 In a May 2012 interview , Whedon said that it was his decision to include Thanos in a post @-@ credits scene , although the character is not identified in the film . " He for me is the most powerful and fascinating Marvel villain . He 's the great grand daddy of the <unk> and he 's in love with Death and I just think that 's so cute . For me , the greatest Avengers [ comic book ] was Avengers Annual # 7 ( 1977 ) that Jim Starlin did followed by Marvel Two @-@ in @-@ One Annual # 2 ( 1977 ) that contained the death of Adam Warlock . Those were some of the most important texts and I think underrated milestones in Marvel history and Thanos is all over that , so somebody had to be in control and had to be behind Loki 's work and I was like ' It 's got to be Thanos . ' And they said ' Okay ' and I 'm like ' Oh my God ! ' " An additional coda involving the Avengers eating shawarma was shot on April 12 , 2012 , a day after the world premiere . Shawarma sales in Los Angeles , St. Louis , and Boston reportedly skyrocketed in the days following the film 's release . 
