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For the Marvel Comics counterpart, seeInfinity Gems.

Infinity Stones
Marvel Cinematic Universeelement
The six Infinity Stones floating in space. From left to right: Time (green), Power (purple), Space (blue), Mind (yellow), Reality (red), and Soul (orange)
The six Infinity Stones. From left to right: Time, Power, Space, Mind, Reality, and Soul
First appearance
Based onInfinity Gems
byMarvel Comics
Adapted by
  • Christopher Markus
  • Stephen McFeely
GenreSuperhero fiction
In-universe information
Owners

TheInfinity Stonesare fictional items in theMarvel Cinematic Universe(MCU)media franchise,based on theInfinity Gemsof theMarvel Comics.As expounded across several interwoven MCU multimedia titles, the six Infinity Stones are reputed to embody and control essential aspects of existence—Space, Mind, Reality, Power, Time and Soul—thereby making them critical artifacts in the MCU and, together, theMacGuffinof the dedicatedInfinity Saga.

The Stones, with the exception of the Soul Stone, made their debuts in films leading up toAvengers: Infinity War(2018). The Space Stone, the first Stone to appear, was featured in apost-credit sceneforThor(2011), housed within the Tesseract. The Stone / Tesseract established its significance in the MCU through the antecedent films,Captain America: The First Avenger(2011) andThe Avengers(2012). InThe First Avenger,theRed Skullused the power of the Stone to powerHydra's weaponry duringWorld War II.InThe Avengers,Lokiwas sent to Earth byThanosto get the Stone fromS.H.I.E.L.D.The Space Stone did not make another appearance untilPhase Three,when it made a minor appearance inThor: Ragnarok(2017) and played a major role inCaptain Marvel(2019) when it was revealed that the Stone gaveCarol Danversher powers. The Mind Stone first showed up inThe Avengers,housed in asceptergiven to Loki in his efforts to get the Space Stone from Earth. The Stone returned within the scepter inAvengers: Age of Ultron(2015) where it was being used on human test subjects. The Mind Stone was eventually used to giveVisionlife.

Thor: The Dark World(2013) introduced the Reality Stone in its liquid form known as the Aether. It temporarily infectedJane Fosterbefore it was given toThe Collectorto keep it separate from the Space Stone. The Power and Time Stones made their debuts inGuardians of the Galaxy(2014) andDoctor Strange(2016) respectively.Ronan the Accuserseeks out the Power Stone for Thanos, but he is defeated by theGuardians of the Galaxy,who entrust the Stone with theNova Corps.Stephen Strangefinds the Eye of Agamotto, which houses the Time Stone, and uses it to save Earth from the demon,Dormammu.The Soul Stone was the last Stone to make an appearance, first showing up inInfinity Warwhen Thanos collects the Stone onVormirafter sacrificingGamora.

Thanos sets out to collect all six Stones to use them to wipe out half of all life in the universe, believing that his plan will save it from extinction. In 2018, Thanos accomplishes his goal and snaps his fingers while wearing the Infinity Gauntlet containing the Stones, causingthe Blip.Thanos eventually uses the Stones again to destroy them and five years later, the survivingAvengersform a plan to go back in time to collect the Stones from other time periods to undo Thanos' snap. After defeating Thanos and undoing his actions from 2018,Steve Rogers / Captain Americareturns the Stones to the exact moments in time that the Avengers collected them from.

Despite being destroyed, the Stones make appearances in theMultiverse Saga,including inDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness(2022) inan alternate universewhere Thanos was defeated on his home planet ofTitanby theIlluminatibefore he can collect all of the Stones. They also make appearances in several of the MCU television series onDisney+,between flashbacks inWandaVision(2021) and alternate universes in the first seasons ofLoki(2021–2023) andWhat If...?(2021–present). Scientific studies relating to the Stones have been conducted, mostly since the release ofInfinity War,including one focusing on the control of matter.

Fictional history

[edit]

The stories of the Stones in the MCU take place in theEarth-616universe.[a]The fictional information below includes events that happened with the Stones from more than one Earth-616 timeline, as well as events that happened with them in multiple otheruniverses.

List of Infinity Stones
Name Ability Color Gauntlet location Container First appearance
Space Stone Create portals to teleport; telekinesis[1] Blue Middle finger Tesseract Captain America the first Avenger
Mind Stone Control minds, enhance the user's intelligence, and create new life[1] Yellow Back of hand Loki's scepter(initially)
Vision's forehead 		The Avengers
Reality Stone Alter reality[1] Red Ring finger Aether Thor: The Dark World
Power Stone Manipulate energy; increased strength[1] Purple Index finger Orb Guardians of the Galaxy
Time Stone Control and manipulate time[1] Green Thumb Eye of Agamotto Doctor Strange
Soul Stone Manipulate the soul of a person[2] Orange Little finger — Avengers: Infinity War

Creation

[edit]

In 2014, theCollectorexplains that the Infinity Stones are the remnants of sixsingularitiesthat existed before theBig Bang,which were compressed into Stones by cosmic entities after the universe began and which were dispersed throughout the cosmos.[3][4]Four years later, it is further explained byWongandStephen Strangethat each Infinity Stone embodies and controls an essential aspect of existence.[5]

Events beforeInfinity War

[edit]

Space Stone

[edit]

In 1942, theRed Skullsteals the Tesseract, which contains the Space Stone, from a church and uses it to powerHydra's weaponry duringWorld War II.DuringSteve Rogers's final fight against Red Skull,[6]the Tesseract transports the latter to the planetVormir.[5]Afterwards, the Tesseract falls into the Arctic Ocean, where it is later recovered byHoward Starkand taken to a secret base.[6]

Dr.Wendy Lawsonunsuccessfully tries to use the Tesseract in 1989 to unlock light-speed travel to help theSkrullsfind a new home. However, her experiments result inCarol Danversbeing granted superhuman strength, flight, and the ability to generate energy blasts. Danvers eventually recovers the Tesseract and hands the object over toS.H.I.E.L.D.,but it is temporarily swallowed by aFlerkennamedGoose,who later vomits it out onNick Fury's desk.[7]

In 2012, Fury shows the Tesseract to Dr.Erik Selvig,when the Tesseract suddenly opens a portal allowing forLokito come through.[8][9]Loki steals the Tesseract and later opens awormhole,using it to transport theChitauriarmy to New York City in an attempt to conquer Earth. After theAvengersrepel the invasion, Thor returns the Tesseract toAsgardfor safekeeping in Odin's vault, and it is used to repair theBifrost.[9][10]Years later, the Asgardian prophecy of its destruction by the fire demonSurturcomes true. Loki takes the Tesseract from the vault before escaping.[11][12]

Mind Stone

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The Stone is originally housed in asceptergiven to Loki byThanosandthe Otherto help locate the Tesseract and conquer Earth with its ability to control people's minds and project energy blasts.[9][13]After Loki's defeat, it falls into the hands of Hydra leader BaronWolfgang von Strucker,who uses it to experiment on people, including siblingsPietroandWanda Maximoff,who are the only surviving subjects of Strucker's experiments.[14][15]Von Strucker's experiments cause Pietro to gain superhuman abilities and amplify Wanda's powers.[15][16]Strucker's base is attacked by the Avengers, who take back the scepter. The Avengers discover that it contains the Mind Stone, which itself contains an artificial intelligence that grants sentience to the computer program Ultron, who steals the scepter and removes the Stone to create a newly upgraded body. The Avengers steal the Mind Stone–infused body from Ultron and upload the A.I.J.A.R.V.I.S.into it, giving birth to the androidVision.[10][13][15]

Reality Stone

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Eons ago,Malekithattempts to use the Reality Stone, appearing in its fluid-like weapon state called the Aether, to destroy theNine Realms.His plan was to return the universe to its pre-Big Bang state, only to be thwarted byBor,who had it hidden. In 2013,Jane Fosterbecomes infected by the Aether after coming across its resting place, though Malekith later draws it out of her. After Malekith is defeated byThor,SifandVolstagg,they seal the Aether in a lantern-like container and entrust it to the Collector to keep it separate from the Tesseract, as the three of them consider it unwise to have multiple Infinity Stones close to each other.[10][17][18][19]The Aether, once bonded to a host, can turn anything into dark matter as well as suck the life force out of humans and other mortals. The Aether can also disrupt the laws of physics and repel threats if it senses any.[1][17]

Power Stone

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Housed in the Orb hidden on the planetMorag,the Power Stone is capable of increasing the user's strength and destroy entire civilizations with a single blast. However, the Stone is too much for most mortal beings to physically handle because its power will destroy them on contact.[20][21]In 2014,Ronan the Accuserseeks the Orb for Thanos, butPeter Quillfinds and steals the Orb from Morag's resting spot beforeKorathcan. Ronan eventually steals it from the Guardians. After learning about the Power Stone, however, Ronan betrays Thanos and tries to use its destructive power to destroy the planetXandar.During the battle to protect Xandar, by sharing the burden of the Power Stone's energy, the Guardians are able to use it to kill Ronan. It is later revealed that Peter Quill's half-Celestial physiology was what allows him to withstand the Stone's power on his own for a brief time before the other Guardians joined with him. They seal the Power Stone in a new Orb and entrust it to theNova Corpsfor safekeeping.[3][10]

Time Stone

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In 2016, Dr.Stephen Strangefinds the Eye of Agamotto, which houses the Time Stone, and learns how to use it to save the Earth fromDormammuby trapping him in atime loopuntil the demon abandons his plans for Earth. Strange returns the Eye of Agamotto to the Masters of the Mystic Arts' secret compoundKamar-Tajin Kathmandu, Nepal, but soon begins wearing it again.[11][22][23]

Soul Stone

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An object that has the ability to manipulate the soul and essence of a person,[2]control life and death, and contains a pocket dimension called theSoul World.[24]At some time in the past, Thanos tasksGamorato find the Soul Stone, as there is little record of its existence compared to the other Infinity Stones. Gamora finds a map leading to where it was hidden: in a shrine on the planet Vormir, but chooses to destroy the map and not tell Thanos, only telling Nebula of it and swearing her to secrecy, unaware that Thanos wasn't fooled by their lies.[5]

The Blip

[edit]
Main article:The Blip

Thanos begins his quest to collect all six Stones by decimating Xandar to obtain the Power Stone. He then tracks down the Space Stone and intercepts the Asgardian ship on its way to Earth after the destruction of Asgard.[11][25]Thanos kills half of the occupants and threatens to kill Thor as well, but Loki gives up the Tesseract to save his brother's life. Thanos proceeds to crush the Tesseract to acquire the Space Stone. He tellshis childrento acquire the two Stones on Earth. He then uses the Power Stone to destroy the ship as he teleports his children and himself away with the Space Stone.[5]

Thanos' four children split up, with two looking to collect the Time Stone from Strange and the other two going after Vision for the Mind Stone. In New York,Ebony MawandCull Obsidianattempt to steal the Time Stone from Strange, but are foiled by Stark, Parker, and Wong. Strange is teleported up to Maw's ship with Stark and Parker sneaking on board. In Edinburgh, Vision is injured byProxima MidnightandCorvus Glaivein their attempts to get the Stone from his head. After the pair are defeated, Vision is taken to Wakanda to have the Stone removed byShuri,in the hope that Vision would be able to live without it.[5]

While his children are on Earth, Thanos acquires the Aether from the Collector onKnowhereand turns it back into the Reality Stone, allowing for him to repel theGuardians of the Galaxy's attacks by turningDraxto rocks,Mantisinto ribbon strips, and causing Peter Quill's gun to shoot bubbles. Thanos then teleportsGamoraand himself back to his ship, where he is keeping a capturedNebula.He uses the Power Stone to torture her in front of Gamora, forcing Gamora to agree to take him to Vormir to find the Soul Stone. On Vormir, they encounter the Stone keeper, Red Skull. Thanos reluctantly sacrifices Gamora to fulfill the requirements to obtain the Soul Stone once the Red Skull explains to them that the Stone requires the sacrifice of a loved one to earn it.[26][27]

Maw gets sucked out of an airlock and his ship takes Stark, Strange, and Parker toTitan,Thanos' home planet, where they run into Quill, Drax, and Mantis. Before Thanos arrives, Strange uses the Time Stone to look into future timelines and viewing millions of possible outcomes of their conflict, learning of only one future in which they win. Thanos arrives expecting Maw, and fights the Avengers and Guardians using the Stones. He defeats them all, leading Strange to surrender the Time Stone to prevent Thanos from killing Stark to ensure the winning future comes to pass.[5]

Thanos places the Mind Stone into the Infinity Gauntlet, which is the sixth and final Stone he needed. A surge of energy from the Stones then goes through his body.
A surge of energy goes throughThanos' body after he adds the Mind Stone into the Infinity Gauntlet, which is the final Stone he needed beforethe Blip.

Thanos' remaining children arrive in Wakanda where Shuri is unable to complete the removal of the Mind Stone from Vision's head before she is attacked by Glaive. Thanos arrives looking to get the Stone himself, using some of the Stones against the Avengers and Wakandans trying to fight him off. As a result of the Stone still being in Vision's head, Wanda is forced to destroy Vision and the Stone to try to prevent Thanos from getting it, only for Thanos to use the Time Stone to repair them both and collect the latter. Thanos uses all of the Stones to initiatethe Blip,where he is briefly transported into the Soul World and encounters a vision of a young Gamora.[28]He then teleports away with the Space Stone to theGarden.Thanos uses the Stones to destroy them to prevent further use in the future.[5][29][30]

Time heist

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AfterScott Langis freed from theQuantum Realmfive years after the Blip,[31]he goes to the Avengers Compound and brings up the idea of a time heist using the Quantum Realm to collect each Stone from different points in time as changing the past does not change the future and instead creates alternate timelines. The surviving Avengers split up into teams to each focus on one Stone.[29]

Rogers, Stark, Lang, and Banner travel to an alternate 2012, where the Space, Mind, and Time Stones are all located. Stark and Lang attempt to steal the alternate 2012 Tesseract, but the alternate 2012 Hulk accidentally knocks Stark down and the 2012 Tesseract is taken by the alternate 2012 Loki, who uses it to open a wormhole and escape. Rogers retrieves the scepter containing the 2012 Mind Stone, using it to render his alternate 2012 self unconscious after he mistook him for a disguised Loki. Banner convinces theAncient Oneto relinquish that timeline's Time Stone, promising to return it after they are done using it to ensure that the alternate timelines will survive. After failing to retrieve the 2012 Space Stone, Stark and Rogers travel to an alternate 1970 and take the alternate 1970 Tesseract fromCamp Lehigh, New Jerseyand use a stolen briefcase to smuggle it out.[29]

Thor andRockettravel back to Asgard in an alternate 2013 to extract the alternate 2013 Aether from the alternate 2013 Jane Foster.James RhodesandNebulatravel back to Morag in an alternate 2014, subduing the alternate 2014 Peter Quill before taking the 2014 Power Stone in its Orb. Romanoff andClint Bartontravel to Vormir in an alternate 2014, where each attempts to sacrifice themselves to allow the other to return with the Stone, ultimately ending with Romanoff sacrificing herself.[29]

All of the Stones are brought back to the present day and removed from their containers while the 2013 Aether is turned into its solid state. Stark creates aNano Gauntletto house the Stones, which Banner uses to undo the Blip. An alternate 2014 Thano, having been alerted by their actions due to Nebula's cybernetic systems connecting with her alternate 2014 self, brings his army to the future, destroying the compound and intending to use the Stones to destroy and recreate the universe out of revenge for the Blip being undone, but is ultimately defeated when Stark sacrifices himself to disintegrate Thanos and his army with the Stones in the Nano Gauntlet. After Stark's funeral, Rogers returns all of the past Stones to the points in time that they were collected from, although without the Tesseract, scepter, Orb, and with the Reality Stone still in its solid form.[29]

Aftermath

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Three weeks after Thanos' snap is undone, a still grieving Wanda Maximoff uses her connection with the Mind Stone to reanimate a fake Vision. Later on,Agatha Harknessshows Maximoff various points in her past, including the moment of Hydra's experimentation with the Stone on her. Maximoff learns that the exposure to the Stone tapped into and amplifyed her innate magic, as well as giving her a prophetic vision of her as the Scarlet Witch.[16][32]

Alternate versions

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Other versions of the Stones are depicted in the alternate realities of the MCU multiverse.

Loki

[edit]

An alternate 2012 Loki, who escaped during the Avengers attempt to collect all the Infinity Stones to undo Thanos' actions[29]has the alternate 2012 Tesseract confiscated by theTime Variance Authority(TVA). Later, Loki tries to retrieve the Tesseract only to find that it is powerless in the TVA, along with all the other Stones, in which the TVA has captured dozens of each from other timelines.[33][34]The Stones are used as paperweights in the TVA, as such thefounderof the TVA and his severalKang the Conquerorvariantsare more powerful than the Stones.[35]

What If...?

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Ultron with all the Infinity Stones in the Disney+ animated series What If...? He places the Stones in his armor instead of needing the Infinity Gauntlet.
UltroninWhat If...?stores the Stones in his armor as opposed to using the Infinity Gauntlet.

In analternate version of World War II,Howard Stark uses the confiscated Tesseract as the power source for theHydra Stomper.[36]Inanother universe,T'Challa,rather than Peter Quill, finds the Power Stone on Morag.[37]Inan alternate version of 2016,Stephen Strange attempts to use the Time Stone to prevent the death ofChristine Palmer,only to find her death is an absolute point in his universe, meaning no matter what he does, she's destined to die, despite his countless attempts to avert the scenario. It becomes the only Stone left in existence in his universe due to his subsequent actions.[38]

Asone universe suffers from a quantum zombie outbreak,Vision discovers that his Mind Stone can be used to cure the infected. However, it is unable to cure the infected Maximoff, due to her powers coming from the Stone, prompting Vision to initially try and feed other survivors to Maximoff to keep her calm until he can properly cure her.[39]When other heroes find him, Vision accepts that his actions are wrong and he gives the Stone to the surviving heroes to take to Wakanda, sacrificing himself out of guilt. However, a zombified Thanos arrives in Wakanda, possessing the other five Infinity Stones in his Gauntlet.[40]

In another scenario, Thanos once again arrives on Earth with five Stones, only to discover thatthe Avengers lost to Ultron,who is in possession of Vision's vibranium body and the Mind Stone. Ultron kills Thanos and takes the Stones for himself, using them to conquer and destroy his universe. When this task is complete, Ultron attains a higher level of consciousness and uses the Stones to travel into other dimensions and duelthe Watcher.[41]To stop Infinity Ultron expanding into other universes, the Watcher assembles theGuardians of the Multiverse,a team of heroes from various alternate realities, including Strange Supreme, and gifts them a weapon to destroy the Stones called the Infinity Crusher. When the Crusher fails due to it being designed to only work for the Stones in its respective universe, the heroes kill Ultron by uploadingArnim Zola's analog consciousness into his body. The Stones are nearly taken byKillmonger,but he is stopped by Zola, who tries to take the Stones for himself. Strange Supreme and the Watcher imprison them along with the Stones in a pocket dimension, frozen outside of time so that neither they nor the Stones from Ultron's universe can be a threat anymore.[42]

InKahhori's universe, the Tesseract crashes into a lake in pre-colonial America after survivingRagnorokand breaks, releasing unmitigated Space Stone energy into the lake's waters. As a result, a portal opens to another dimension called the Sky World, granting the inhabitants of that world incredible powers.[43]After getting transported into a dying universe in the year 1602, Captain Carter, with the help of Tony Stark, discovers a device powered by the Time Stone that had been caused when Steve Rogers, while fighting Thanos during the Battle of Wakanda, accidentally hit the Time Stone with one of his shields. Using Stark's device and the Time Stone, Carter and Rogers are able to set things right, returning Rogers to his own time and ending the temporal anomaly that was tearing apart the world.[44]Among Doctor Strange Supreme's prisoners that are released by Captain Carter is a Thanos with a completed Infinity Gauntlet. However, having been freed by Carter, Killmonger disintegrates Thanos with his own set of Infinity Stones. Kahhori is able to use her Tesseract-granted powers to separate Killmonger from his Infinity Armor and teleport him away, allowing Carter to take the Infinity Stones for herself. Carter is able to wield the Infinity Stones against Strange alongside Hela's crown and the weapons of some of the freed prisoners. By punching Strange with the Infinity Stones, Carter manages to bring him back to his senses temporarily.[45]

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

[edit]

OnEarth-838,theIlluminatifought against Thanos on Titan who was in possession of five Infinity Stones. They killed him, leaving the gauntlet and the Stones in their responsibility.[46]

Deadpool & Wolverine

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Two variants of the Reality and Time Stones are shown to be embedded in a sling ring Cassandra Nova had taken from an unidentified variant of Stephen Strange. This allows her to open a portal from the Void to Earth-10005 and allow Deadpool and Wolverine to return to it. She later uses it to send the Deadpool Corps to that timeline to keep them from reaching her.

Infinity Gauntlet

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A model of the Infinity Gauntlet at the 2018AtlantaComic-Con

The Infinity Gauntlet is a left handed metalGauntletused to house the six Stones. A right-handed Gauntlet appears inThor(2011), where it's stored inOdin's vault,[10]though this one was later revealed to be a fake byHelainThor: Ragnarok.[47]The mid-credits scene ofAvengers: Age of Ultron(2015) revealed Thanos had acquired a left-handed Infinity Gauntlet.[15][48]InInfinity War,it is revealedThanosinvadedNidavellirand forcedEitrito create the Infinity Gauntlet by threatening to kill his people, though he did so anyway once it was completed, as well as removing Eitri's hands to prevent his making of anything else.[49]After obtaining all six Infinity Stones, Thanos snaps his fingers in the Gauntlet and erases half of all life in the universe.

InEndgame,the Gauntlet is revealed to be burnt and permanently bound to Thanos' swollen arm. After Thor kills Thanos, the charred damaged Gauntlet is left abandoned on the Garden planet. Five years later, Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, and Rocket usenanotechnologyto create a right-handed Nano Gauntlet to use the alternate universe versions of the Infinity Stones. Banner in his "Smart Hulk"form, due to being the most immune to the gamma radiation that the Infinity Stones' combined powers emit, uses the Nano Gauntlet to reverse the Blip. However, the strain of channeling the combined powers still causes him considerable pain and leaves him with a crippled right arm. During the battle at the Avengers Compound, an alternate variant of Thanos from 2014 attempts to use the Nano Gauntlet. Although he successfully acquires it, Stark magnetically removes the Stones from the Nano Gauntlet and, wielding a makeshift Gauntlet formed within his armor, uses them to erase Thanos, his army, and the Nano Gauntlet. The original Gauntlet appears in flashback sequences fromInfinity WarinWandaVision(2021).

Alternate versions of the Infinity Gauntlet made brief appearances inWhat If...?,first in the fifth episode, when a zombified Thanos shows up inWakanda,[40]: 27:51–27:59 and the eighth episode when Thanos arrives on Earth but is swiftly killed byUltron.[41]: 6:20–6:30 The Gauntlet returns in a small capacity during thesecond seasonofWhat If...?,appearing in the last two episodes. In theseason's penultimate episode,Steve Rogers unwillingly strikes the Time Stone while fighting Thanos and in thefinal episodewhere the Gauntlet is used by another version of Thanos, who is then killed by Killmonger.[44][45]A Gauntlet appears in a flashback sequence inDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness(2022) after Thanos is killed onTitanby theIlluminati.[50][51]

Background and development

[edit]
James Gunncame up with the backstory of the Stones while writing the script forGuardians of the Galaxy.[52]

The Infinity Stones played a big role in theMarvel Cinematic Universe'sInfinity Saga,but they were not the original story plan. Despite the Space Stone being introduced inThor,and the Mind Stone and Thanos debuting inThe Avengers,there were no official plans until at least 2012 to make the Stones theMacGuffinsof the Saga.James Gunnrevealed that it wasn't until after he completed his first draft forGuardians of the Galaxy(2014) thatMarvel Studiosdecided to put a bigger focus on the Stones moving forward.[53]Gunn revealed during the press tour forGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3(2023) that he wrote the scene introducing the Stones' backstory in an hour and a half starting with thePower Stonebeing in possession of the Collector at the time.[52]The Power Stone's color had to be changed from red like it is in the comics, to purple in the middle of development onGuardians of the Galaxybecause Marvel decided that the Aether was going to be the Reality Stone.[53][54]

Differences from the comics

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Main article:Infinity Gems

In the comics, Thanos is motivated to retrieve and use theInfinity Gemsto impressLady Deathas she believed that the universe was overpopulated and headed for mass extinction. In the films, there is no mention of Lady Death, and Thanos wishes to reduce the population to avoid a repeat of his experience on Titan.[55]Thanos retrieved each gem from a being who held it at the time. TheIn-Betweenerhad the Soul Gem, theChampion of the Universehad the Power Gem, theGardenerhad the Time Gem, theCollectorhad the Reality Gem, theRunnerhad the Space Gem, and theGrandmasterhad the Mind Gem. Furthermore, nobody else was even aware of Thanos, therefore no one attempted to stop him.[56]

In the comics, the gems had other rules, and simply being in possession of one wasn't good enough. Each gem was powered by mastering a primordial force characterized by one of the other gems. For example, mastering the Power Gem was dependent on the user's mastery of the mind, while mastery of the soul correlated with the power of the Mind Gem.[57]The colors of the stones were originally different in the comics. They were purple for Space, yellow for Reality, red for Power, blue for Mind, orange for Time, and green for Soul.[58]The stone colors were updated in theMarvel Legacyseries to match the film versions.[59]In the MCU, the Time Stone is housed in the Eye of Agamotto and the Space Stone is housed in the Tesseract. However, the Marvel Comics versions of these two stones have no connections to these relics.[60][61]

[edit]

The existence of the Infinity Stones in the MCU has been described as the "one driving force that unifies all the robot-alien-hero fighting" byThe Verge.[58]The use of the Infinity Stones as a plot device led to fan speculation as to the location of as-yet undiscovered Stones, and the possible appearance of additional Stones. One theory popular with fans was that words describing the nature or location of the Stones spelled out the name "THANOS", and that the as-yet undiscovered Soul Stone was somehow associated with the characterHeimdall.[58]Another theory proposed prior to the release ofEndgamewas that it would involve a seventh Infinity Stone corresponding to an additional Infinity Gem from the comics, the Ego Stone.[62]

Charles Pulliam-Moore ofGizmodothought that the Soul Stone was the least interesting Stone because unlike the others, it was never given a chance to show why it can be formidable on its own like the other Stones had a chance to do in previous MCU films. However, during theInfinity Wardirectors commentary, they confirmed that the Stone has some of the elements of its comic counterpart including "conjuring the spiritual representations of the dead on another plane of existence".[63]

AtSan Diego Comic-Conin 2022, Marvel and East Continental Gems announced the Infinity Collection of Gemstones, a set of six Gem stones representing each Stone and displayed in an Infinity Gauntlet created by Gentle Giant Ltd. All six gems combined are over 150caratsand valued atUSD$25 million. Each Stone is represented by different gems: The Time Stone is a Colombianemeraldnearing 23 carats, the Space Stone is asapphirefrom Madagascar, with over 30 carats, the Reality Stone is a naturalrubyfrom Mozambique, Africa with over 15 carats, the Power Stone is a naturalamethystwith more than 35 carats, the Soul Stone isspessartite,exceeding 35 carats, and the Mind Stone is a cut yellowdiamond,that's close to 35 carats.[64]AfterInfinity Warreleased in theaters,Hot Toysunveiled a 1:1 scale Infinity Gauntlet with the Stones capable of lighting up with the use of embedded LED lights.[65]Legoalso released their own Infinity Gauntlet set in 2021 to celebrate the Infinity Saga.[66]

The Snap and the Blip entered the popular lexicon as a metaphor for the idea of unilaterally bringing into being one's desired goals through one's force of will alone. In a November 30, 2023, article forSFGate,columnist Drew Magary reacted to the conduct of billionaire entrepreneur andTwitterownerElon Musk,who contended that large advertisers who left Twitter after Musk had praised a tweet espousing theGreat Replacementtheory as "the actual truth" would be to blame if their exodus bankrupted that company, rather than Musk himself. WhenNew York Timescontributor Andrew Ross Sorkin stated that those advertisers would likely dispute this, Musk replied, "Tell it to Earth." Taking a critical view of this position, Magary, wrote:[67]

"But Musk, who told Sorkin that he believed data to be more valuable than gold, remains committed to the idea that owning X means owning the chief information exchange for all of this planet's 8 billion citizens. He thinks he canThanos Snapwars and recessions into being merely by posting a recycled Pepe the Frog meme from 2016 on there. There is no reasoning with someone who is so megalomaniacal and so, SO stupid. "[67]

Scientific analysis and accuracy

[edit]

A 2018 article inExtreme Mechanics Lettersproposed that Thanos would have needed "a minimum grip strength of over 40,000 tons, which is approximately 750,000 times that of a typical man", to break the Tesseract depicted in the film, presuming that the object was an "all-carbon nano-tesseract or hypercube projected into 3D space".[68]A study published in 2020 focused on the ability to control matter as Thanos does while using the Stones. The researchers found that on amacroscopic level,someone would need a large amount of energy to control matter, similarly to the Stones. However,microscopiclyscientists can mimic Thanos' control of matter at thecolloidallevel. The researchers were able to make billions of colloidal particles with changeable responsiveness, patchiness, shapes, and sizes by manipulating them using triggers, including temperature, pH, and light.[69]

Notes

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  1. ^The main MCU universe was established to be Earth-616 inDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness(2022).

References

[edit]
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