Greetings, Fanboys and Fangirls! This is Sam Lascio, presenting a little theory and discussion on the Infinity Stones of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)!
Now, most of the general movie-going audience probably isn't familiar with the Marvel Comics Infinity Gems, Thanos, or the Infinity Gauntlet, but this article will generally focus on the film versions of these items, not the comics. So when you see the phrase Infinity Gems, we're talking comics, and when you see the phrase Infinity Stones, we're talking movies. Ready? Let's jump into it:
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| Thanos wielding the Infinity Gauntlet with all 6 Infinity Gems. |
It is Thanos's ultimate goal to obtain the Infinity Gauntlet and the Infinity Stones. Although not stated in the films, it's assumed that the MCU version and the comics version should be about the same: whoever possesses the Infinity Gauntlet and the six Infinity Stones will obtain God-like power. We've met Thanos at the end of
The Avengers and in the middle of
Guardians of the Galaxy, so we know enough about him to draw the conclusion that he already strikes fear into the hearts of his enemies and is confident enough in his own power to fear no one in the entire universe. But enough about Thanos, let's get into the meat of the article: the Infinity Stones!
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| The Infinity Gems of Marvel Comics. |
There are six (6) Infinity Gems in Marvel Comics:
- Space Gem: Grants limitless manipulation of space, allowing for teleportation, dimensional manipulation, creation of wormholes, etc.
- Mind Gem: Taps the user into the universal consciousness, allowing for unlimited manipulation of psionic powers, including telepathy and telekinesis.
- Soul Gem: Grants limitless manipulation of souls both alive and dead. Also, it has shown to be able to evolve or devolve a being's physical self as well as his/her mental capacities.
- Reality Gem: Locally or universally alters the natural laws of the universe to the wielder's will.
- Time Gem: Grants total control over all aspects of time, including time travel, stopping time, slowing down or speeding up the flow of time, and to accelerate or slow down aging.
- Power Gem: Controls all of the power in the universe. It can be used to augment or inhibit any force.
So, I now ask you MCU nuts out there: Do any of these sound familiar to you? At least a couple of them should. Let's now run down my Infinity Stone theory in the MCU:
WARNING!! SPOILERS AHEAD!! TURN BACK NOW IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW!!
The Tesseract: First introduced in the post-credits scene of
Thor and the central MacGuffin of both
Captain America: The First Avenger and
The Avengers, the Tesseract (or "the Cube"), is an item of limitless energy. At the end of
Captain America: The First Avenger, we see it rips open a portal to outer space and sucks the Red Skull into it. Also, in
The Avengers, it acts as a doorway that transports Loki to Earth, opens the wormhole that allows the Chitauri to invade, and also allows both Thor and Loki to return to Asgard at the end of the film.
Infinity Stone: Space
Why?: This one has been confirmed by Kevin Feige, the President of Marvel Studios, which shouldn't be too much of a surprise, right? I mean, the Tesseract is pretty damn powerful, but we didn't really know about the Infinity Stones being a thing for sure until the end credits scene of
Thor: The Dark World. I'd say with Feige's word, this one is a closed case. One special note, though, is that in the comics, the Space Gem is purple, but in the MCU, it's blue. This'll be important later.
The Aether: Introduced as the ancient artifact of
Thor: The Dark World, the Aether is a force that is said to have existed before the Nine Realms (Asgard, Earth, etc.). A unique feature of this item is that, according to Odin, it is the only Infinity Stone to be in a liquid form. Malekith planned on using the Aether to plunge the universe back into darkness so that he and his Dark Elves could rule again. He planned to accomplish this by using the Aether to convert all matter into dark matter.
Infinity Stone: Reality
Why?: This one has yet to be confirmed by anyone, but it's really a process of elimination/logic argument. It's obviously not the stone of Time, Soul, Mind, or Space, which leaves Reality and Power. In the comics, the Power Gem is red, which left us Fanboys all imagining that it's obviously the Power Stone. However, as we'll discuss next, the Orb from
Guardians of the Galaxy is the Power Stone, which means the Aether has to be the Reality Stone. And this should make sense, right? In the comics, the Reality Gem alters the natural laws of the universe to the user's will. Who was the user? Malekith. What was his will? Converting matter into dark matter. So, it should stand to reason that the Aether is capable of doing more than just what Malekith wanted it for, making it the only true candidate for the Reality Stone. Back on the topic of color, this makes the MCU Reality Stone red, but the comics Reality Stone was yellow. Again, this will be important.
The Orb: The MacGuffin of
Guardians of the Galaxy, the Orb's purpose is not understood for over half the film. We finally learn of its true nature when the Guardians take the Orb to Taneleer Tivan, aka "the Collector." It's here where we learn that the Orb is actually the container for a small
purple stone of unimaginable and unequaled power. Simply touching the stone to the surface of a planet will destroy it, and no single being can hold it without being destroyed themselves.
Infinity Stone: Power
Why?: Well, for this reason:
I'd say that pretty much confirms it, right guys? Which definitely means the Aether isn't the Power Stone, reaffirming my belief that it is the Reality Stone. Lastly, hammering home my point on colors, the comic book version of the Power Gem is red, but in the MCU, it's purple.
The Chitauri Scepter: The scepter (or "staff/spear") was given to Loki by Thanos and the Other at the beginning of
The Avengers. Using the scepter, Loki is able to fire blasts of energy, kill using the scepter's blade, and most importantly, control people's minds. By placing the scepter on an individual's chest for a moment, the victim's eyes turn black, then fade into a milky blue. At this point, they are Loki's servants. The only known method of breaking Loki's grip on the victim is a hard and quick blow to the head, knocking the victim back to normal. The last we saw of the Chitauri Scepter, Baron Wolfgang von Strucker of HYDRA possessed it, and it was somehow being used to give ordinary humans super powers (as with Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch) in a post-credits scene for
Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
Infinity Stone: No.
Why?: Fans have been speculating up and down that the Chitauri Scepter is the Mind Stone of the MCU. Here are a few reasons why Fanboys and Fangirls have been thinking this way:
- Thanos is the one who gives Loki the scepter.
- The scepter gives Loki the power to control people's minds.
- There's a scene in The Avengers where Loki, while holding the scepter, seems to mentally communicate with the Other.
- While on the Helicarrier in The Avengers, the scepter seems to be able to manipulate the thoughts and feelings of the group while they're arguing, even making Bruce pick it up without realizing it.
I admit, all of these points appear valid. However, here's my list of reasons why I feel the Chitauri Scepter is NOT the Mind Stone:
- Thanos has been tracking and collecting the Infinity Stones so that he may finally wield the Infinity Gauntlet. Would Thanos really lend out one of the Infinity Stones in his possession to Loki? Some pathetic Asgardian whom Thanos probably doesn't even respect or like? Now, the Other does say at the very end that the humans aren't as weak as they were promised, so maybe Thanos gave Loki the Mind Stone thinking it would secure him the Space Stone, but I just don't see Thanos as the type of villain who would let anyone else have one of his Stones. He wouldn't even let Ronan use the Orb in Guardians of the Galaxy, and Ronan seemed more like the kind of guy to get shit done, more so than a Frost Giant/Asgardian who couldn't even beat Thor one-on-one. It just doesn't seem like Thanos's style.
- As compelling as it is to assume the scepter is the Mind Stone because Loki controlled people's minds with it, how does banging someone upside the head break the grip of a freaking Infinity Stone? One warps reality, one can destroy a planet with a touch, one is an energy cube that can rip holes into the fabric of spacetime, but whacking someone's head breaks the Mind Stone's grip? I don't buy it. Not to mention the scene where Loki can't control Stark because of the arc reactor. Seriously? One of the six most powerful objects in the universe can't control Tony Stark's mind because the tip of the scepter's blade didn't "technically" touch him? Do you see how ridiculous that sounds now?
- I'll give you guys these two points: It is compelling that Loki telepathically communicated with the Other while holding the scepter, and that the scepter made everyone go ballistic on the Helicarrier. But how does the Mind Stone grant humans super powers? Seems better suited for the Reality Stone or something, wouldn't you say? Unless the gamma radiation from the Tesseract was able to mutat-…I mean, alter a normal human's DNA. Which brings me to my next point:
- In The Avengers, there are numerous references to the scepter being powered by the Tesseract. One Infinity Stone shouldn't have to power another one. Selvig says the reason why the scepter was able to shut the portal down was because it was powered by the Cube, and "you can't protect against yourself," or something. You could argue that one stone was able to beat another stone, and that's why it worked, but look at the scepter itself: the power source is BLUE! The Infinity Gems in the comics, and from the scene in Guardians of the Galaxy where the Collector was showing the backstory of the stones, it's apparent that the six Infinity Stones in the MCU (just like the comics) are all different colors. So, the Mind Stone and the Space Stone should not be the same color. I've made the whole "color" thing a big deal in this article, because the MCU isn't following the color scheme of the comics, and each Infinity Stone is a different color, so logically, the power source of the Chitauri Scepter cannot be a different Infinity Stone; it is as the characters say it is: powered by the Tesseract, aka the Space Stone.
So, for all of you readers not keeping score, that means the Power Stone (the Orb) and the Space Stone (the Tesseract) are the confirmed stones, while the Aether is suspected to be the Reality Stone. The Chitauri Scepter, in my opinion, is not an Infinity Stone, which means we still have the Time, Mind, and Soul Stones unaccounted for. So, how will these appear to us in the MCU? I've got some ideas:
Adam Warlock: In the comics, Adam Warlock (aka "Him") is created in a place called the "Beehive" to be the perfect human. He enters into a cocoon to revive himself (long story, read the comics or Google it), hence the cocoon we see in
Thor: The Dark World and
Guardians of the Galaxy. James Gunn himself confirmed that inside the cocoon is Adam Warlock.
Infinity Stone: Soul
Why?: In the comics, Adam Warlock possessed the green Soul Gem! Do you see the significance now? Granted, in the MCU, there's a strong possibility the Soul Stone won't be green, but it's the most likely source we have at the moment, especially considering you eagle-eyed geeks. Confused about what I mean? Well in the post-credits scene of
Guardians of the Galaxy, if you're quick enough to catch it, you'll notice that in the rubble, the cocoon is broken—and empty! This means that Adam Warlock is walking around the MCU! This, on top of Gunn saying that he wants to introduce a new member to the Guardians of the Galaxy in the sequel, points to Warlock. Again, you may ask why, and the answer is: Adam Warlock is a member of the Guardians in the comics! The sequel to
Guardians of the Galaxy is practically writing itself.
Doctor Strange: Dr. Stephen Strange, once the world's greatest and most egotistical neurosurgeon, shatters the bones in his hands in an automobile accident. Seeking a cure that medical science cannot provide, Strange seeks out the help of the mystical arts and finds himself in the company of a monk known as the Ancient One in the Himalayas. Using artifacts such as the Eye of Agamotto, the Orb of Agamotto, the Book of the Vishanti, and the Cloak of Levitation, Stephen becomes Earth's next Sorcerer Supreme and one of the Marvel Universe's greatest heroes.
Infinity Stone: Time or Mind
Why?: This is purely an educated guess, but
Doctor Strange makes perfect sense to introduce another Infinity Stone in. You have a guy who can enter other dimensions and uses ancient artifacts as the source of his powers. I'd like to share a quote from Kevin Feige concerning the possibility of a Doctor Strange film:
"I just watched the Neil deGrasse Tyson 'Cosmos' series, which is amazing, and which may as well be an acid trip. It is mind-bending and it's all based in physics and based in quantum mechanics. We're going to play a lot with the notion of that as an explanation for how the sorcerers do what they do."
Since the Reality Stone isn't necessarily confirmed, part of me wanted to imagine that this stone might be linked to Doctor Strange, but if they want to explain Strange's magic using quantum physics, then it stands to reason that there's no need to warp reality here; it'll all be based on the normal workings of the universe. As someone who studied quantum mechanics and physics in college, this is exciting to me, and it's why I feel either the Mind Stone or the Time Stone would suit this film.
This leaves only the Infinity Gauntlet undiscussed. As many Marvel fans know, the Infinity Gauntlet was an Easter Egg in
Thor:
Since we know at the end of
Thor: The Dark World that Loki is now posing as Odin and sitting on the throne of Asgard, the only way for Thanos to obtain the Infinity Gauntlet is to either invade Asgard or force Loki to cough it up. Or, if the rumors are true and the third
Thor film will involve the Norse apocalypse, the Ragnarok, it's possible in the chaos of that film that someone steals the Gauntlet and delivers it to Thanos. There are so many possible scenarios that can play out right now that it's nearly impossible to know what Feige is planning next.
So, if the Chitauri Scepter
isn't the Mind Stone, and
Doctor Strange does contain an Infinity Stone in the film, that leaves one missing, either Time or Mind, depending upon which is featured in
Doctor Strange. Honestly, it's still up in the air to me how everything will fall into place. What do YOU think will happen? Is the scepter the Mind Stone? Will Adam Warlock appear in
Guardians 2 and have the Soul Stone? Will Doctor Strange find one of the stones in another dimension? How will Thanos obtain all of the stones and the gauntlet? Let us know in the comments section! Thanks for reading, everybody! My name is Sam Lascio, and I am a Fanboy!
