorted by space-time and also has the power of a black hole and a supernova behind it. This … this will be fine for the Avengers, I’m sure. Calling it now: Proxima is going to be the breakout fan favorite of the Order.
EBONY MAW
You don’t want to run into this guy in a back alley at night because he would make you calmly hand him your own wallet and then stab yourself. Master strategist. Brilliantly manipulative but not in a fun Obi-Wan Kenobi way. Will likely mess up Doctor Strange big time because that’s what he does in the comics and also we see him torturing Strange in the trailers. Is capable, in the comics, of betraying Thanos, so is likely the smartest guy in the Black Order clubhouse. Can teleport and has mad powers of persuasion. Described by the Russos as Thanos’ “hype man.” Not a pretty face.
Known for: Being smarter than you and making you believe it.
CULL OBSIDIAN
Big guy. Big, big guy, but not in a fun Ben Grimm way. Will likely end up fighting the Hulk at some point, or at least the Hulkbuster armor. Impenetrable skin, so good luck there. The artist previously known as “Black Dwarf,” renamed “Cull Obsidian” here, although “Cull Obsidian” used to be another name for the Black Order en masse (got that?). No longer “Black Dwarf.” Hopefully gonna get his ass kicked in Wakanda. Has a big axe, but is it bigger than Thor’s?
Known for: Being no one’s favorite member of the Black Order.
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One massive thing about the Black Order in Infinity War is that we pretty much have no idea who’s voicing them. While most are being played by skilled motion-caption actors, Marvel Studios co-president Kevin Feige teased that “there are interesting people doing the voices. You’ll probably know when you see the movie.”
So somewhat like how Rocket and Groot are voiced by Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel respectively, we can anticipate some well-known voices for Thanos’ bad kids club. Game of Thrones‘ Tyrion Lannister, Peter Dinklage, is listed on the Infinity War poster and is thought to be voicing a member of the Order, but the rest remain a mystery.
Anyway, I hate all of these people because they’re going to kill Loki.
(images: Marvel Studios/Marvel Comics)
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