The meme featuring Thanos's line "A small price to pay for salvation" originates from the 2018 blockbuster film, Avengers: Infinity War. In the movie, Thanos, played by Josh Brolin, is on a universe-altering mission to collect all Infinity Stones to achieve his vision of balance by wiping out half of all life. The line is delivered with intense gravitas as he justifies extreme measures for what he perceives as the greater good. This dramatic seriousness paired with the absurdity of his logic is what propelled the scene into meme fame, allowing it to be repurposed to highlight the ridiculousness of over-the-top sacrifices for trivial gains.