Thanos is Jesus

I couldn't make this up if I wanted to.

It shouldn't be any surprise by now that whenever a major film series comes out, someone will make up some kind of theory about it being filled with subliminal messages or analogies for other things. Sometimes, it's accurate.

Remember this?

Other times, it's a bit of a reach.

The other day, I heard a fantastic theory (and I don't mean that in the sense of it being very, very good) that Thanos, the "Mad Titan" of Marvel infamy, is an analogy for Jesus.

... Alright.

Apparently, Thanos comes to Earth in order to purge half of humanity. He thinks of himself as the saviour for the other half of humanity, reasoning that they will experience a new world ripe for the taking without the others.

Okay, so, not a great start.

Naturally, I found this pretty ridiculous, but it got me thinking about the ways that film represents Jesus. Of course, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is the natural first instinct. Although I had always thought that Aslan was more of a "God the Father" figure, when I looked into it, I found out he's meant to represent more of a Christ-like role. On top of that, I remembered from reading the original novels of the Narnia series that he did, in fact, have another that he referred to who superseded even him.

So Aslan is Jesus. Alright, sure. That makes sense to me. He has the saviour characteristics, is a leader who cares for his followers and puts himself on the line for them, and even sacrifices himself for their well-being. Why not? I've always been a fan of the Narnia series anyway.

As it turns out, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was 2005's third-highest grossing film. That means that it came second to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and an actual Star Wars movie. That's hard to beat, and it also means that thousands - if not millions - of people have seen this movie. This idea of Jesus as Aslan isn't a new idea, either. C. S. Lewis was a Christian, and it's likely that the resemblance was intentional. All we need to do is make the connection for people and let them see the truth of Jesus' sacrifical love and goodness played out in a format that people apparently can't resist.