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Thanos wiped out half of all life in the universe at the end of Avengers: Infinity War. He did it with a simple snap,Hot Movies Archives a physical action — even though the power granted to him by a fully powered Infinity Gauntlet meant he could accomplish the same feat with nothing more than a thought.

Enter the question that kept coming up in my mind as Endgamerevisited the snap repeatedly: Why even bother with a snap?

It goes back to the comics, of course. In the original Infinity Gauntlet series, written by Thanos creator Jim Starlin, the moment that directly inspired Infinity War's Snappening played out in roughly the same way. Thanos dramatically assembled the Infinity Gems and fended off an onslaught of superhero attacks long enough to raise his arm up and ... snap.

So I took my question to the source. When I had the opportunity to chat with Starlin recently (after he'd had a chance to catch Endgame), I asked him: Why did Thanos snap? What's the significance of the physical action there?

His answer: "It seemed the most dismissive gesture that I could come up with at the time. I wanted something casual, but something that would have a hook to it. I never in a million years imagined it would become this pop culture moment that it has become," Starlin said.

"But it was basically a contemptuous way of executing what he was planning on doing at the time. And it looked good with the gauntlet."

It makes sense. Contempt for lesser beings -- or what Thanos sees as lesser beings, anyway -- in many ways defines his character. It's not a grounded, humble mind that hatches a plan like "I can save the universe by wiping out exactly half of it!"

By executing his grand design with nothing more than a snap, Thanos was roasting his enemies one last time in the precise moment he defeated them all.

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