The Black Order have been adapted from the comics into several other forms of media, such as animated television series and video games. The group (renamed the "Children of Thanos") made their live-action debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Avengers: Infinity War (2018). Alternate versions of the Children of Thanos later appeared in the film Avengers: Endgame (2019) and the animated Disney+ series What If...? (2021).
The Black Order is a group of ruthless aliens that serve Thanos. They help Thanos raze worlds from which they demand tribute. When Corvus Glaive sent one of their Outriders to find a new world to raze, the Outrider targeted Earth.[1]
The Black Order arrive on Earth in search of the Infinity Gems, which are under the control of the Illuminati.[2] Each member of the Order targets a member of the Illuminati with varying degrees of success. During their search for the gems, Ebony Maw finds Thanos' son, Thane, whom Thanos wishes to kill.[3]
During a battle with the Avengers, Black Dwarf and Supergiant are killed, while Ebony Maw betrays Thanos and frees Thane. Thane traps Thanos, Corvus Glaive, and Proxima Midnight in an amber construct which leaves them in a state of "living death."[4]
While Thanos was imprisoned in the Triskelion, a mysterious cloaked figure offered to help him obtain the Mjolnir of Earth-1610.[5] Thanos accepted the deal. To ensure success, Thanos formed a second incarnation of the Black Order with Proxima Midnight and Black Swan of Earth-1365. He dispatched them to the Collector's ship in order to obtain the Mjolnir of Earth-1610.[6] There, the trio battled Thor and Beta Ray Bill and failed in retrieving the hammer.[7] Upon returning to Thanos, the cloaked figure revealed herself to be the Asgardian Death Goddess Hela who then brutally killed both Black Swan and Proxima Midnight to demonstrate her power. She told Thanos that she needed his help to reclaim her rulership of Hel and offered to grant him the death he has long been seeking in exchange. They then kiss in a passionate embrace.[8]
After Gamora killed Thanos,[9] Hela and the Black Order, using Knowhere as their ship, stole Thanos' body from Starfox, for Hela to resurrect him.[10] After getting the head from Annihilus, the Black Order went to Eros, revealed as the consciousness of Thanos in the body of his brother, planning to return to his own body.[11]
After the restructuring of the multiverse, when Thanos was missing, Corvus Glaive gathered the worst criminals in the universe in a second version of the Black Order, as part of his plan to create his own empire. Using a moon called the Black Quadrant that belonged to Thanos, Corvus Glaive and the Black Order began to conquer different planets. When Thanos returned, he broke the blade off of Corvus Glaive's pike. Rather than die at the hands of Thanos, Corvus Glaive took the broken blade and killed himself. Afterwards, Thanos reclaimed the Black Quadrant.[12]
During the "No Surrender" arc, the Black Order was reorganized with Ebony Maw and Black Swan with Corvus Glaive, Proxima Midnight, and Black Dwarf back from the dead while Supergiant is alive as a psychic projection. Earth was stolen from where it used to be the battleground for the Black Order's fight with an alien version of the Lethal Legion that was formed by Grandmaster.[13] It was revealed that this Black Order was formed by the Challenger who is an old rival of Grandmaster.[14] After the Avengers put an end to the contest, the Black Order regroups on the planet Angargal. They are approached by Grandmaster who had an offer for them.[15]
Black Dwarf - A member of the Black Order who has super-strength, enhanced density, and impenetrable skin. He is the brother of Corvus Glaive. He is killed by Ronan the Accuser[16] but later resurrected by Challenger.
Corvus Glaive - Thanos' most favored general[17] and husband of Proxima Midnight, who has enhanced strength, speed, durability, and endurance and uses a bladed pike which can cut through anything. When Corvus Glaive has the bladed pike in his hand, it makes him immortal. He commits suicide to avoid being killed by Thanos.[12]
Ebony Maw - A member of the Black Order who has genius-level intellect, and specializes in persuasion. He utilizes a teleportation device and force field generator.
Proxima Midnight - A member of the Black Order. She is a master hand-to-hand combatant, has super-strength, and is highly impervious to injury. Her lance transforms into unavoidable toxic light beams. She is killed by Hela.[8]
Supergiant - A member of the Black Order with telepathic abilities. She is apparently killed by Lockjaw,[volume & issue needed] but later returns as a being of psychic energy.
The Black Order appears in the Guardians of the Galaxy animated series, with Kari Wahlgren, David Kaye, and Hynden Walch reprising their roles as Proxima Midnight, Corvus Glaive, and Supergiant respectively while Ebony Maw is voiced by James Urbaniak and Black Dwarf is voiced by Jesse Burch. In the episode "Undercover Angle", Supergiant had been previously apprehended by the Nova Corps while the other members seek to obtain Ronan the Accuser's Universal Weapon. When they and the Guardians of the Galaxy find it, Titus attacks both parties, forcing them into a temporary truce to keep Titus from getting it. Titus defeats most of the Black Order and they are arrested by the Nova Corps. In the episodes "Lyin' Eyes" and "Freed Bird", Maw leaves the Black Order after Mantis convinces him to join the Universal Believers and eventually convinces Midnight and Dwarf to do the same.
The Black Order, barring Supergiant and alternatively referred to as the "Children of Thanos", appear in media set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Ebony Maw voiced and motion-captured by Tom Vaughan-Lawlor; Black Dwarf (renamed Cull Obsidian) voiced and motion-captured by Terry Notary; Proxima Midnight voiced and facial-captured by Carrie Coon, with motion capture primarily provided by stuntwoman Monique Ganderton;[20] and Corvus Glaive voiced and motion-captured by Michael James Shaw.[21]
In the live-action film Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Glaive, Midnight, Maw, and Obsidian, with Thanos, attack the refugee ship carrying Thor and other Asgardians and are instructed to retrieve the remaining Infinity Stones. Maw and Obsidian are sent to New York City to take the Time Stone, coming into conflict with Tony Stark, Stephen Strange, and Wong, and later Peter Parker. Maw captures Steange and takes him aboard his spaceship, while Parker and Stark board it and create a hole which sucks Maw into space. Wong sends Obsidian through a portal to Antarctica. In order to receive the Mind Stone, Midnight and Glaive go to Scotland and ambush Vision and Wanda Maximoff, injuring Vision in the process. They are fought off by Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, and Sam Wilson, with Romanoff injuring Glaive, forcing them to leave. Midnight and Obsidian command the Outriders and arrive in Wakanda, while Glaive infiltrates the Wakandan medical center and attacks Shuri stopping her from her work in removing the Stone. Vision fights Glaive and ultimately kills him with his own weapon. Maximoff kills Midnight by telekinetically pulling her into a Thresher. Bruce Banner, in Hulkbuster armor, fights Obsidian and kills him by ejecting him into the Wakandan forcefield.
In the live-action film Avengers: Endgame (2019), alternate 2014 versions of Maw, Obsidian, Glaive, and Midnight arrive in the main universe taking part in the battle at the ruins of the Avengers Compound. Obsidian is killed by a giant Scott Lang, who crushes him and Glaive is killed by Okoye. Maw and Midnight are disintegrated by Stark's Infinity Stone snap.
In the animated series What If...? (2021), alternate versions of Maw, Obsidian, Glaive, and Midnight work for Taneleer Tivan after Thanos abandoned his plan. They later fight against Thanos.
