Thanos to the rescue: The Mad Titan plays nice with The Simpsons; snaps Michael B. Jordan out of a lame conversation

When did Thanos turn into the good guy? Sure, the Mad Titan has swept into popular culture faster than a Chitauri invasion ever since dusting half the universe in Avengers: Infinity War. But apparently there’re a few earthlings who actually have an inside track on friendship with the purple-chinned destroyer of worlds. 

Exhibit A for the idea that Thanos has a sweet side…sort of…is this new animated intro for The Simpsons, which finds our gauntlet-wielding villain clearing the room as only he can — just so he and Maggie can share some quality time in front of the TV:

Thanos showed up for the latest Simpsons couch gag on Sunday’s new episode, driving home the idea that, thanks to the looming Disney-Fox merger, their entertainment worlds already have begun colliding in fun and unexpected ways. 

Over at The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, meanwhile, who’d have ever thought that Michael B. Jordan’s mightiest hero would turn out to be a guy (okay, a Titan) who’s anything but welcome at S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ?

In a hilarious taped segment for a recent episode, the Black Panther actor found himself trapped alongside fellow MCU veteran Cobie Smulders in a tedious conversation with their garrulous host. Stuck without a graceful exit as Fallon droned on and on about air fryers (or some other lame thing; sorry, we kind of drifted off), Jordan texted his purple BFF to bring some destiny Fallon’s way.

Looks like it worked, too:

Ouch. In Friday’s guest spot, Fallon tried to no avail to get any juicy spoiler details about Avengers: Endgame out of Smulders, who as S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Maria Hill spent her final moments witnessing chaos before turning to dust in the Avengers: Infinity War post-credits scene.

Whether on The Simpsons or with Fallon, the message seems to be pretty clear: as long as you’re on Thanos’ good side (and your name’s not Gamora), you probably have nothing to fear. And if Jordan actually has Thanos on speed dial, does that mean there’s been a back-channel connection between Erik Killmonger and the Mad Titan lurking all this time in the MCU?

We’ll just have to wait for the post-decimation aftermath to find out: Avengers: Endgame arrives in theaters on April 26.