Eternals Star Barry Keoghan Says Druig Could Beat Thanos, And Those Are Fighting Words
The Eternals have been around since before Thanos was born, and at least one of them thinks he could wipe the floor with the Mad Titan. Barry Keoghan plays Druig in "Eternals," the 26th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, in theaters now. Druig is 7,000 years old and he has mind control powers, but he wouldn't need them to defeat Thanos, as far as Keoghan is concerned.
In an interview with ComicBook.com during the press junket for "Eternals," Keoghan all but issued a challenge to Josh Brolin himself. He said of Thanos, "[Druig] could beat him with his hands. He doesn't need mind control. Druig is a pretty good boxer as well."
Thanos is dead and dusted after the events of "Avengers: Endgame," but his purple prune face popped up again in animated form in Marvel's recent Disney+ series, "What If...?." There, Brolin reprised his role as Thanos (in voice alone), bringing to life a multiversal version of the character who was actually a good guy this time.
Showrunner A.C. Bradley has said that season 2 of "What If...?" could include characters from Phase 4 of the MCU, including the Eternals and Shang-Chi. So it's possible that we may see a match-up between Thanos and Druig. If it ever happens in live-action or animation, don't be so sure that Thanos would win, either, just because he took on all those other heroes at the same time in "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Avengers: Endgame."
Keoghan Already Has Boxing Experience
As the heroes were dog-piling on Thanos in "Infinity War," Mantis (Pom Klementieff) was able to exert some measure of mind control over him. So if all else fails, Druig could maybe take control of his mind and have him punch himself in the face like he does with some humans in "Eternals." But again, Keoghan seems pretty convinced that Druig could beat Thanos with his bare hands, and maybe it has something to do with Keoghan's own boxing background.
In an interview with Vice back in 2017 — the year that Keoghan appeared in Christopher Nolan's "Dunkirk" and Yorgos Lanthimos' "The Killing of a Sacred Deer" — Keoghan did reveal that he is an amateur boxer. He grew up "ten minutes down the road" from MMA fighter Conor McGregor in Ireland and was rooting for McGregor when he had his historic match against boxer Floyd Mayweather in 2017. At the time, it was called "The Biggest Fight in Combat Sports History."
McGregor ultimately lost that fight to the undefeated Mayweather, who achieved a TKO against him in the 10th round. I'll leave it to you to decide who is Mayweather and who is McGregor in the Thanos vs. Druig fight. The Biggest Fight in Comic Book Movie History?
Josh Brolin could not be reached for comment.
"Eternals" is in theaters now.