Ebony Maw

"Hear me and rejoice! You have had the privilege of being saved by the Great Titan. You may think this is suffering. No... it is salvation. The universal scales tip toward balance because of your sacrifice. Smile... for even in death, you have become children of Thanos."

- Ebony Maw

Ebony Maw was a child of the Mad Titan Thanos and a member of the Black Order. Gifted with powers of telekinesis, Maw was deeply loyal to Thanos and gave warnings of his power across the galaxy while assisting in the search for the Infinity Stones. Having assisted with wiping out half the Asgardians, both Maw and Cull Obsidian were instructed to locate the Time Stone, leading to Maw capturing Doctor Strange and torturing him to force Strange to lift his Magic and hand over the Stone. However, Iron Man and Spider-Man rescued Strange and ejected Maw from his ship into outer space, leaving the child of Thanos to freeze to death.

Following Thanos
Ebony Maw, like the rest of the Black Order, was a member of a world destroyed by Thanos in his quest to wipe out half the universe. Thanos took the orphaned Maw and raised him as his own child, training him to be a deadly member of the Black Order, but unlike his siblings, Maw stood out by never failing Thanos during his time in the order.

Invasion of Zen-Whoberi
"Choose a side or die. One side is preservation. The other is an honor known only to a few."

- Ebony Maw Ebony Maw was present at the invasion of Zen-Whoberi, when Thanos took Gamora into his care. He heralded to the people of Zen-Whoberi as they were rounded up and half the population was executed.

Obtaining the Tesseract
"No other being has ever had the might, nay the nobility, to wield not one, but two Infinity Stones. The universe lies within your grasp."

- Ebony Maw to Thanos

Along with the rest of the Black Order and Thanos, Ebony Maw boarded the Asgardian ship in search of the Tesseract, which contained the Space Stone. When Hulk attacked Thanos, Ebony Maw kept Cull Obsidian from intervening, instructing him to let Thanos have his fun. When Heimdall used dark magic to send Hulk to Earth, Thanos stabbed and killed him, causing Thor to yell out. Maw puts his finger to his lips, prompting Thor to remain silent by using telekinesis to restrain and muzzle the Asgardian in place. Maw then humbly bowed down before Thanos as he present the Tesseract to his master. He mused on how only Thanos has the power and nobility needed to wield the Infinity Stones as the Titan discarded his armor and then took the Tesseract from Maw's hand and proceeded to quickly crush it to unveil and add the Space Stone into the Infinity Gauntlet.

Attack on Greenwich Village


"It's a simple spell but quite unbreakable." "Then I'll take it off your corpse!"

- Doctor Strange and Ebony Maw

Ebony Maw next went to Earth with Cull Obsidian in search of the Eye of Agamotto, which contained the Time Stone. Upon arriving on Earth, Maw and Obsidian were confronted by Doctor Strange, Wong, Iron Man, and Bruce Banner. As Maw was heralding to the four, he was interrupted by Iron Man, which irritated him. A fight quickly began, with Iron Man and Banner mainly fighting Cull Obsidian while Doctor Strange and Wong mainly fought Ebony Maw. Ebony Maw fought with little effort until Strange and Wong managed to injure him, at which point he grew annoyed and aggressive; Ebony Maw ended up knocking out Strange. Eventually, Spider-Man joined the fray, attempting to stop Ebony Maw from getting to the now-unconscious Doctor Strange. Ultimately, Ebony Maw was able to take Doctor Strange and board the ship which Cull Obsidian and Maw used to invade Earth.

Torturing Doctor Strange


"I gotta tell you, he's not really my friend. Saving his life is more of a professional courtesy." "You saved nothing. Your powers are inconsequential compared to mine." "Yeah, but the kid's seen more movies."

- Iron Man and Ebony Maw

As the ship made its way to Titan where it was to rendezvous with Thanos, Ebony Maw began to torture Doctor Strange in an attempt to have him give up the Time Stone. Maw explained to Strange how, if he were to arrive on Titan with Strange still in possession of the Stone, there would be punishment for Maw from Thanos.

Unbeknownst to Maw, Iron Man and Spider-Man had snuck aboard the Sanctuary II as it ascended into space. As Maw tortured Doctor Strange, he heard Iron Man behind him. He turned around and told Iron Man that he could kill Strange in an instant. Iron Man replied that "the kid has seen more movies", at which point he blasted a hole in the side of the ship, causing Maw to be flushed out into the vacuum of the space and killed, leaving his frozen body to be lost to the cosmos.

Personality
"In all the time I have served Thanos, I have never failed him. If I were to reach our rendezvous on Titan with the Time Stone still attached to your vaguely irritating person, there would be judgment. Give me... the Stone."

- Ebony Maw to Doctor Strange

As one of Thanos' most trusted lieutenants and chief thinker within the Black Order, Ebony Maw was calm and calculated during his service to his father, which was often in direct contrast with the bloodthirsty attitudes of the other members of the Black Order. Maw held great respect for Thanos, to the point of speaking quite reverently of the Mad Titan as he announced their arrival on various worlds and prostrating himself deeply before Thanos when addressing him directly. He also restrained Cull Obsidian during Thanos' fight with the Hulk aboard the Statesman, confident in his master's ability to prevail against his enemy. Maw was displeased by any perceived offenses against Thanos, as seen by Maw silencing Thor when the latter's cries interrupted Thanos' speech.

Maw was also quite haughty, referring to the lives of those killed during Thanos' quest as "meaningless". When he encountered the Avengers in New York City, Maw spoke contemptuously towards Iron Man and Doctor Strange, openly referring to the former as an "animal". He leisurely deflected their attacks while launching attacks of his own, only becoming serious after Strange and Wong managed to wound him. His frustration when Strange continuously denied him the Time Stone exposed his sadistic side as he slowly tortured the sorcerer, relishing Strange's pain. He held some respect for Strange for being a Stonekeeper, but would have killed him anyway in order to obtain the Stone.

Powers
"Your powers are inconsequential compared to mine."

- Ebony Maw to Iron Man


 * Telekinesis: Ebony Maw was able to move and otherwise manipulate objects to his whim to an immense degree, employing this power offensively, able to swiftly send Iron Man flying skyward, to knock aside Spider-Man by sending a billboard flying into him, to angle away the trajectory of Cull Obsidian after the latter was sent flying at him. His precision with his power was enough to allow him to cleanly slice apart a car hurled at him; and to sculpt sharpened spikes out of debris, before launching it at the combined might of Doctor Strange and Wong, defeating both sorcerers rather quickly. Though not very impressive, Maw was also able to use his telekinesis to restrain and muzzle a half-beaten to death Thor with panels from the walls of the Statesman. He was also able to manipulate the environment to hinder Doctor Strange's escape, managing to defeat the sorcerer again and knock him out, making use of several structures in the vicinity, such as stop lights.
 * Levitation: Ebony Maw could use his telekinesis to levitate, occasionally using this skill as a means of transportation, even able to make himself hover upside-down. He was also able to telekinetically take people with him while levitating himself, as seen when he lifted Doctor Strange into the air against a wall.

Abilities
"You only wish you were dead!"

- Ebony Maw to Doctor Strange


 * Master Torturer: Ebony Maw was highly trained in various methods of torture. He was able to torture Doctor Strange with the goal of getting him to deliver the Time Stone, although Strange was able to withstand the torture through his willpower.
 * Pilot: Ebony Maw knew how to fly a Q-Ship on his own, attempting to take one to Titan after he captured Doctor Strange.

Family

 * Alars - Adoptive Grandfather
 * Thanos - Adoptive Father
 * Black Order
 * Corvus Glaive † - Adoptive Brother
 * Proxima Midnight † - Adoptive Sister
 * Cull Obsidian † - Adoptive Brother
 * Gamora † - Adoptive Sister turned Enemy
 * Nebula - Adoptive Sister turned Enemy

Allies

 * Chitauri
 * Leviathans
 * Outriders

Enemies

 * Loki †
 * Heimdall †
 * Masters of the Mystic Arts
 * Doctor Strange † - Attempted Victim
 * Wong - Attempted Victim
 * Avengers
 * Tony Stark/Iron Man - Attempted Victim and Killer
 * Thor
 * Bruce Banner/Hulk
 * Peter Parker/Spider-Man † - Attempted Victim

Trivia

 * Joe Russo calls Ebony Maw "Thanos's herald, a little bit of his hype man, and you know, Thanos is sort of a cult character, and Ebony Maw, the character who Tom plays, is the one who builds up the cult."
 * When Maw is sucked out into space, it reminisces the death from , directly referenced when Iron Man mentions that Spider-Man "has seen more movies". The  is heard when Maw is sucked out of the ship.
 * In Avengers: Infinity War, Ebony Maw bears the Telekinesis and Levitation powers from , who in the comics, is a member of the Black Order.
 * Thanos referred to him as "The Maw", making Ebony Maw the only Black Order member who had his name spoken, albeit his last name. Ebony Maw also was the only Black Order member who Thanos praised for his efforts and recognized he had fulfilled his mission; whereas he never addressed the efforts and deaths of Proxima Midnight, Corvus Glaive, and Cull Obsidian.