The Minions Of Thanos In 'Avengers: Infinity War' Have Been Revealed [D23 Expo 2017]

Minions. Henchmen. Sidekicks. Soldiers. Call them whatever you want, but every worthy villain has a bunch of them, ready to do their evil bidding. And since the "Mad Titan" Thanos is the Big Bad of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, he's got to have at least a handful of menacing assistants ready and willing to wreak havoc in his name.

Thanks to the Marvel booth at this year's D23 Expo, we finally have a look at the henchmen of Thanos, who will surely prove themselves to be handful for Earth's mightiest heroes when they arrive in Avengers: Infinity War next year.

First things first. Josh Brolin, the actor behind Thanos, revealed the Infinity Gauntlet before an enthusiastic crowd and you can watch it for yourself below. This item, built to harness the power of the Infinity Stones, is one of the most famous weapons in comic book history.

But now, back to those minions! For some time, it's been rumored that Thanos' right hand villains in Infinity War would be members of the Black Order, a group of aliens that the aspiring conquerer of the universe gathers together to war against his enemies. Now that they've been revealed, let's take a closer look via the images below:

Created by writer Jonathan Hickman and artists Jerome Opeña and Jim Cheung, the Black Order are a relatively new addition to the Marvel comic book universe. The original incarnation of the team debuted in New Avengers #8 in 2013 and played a major role in the Infinity crossover, where Thanos and his army invade an undefended Earth (the Avengers were too busy avenging in outer space at the time). Naturally, Thanos was repelled and a few members of the Black Order didn't survive the conflict. Recently, Thanos has begun re-assembling the team, which suggests that they're here to stay in the Marvel universe.

Interestingly, these images confirm recent rumors that the version of the Black Order seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe wouldn't be a collection of recruited aliens, but rather Thanos' own children (making them the siblings to Gamora and Nebula). This is an interesting twist on the comic book canon and one that could make this entire conflict a little more personal.

While these statues offer a look at what these characters will look like in the finished film, they will be digital creations, brought to life via motion capture. We've already seen images from the Infinity War set showing off performers in skintight outfits wielding those distinctive weapons – all it takes is a talented team of visual effects artists to transform them into scary hench-aliens.

Avengers: Infinity War is set to open on May 4, 2018.