Why didn't Thanos kill The Avengers, or any of the other heroes, who were trying to stop him at the end of Infinity War? It's a question that's been raised in the months since the movie was released and a reasonable one at that. Now, an explanation has been offered that may help satisfy those who saw this as something of an error in logic within the movie's framework.

The answer comes from the recently released book The Art of Avengers: Infinity War. Within the book, Marvel Studios Head of Visual Development Ryan Meinerding digs deep into the thinking that went into crafting the character of Thanos, ranging from his look to his broad motivations. At one point, that talk shifts to his thoughts during the movie's final battle scene, which sees the Mad Titan simply shoving the heroes aside and getting them out of his way, as opposed to killing them, which he likely could have done with relative ease. Here's what Meinderding had to say.

"The plan of getting all the Infinity Stones is putting [Thanos] in the position of being so powerful that he is sort of calmer, more single-minded, and more reasonable. He is not necessarily worried about killing the heroes. As long as he ends up with the stones, he can accomplish what he wants to."

It's an interesting explanation and one that digs deep into the psychology of Thanos. His goal, plain and simple, was to bring balance to the universe. Killing the people he killed was a means to an end. Come the finale of Infinity War, it wasn't necessary for him to kill our heroes. Once he placed the final stone in the gauntlet, it was up to the universe to decide who lives and who dies, with the snap of his fingers. One could even argue that killing anyone in the lead up to getting the final stone would be tampering with the universe's plan, from Thanos' point of view anyway.

That being said, it's understandable why this was a sticking point for many fans. Thanos opened up the movie by beating the crap out of Hulk in an even-handed match and breaking Loki's neck who, mind you, is a god. That means it should have been relatively easy, especially with five Infinity Stones, for him to kill Captain America or Falcon. It's not that he couldn't, he just simply didn't feel the need to.

That's all going to change come Avengers 4. The universe is "balanced" and, come time for Thanos to face down the remaining heroes (including a very pissed off Hawkeye who missed out on the action last time), he may not have a reason to hold back. Hopefully, we'll get a trailer (or at least a title) for Avengers 4 before the end of the year so we can see what the world looks like after this deadly finger snap. This news was previously reported by Screen Rant.