Thanos is old. The Warlord of Titan beats super-powered centenarian, Captain America by a few centuries. But he is a baby compared to a few other powers in the universe. The MCU may be only a decade old, but the history built into its worlds and characters goes back to basically the dawn of time.
And that time existed before Thanos, or his home planet of Titan, and thus long before his beef with The Avengers. Who beat Iron Man, Captain America, and even Thor, the God of Thunder himself, into existence? Check out our count “up” below.
The Ancient One (Dr. Strange)
The name says it all, but still, The Ancient One comes in as the baby on our list, at only 500 years old. The title of Ancient One is older than that, but the current mantle holder has only existed in the Marvel Cinematic Univers for about five centuries. That’s five of Captain America’s lifetimes, and thus the reason the old guy doesn’t appear on this list at all. Neither he nor the Winter Soldier with their 100 years comes close to the epic counts racked up below.
Thanos (The Avengers: Infinity War)
And here’s Thanos who, according to Marvel directors the Russo Brothers, is only a little over one thousand years old in the universe they have created. That puts him ahead of The Ancient One, but not many others. He may believe he has the best interests of the universe in mind when he decides to use the Infinity Gauntlet to murder half the population, but he doesn’t really have the greatest view of history. Maybe he should have consulted with one of the more experienced beings
Loki (Thor)
It’s probably a good thing Thor didn’t consult with Loki too much, but Loki certainly has a few years upon the Titan. Loki is a little under 1500 years old (the Asgardians are known as some of the oldest beings in existence). But, as you can see, he is one of the baby Asgardians, as the troublemaking trickster comes in as the youngest Norse God on the list. Obviously it takes a little more than 1500 years to learn how to behave and play well with others.
Thor (Thor)
It is in The Avengers: Infinity War that Thor lets his friends know he is 1500 years old (that’s how we know younger brother Loki comes in at slightly less than that).
It’s no wonder the God of Thunder is particularly unimpressed by the Titan’s plans as they stand. He’s been around a long time, and he can tell you that big plans like this usually fall flat. But Thanos doesn’t consult Thor or anyone else for that matter. One only wishes that Thor had maybe taken a trip to earth sooner so that he would understand their needs and history a bit more by the time he gets involved.
Valkyrie (Thor: Ragnarok)
Valkyrie is older than Thor, we know this because she was around to help fight Hela the first time before Thor was even born. So, she has to be around 2000 years old. She hasn’t exactly used all those years to the greatest extent possible (spending a good portion of them drunk on Sakaar with the Grandmaster). Still, she has every right to berate Thor and boss him around, as she is his significant elder. Son of Thor, god or not, he understands she knows more about his family history than he does.
Hela (Thor Ragnarok)
Like Valkyrie, we know Hela, as the elder sister of Thor, is older than his 1500 years. Again, we put her at about 2000, like Valkyrie, though a little bit older too, her presence implies as much. We know she was imprisoned for millennia by her father, Odin, and it would seem she spent more time in prison than she ever did in Asgard. It makes sense that she would return to her family a little bit upset about that fact. What good is a long life if you are not given a chance to use it?
Odin (Thor)
Odin, King of Asgard, protector of the nine realms falls toward the top of our list at approximately 4000 years old. If we assume he had Hela ar around 2000 years old, imprisoning her around 500 years later, and then add in the lifetime we have confirmed for Thor, we have the oldest of the very old Asgardians. He’s lucky to have lived as long as he did, having lost all his siblings during the many wars and conflicts that surrounded Asgard and their protection of the nine realms over the years.
The Collector (Guardians of the Galaxy)
If you thought the Asgardians had long lives then you may not be prepared for our top three. The Collector, and those like him, appeared only slightly after the universe itself came into existence.
The Collector has not exactly used all the years of his life for good, but it makes sense that he would have the largest collection of plants, species, and relics in the universe since he’s had the most time to look for and acquire them.
The Grandmaster (Thor: Ragnarok)
Like his brother, Taneleer Tivan (or, as he is better known, The Collector), the Grandmaster was born shortly after the beginning of the universe. This puts him not at thousands of years old, but at millions. He has spent much of that very long life pitting different species against one another in gladiatorial combat on the planet over which he rules, Sakaar. It’s hard to say if he or his brother have put their time to better use. One wonders why it seems to be the villains who have all the time in the world.
Ego (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2)
It’s hard to beat beings who have existed since just after the birth of the universe, but Ego, father of Starlord does so. Ego is a primordial being, literally meaning he’s existed since the beginning of time. On-screen he’s sort of a living planet, he has spent the life of the universe trying to find meaning. It may be impossible to find since he’s had longer than anyone and has not succeeded. Again, a long life seems to only come to villains, or perhaps it creates them.
