At the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron, the mid-credits scene revealed that Thanos – the powerful intergalactic villain who revealed himself to be the “big-bad” of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a similar scene in the first Avengers movie – was tired of the failures of his henchmen and would now start getting his own hands dirty to bring the Infinity Stones together.

It really set the wheels in motion for the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War movies in 2018 and 2019 respectively – two movies that will see the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy having to combine to see off the threat of the Mad Titan wielding the Infinity Gauntlet – and got a lot of people thinking about what might happen in those movies.

In spite of his frustration at his lackey’s inability to gather the Infinity Stones for him, Thanos surely won’t be working alone in those movies. While he may be more involved in the conflict than previously, he will surely have a lieutenant by his side. These are the five most likely candidates for that role.

Mephisto

Up until recently, the idea of Mephisto appearing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe seemed like an extremely far-fetched one. He’s a supernatural character with mystical abilities – two things that haven’t been heavily delved into in the MCU, with the franchise focusing mostly on science for its stories and concepts.

That’s about to change, however, as Doctor Strange – a hero with whom Mephisto has faced-off on countless occasions in the comic books – is set to arrive in the MCU.

Strange’s arrival will surely act as a catalyst for more supernatural characters to arrive on screen and Mephisto could certainly be one of them. Moreover, Mephisto was the character who teamed-up with Thanos in the Infinity Gauntlet comic book arc – albeit with intentions of double-crossing the Mad Titan to gain power for himself – and that plot could easily be utilised on screen.