Thanos' best friends are... INFINITY STONES! Fact or fiction!? Precious jewels or a dummy? Let's figure it out together with the Cotonauts! Everything you wanted to know about what the Avengers will fight for in Infinity War.
For 10 years, all Marvel films have been part of one common cinematic universe. Despite the fact that each film has its own unique style of storytelling, they are united by a cross-cutting plot, and no, it’s not just a purple guy on a throne with a Hollywood smile. We're talking about the Infinity Stones.
Six multi-colored stones, each of which has truly cosmic powers and gives its owner the power of God, as well as the ability to undo the entire Civil War II comic book arc. Throughout all three phases of the MCU, these powerful artifacts have appeared in films, but their power and history have not been truly told. The entire cinematic universe ultimately moves towards one event - the celestial Thanos intends to collect all the stones and destroy everyone who interferes with him. And before we talk in more detail about each stone and its interesting history, let's plunge into the lore and remember where these stones came from in Marvel comics.
In the comics, everything happened to the stones: they were lost in a black hole, they were tried to be destroyed and destroyed, they were owned by a huge number of characters, both individually and all at once. Why, they changed the color more than once! But their origin was almost always the same - the stones appeared as a result of the Big Bang, which created the universe. In the beginning there was a stone and there was one stone, it had the intelligence and strength of everyone, but at one moment it split into six (seven in the comics) separate stones, each of which has its own power. They tried to combine the stones back into one, but the most effective way was always the Infinity Gauntlet (In the comics there were even two of them, oh). Now let's learn more about each.
We only consider versions of stones from Marvel films and the information is current at the time of the release of Black Panther.
And a few more theories
Everyone is trying to guess which hero Thanos will finish off. Some believe that the victim will be Loki (the second trailer hints at this), others - that Vision (how else can you get his stone?). The stars' contracts are also a clue - they're about to expire, and it looks like Chris Evans won't be donning the Captain America suit after Avengers 4.
An android cannot survive without the Mind Stone.
Another popular theory is time travel. Fans think that Doctor Strange's Eye of Agamotto will save the heroes. The Wizard has already used the artifact in the battle with Dormammu, so he should go back in time and kill Grandfather Thanos? Fans believe that the heroes will use the Time Stone at the end of the film and travel back in time. This is evidenced by footage from the filming of “Avengers 4”, in which the heroes were captured in costumes from different eras.
Rumor has it that with the help of the Time Stone the heroes will go back in time.
A number of theories concern Hawkeye, who is carefully hidden in promotional materials. The creators, of course, say that Clint Barton will play an important role in the events, but there is not a hint of this in the trailers and posters. Fans are sure that Barton will wear the Ronin costume in the film - this is the nickname he appeared under in the comics.
The only promo shot with Hawkeye
Everything you need to know about the Marvel Infinity Stones
Warning: This material may contain spoilers for all films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Captain Marvel chases the Tesseract, the Guardians of the Galaxy steal the orb, and Thor tries to capture the Aether. These magical objects may seem like ordinary devices that are designed to further the plot of the MCU. But in reality, these objects are Infinity Stones, gems that give their owners great power.
Thanos, the fearsome purple titan, used their power to destroy half the universe in Avengers: Infinity War. And in Avengers: Endgame, Marvel's heroes reversed this damage by traveling through time to destroy all the Infinity Stones before Thanos could get his hands on them.
With a timeline as complex as the MCU's, it's not surprising that you might forget the names of the Infinity Stones, not to mention their powers and where you might have seen them before. After all, there are dozens of movies, TV shows, and videos in the MCU, and most of the Infinity Stones have multiple names.
We decided to make this article for you and answer all your questions about the Infinity Stones and what role they played in the MCU.
What are Infinity Stones
The Infinity Stones are alien stones that, when combined, can easily destroy people, planets and entire space systems.
How many Infinity Stones are there?
There are six Infinity Stones in total:
- Space Stone (blue);
- Reality Stone (red);
- Power Stone (purple);
- Mind Stone (yellow);
- Time Stone (green);
- Soul Stone (orange).
Where did the Infinity Stones come from?
As we were told in Guardians of the Galaxy, Six Galaxies existed before the creation of the Universe. The Big Bang transformed these entities into six separate Infinity Stones.
Where can you see the Infinity Stones?
Good question. It may be confusing, but many of these stones have two different names. Below you can read a brief description of all the names of the Infinity Stones and in which films they appeared.
Space Stone (Tesseract)
The space stone gives the one who uses it power over space. Anyone who wields the Space Stone can create a portal from one part of the universe to another. In the Marvel films, the Space Stone is hidden inside a blue cube called the Tesseract.
The Hydra organization used the Tesseract to control its weapons during World War II in Captain America: The First Avenger, but the Tesseract fell out of the plane Captain America was piloting at the end of the film. Next, the government agency S.H.I.E.L.D. took the Tesseract from the plane in the end credits scene of Thor.
In the 1990s film Captain Marvel, a Kree scientist named Mar-Vell (Annette Bening) used the power of the Tesseract to create an engine that could propel ships at the speed of light. Before Mar-Vell was killed by her own people, she hid the Tesseract on a spaceship.
Carol Danvers (Captain Marvel, played by Brie Larson) recovered the Tesseract, and her feline friend Goose (who is actually an alien named Flerken) took it to Nick Fury's office at S.H.I.E.L.D.
In the first Avengers film, Loki stole the Tesseract from S.H.I.E.L.D. and used it to open a portal to space. An alien army was able to pass through the portal and invade Earth. At the end of the film, Thor took the Tesseract to his home planet of Asgard to preserve it.
In Thor: Ragnarok, Thor realized that he must destroy Asgard in order to defeat the goddess of death, Hela. While he and his friends were fighting Hela, Loki snuck into the Asgardian treasury where the Tesseract was kept and stole it. In the post-credits scene of Thor: Ragnarok, we saw someone attack Thor's hideout ship while emitting the purple aura of the Power Stone.
Mind Stone (Loki's scepter)
The Mind Stone allows its user to control the minds of others. We first saw the stone in Loki's scepter in 2012's The Avengers. Whenever Loki touched someone with the scepter, he could control all their actions. Thanos gave the Mind Stone to Loki because he saw him as a fun, but not particularly experienced, villain.
The Avengers captured Loki's scepter at the start of Avengers: Age of Ultron. Tony Stark and Bruce Banner used the Mind Stone to create Ultron, an artificial intelligence to maintain peace.
After some squabbling, the Avengers eventually used the Mind Stone to create another android, Vision. The stone gave Vision enormous powers, including super-strength, the ability to fly, and the ability to walk through walls like a ghost. Curiously, the Mind Stone did not give him the ability to control his mind.
By placing the Mind Stone in Vision's forehead, the Avengers promised to protect the superhero. But when Thanos' army overtook Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Scarlet Witch destroyed the stone, killing Vision.
Reality Stone (Aether)
The Reality Stone gives the user the ability to manipulate matter. In Thor: The Dark World, the villain Malekith wants to use this red liquid material called Aether to create dark matter. It turned out that the ether is a manifestation of the Reality Stone.
At the end of the film, the Asgardians give the Reality Stone to the Collector because apparently they can't keep the Space Stone and the Reality Stone in Asgard. But this act could be a huge mistake: as soon as they leave, the Collector says the phrase "One down, five up" in a very angry voice.
It is unclear whether the Collector gave the stone to Thanos immediately or whether Thanos killed him. But when the Guardians of the Galaxy arrived to retrieve the Reality Stone from the Collector, they found only Thanos and the ruins, who had managed to take Gamora hostage.
Stone of Power
The Power Stone grants its owner energy capable of destroying an entire planet. Star-Lord accidentally discovered such a stone in Guardians of the Galaxy. But Ronan the Accuser stole it to destroy all living things.
The thing about Infinity Stones is that you won't be able to hold them in your hand for long without dying. And when Peter took the stone from Ronan, he began to destroy it with his power, but all the Guardians joined hands, which allowed him to control his power.
The Guardians of the Galaxy then gave the stone to the Nova Corps, the space police, for safekeeping. But the officers in the Nova Corps did a pretty bad job. Thanos destroyed the planet Xandar and took the stone for himself.
Time Stone (Eye of Agamotto)
The Time Stone gives its owner the ability to rewind time forward or backward. Stephen Strange discovered it in the Eye of Agamotto pendant in the library of Kamar-Taj, where he studied the mystical arts. He uses it to lure Dormammu into a trap, who wanted to destroy the Earth.
Doctor Strange does not, like the others, hand over the Stone for safekeeping to someone, but decides to look after it himself and hides it in Kamar-Taj.
Doctor Strange carries the Time Stone throughout Infinity War and even tells Iron Man that if he had to choose between giving up the stone and saving the lives of the Avengers, he would prioritize the stone. He later uses the Time Stone's power to explore many possible futures at the end of Infinity War.
Soul Stone
In Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos visited the planet Vormir with Gamora, where the Soul Stone was kept. There they encountered the Red Skull, a villain from the first Captain America film, who was destined to guard but did not use the Soul Stone after attempting to touch it. Red Skull told Thanos that he needed to sacrifice something he loved to get the gem, and Thanos killed Gamora.
It's unclear what the Soul Stone's powers are within the film. In the comics, the Soul Stone allows the owner to capture and control the souls of others. It creates a separate universe in which the person who owns it can travel soul to soul. It's possible that the people who turned to dust at the end of Avengers: Infinity War simply transported themselves to this alternate universe created by the stone.
Why do all the Infinity Stones need storage?
The most important reason is that you simply cannot hold them in your hand, otherwise you will die. Look at the Red Skull or Star-Lord. This is why the Time Stone is in a necklace, the Mind Stone in a scepter, the Space Stone in a Tesseract, etc. Thanos also had to wear a special golden glove to hold all the stones.
What is Thanos' Infinity Gauntlet?
The Infinity Gauntlet is a golden gauntlet that can hold all the Infinity Stones and grants the wearer unlimited power.
We were first shown the Infinity Gauntlet in the Asgardian treasury in the first Thor. We were then shown it again in a scene after Avengers: Age of Ultron, where Thanos entered what was definitely not an Asgardian vault, put on the Infinity Gauntlet and said, "Okay, I'll do it myself."
This confusion regarding the two Infinity Gauntlets was cleared up to us in Thor: Ragnarok when Hela, while walking through the Asgardian treasury, looked at the Infinity Gauntlet, threw it aside and called it a fake.
Why does Thanos want to destroy half the universe?
In the comics, Thanos falls in love with Death (or his physical form) and collects the Infinity Stones to destroy universes and impress her. Marvel Studios hinted at this storyline back in 2012, when a henchman told Thanos to fight the Avengers to "achieve Death" and Thanos smiled in response.
But the Infinity War writers must have changed their minds about the villain's motives after filming that scene. And Thanos began to worry about the overpopulation of the Universe. So Thanos wants to destroy half the Universe to rid it of overpopulation.
Why didn't Thanos collect the Infinity Stones sooner?
Thanos sent Ronan the Accuser and Loki to retrieve the Infinity Stones and came up empty-handed both times. He seems to get things done much faster by just doing everything himself. Maybe the reason was just laziness?
What powers will the Space Stone give Thanos?
First, let's note that this stone was known as the Cosmic Cube from Captain America: The First Avenger. This Cube really wanted the Red Skull to use it to create energy weapons for Hydra. In The Avengers, this stone received a more elegant name - Tesseract. As it turns out, it is not only a powerful source of energy, but also a key that can open and close portals connecting points millions of miles apart. We eventually learned that we were dealing with nothing more than the Space Stone. Suddenly, his ability to bring villains and armies from all over the universe to earth made sense. This stone erases any problems associated with overcoming physical space.
Mind Stone
Avengers: Age of Ultron, the Mind Stone was kept in Loki's scepter, with the help of which he was able to harness the power of the stone and control the minds of people, forcing them to obey his will. Later, the scepter was stolen by the resurrected Hydra organization, which was hiding within the walls of SHIELD. Hydra used the scepter's power to create two metahumans, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch (also capable of mind manipulation).
Later in the film, the Stone was removed from the staff and used by Ultron to create a perfect body, whose tissues combined the qualities of living matter and the strongest metal vibranium. But due to the intervention of the Avengers, this resulted in the creation of another classic Avenger, Vision, capable, for example, of shooting death rays from the Stone located on his forehead. Apparently, this Stone can serve as the basis for a wide variety of abilities.
Now the stone burns like a bright star in Vision’s forehead and (SPOILER) it may not burn there for long. From the trailers you can understand that the ghouls of Thanos are especially encroaching on his boss. (VERY BIG SPOILER) The teaser showed the Gauntlet, which already had the Mind Stone inserted into it. Is Vision RIP or can he live without the stone?
Infinity Gauntlet
The Infinity Gauntlet is a powerful artifact consisting of six Infinity Stones. Increases the owner's strength. Collecting all the stones means collecting all the power and all the knowledge of the universe. The gauntlet was created by the dwarves, on the orders of the titan Thanos.
Interesting Facts:
- According to Marvel comics, the Infinity Gauntlet was part of Thanos' costume - Thanos killed the entire race of dwarves, saving the life of their king Eitri. He melted his hands - Each stone shows its power in its own way. They light up when used -According to comics and films, the color of the stones is different -Only the strong are able to control the infinity gauntlet. For this reason, each stone was kept in a separate artifact.
Power Stone
This stone has also only appeared in one Marvel film so far - Guardians of the Galaxy . The mysterious Sphere, which was simultaneously hunted by all the protagonists and antagonists of the film, turned out to be a container for the Power Stone. Subsequently, the main villain of the film, Ronan the Accuser, tried to destroy the entire planet Xander, for which he only needed to touch the surface of this world with a stone. As a result, Ronan was destroyed by the same stone, after which he was imprisoned back in the Sphere.
In fact, the Stone is the source of energy for everything. It is most effective when combined with other stones, which it can feed on itself. Well, of course, individually, having the ability to blow up an entire planet with one blow is quite a powerful force. It may also make people dance strangely in an emergency, but that's not certain.
The stone is located in perhaps one of the most protected places in the universe - on the Nova Corps on Xandra. (do you want more SPOILERS?) At the beginning of the teaser for the film “Avengers: Infinity War” we are shown a planet that is clearly not in the best shape, with explosions and so on visible, and so, the planet is painfully reminiscent of the destroyed Xander. Apparently, Thanos will still finish what Ronan started.
Purification of minerals during treatment
When using precious and semi-precious stones for treatment, you need to remember to clean them in a timely manner. In case of complex diseases and constant use, magical talismans succumb to the “vibrations” of their owner and absorb his energy.
To ensure that the effect of minerals does not fade away, but rather manifests itself with greater force each time, they should be cleansed on time. There are several ways to clean a stone :
- The simplest and most effective way is to involve the power of nature in the procedure. To do this, we keep our mineral under water for some time. It is best to use a river, lake or other natural body of water for this purpose. We immerse the stone under water, but do not let it fall to the bottom. During the procedure, do not look at or admire the mineral; periodically remove it and immerse it back for about 15 minutes. After washing, we do not wipe it, but place the gem in direct sunlight for half an hour. After it has naturally dried, we wipe our mineral with a white, clean cotton cloth.
- Quartz is considered to be the most powerful cleansing agent. Use a druse of pure quartz and about 4 single crystals for the procedure. We lay out a cross from single pieces around the druzy and leave it all for 3 hours. After the procedure, the mineral can be considered purified.
Space stone
The Space Stone - or as it was also called in the films, the Tesseract
— imprisoned in a hypercube, which perfectly reflects his strength. He is responsible for the control and distortion of space and matter of space, as well as teleportation (opening wormholes or analogues of the rainbow bridge, as you like).
The Tesseract was the first stone to appear in films. His debut took place in the film "The First Avenger" . Initially, Hydra, under the leadership of the Red Skull, tried to control its power, but Cap stopped the villain and the entire organization in time, and the stone disappeared in the waters of the Arctic Ocean until Howard Stark found it and handed it over to the SHIELD organization for study.
Over the course of ten years, the stone has been shaken throughout the universe: initially, Loki stole it from SHIELD and tried to use the power of the stone to create a huge portal over New York to teleport the Chitauri army. After the events of the first Avengers, it was taken to an Asgardian vault by Thor, from which it was re-stolen by Loki in Thor: Ragnarok . (SPOILER) As we know from the first teasers of the film “Avengers: Infinity War,” Loki, either himself or under duress, gives the stone to Thanos.
(/SPOILER)
There is also an interesting theory associated with this stone. At the end of Captain America : The First Avenger, Red Skull grabs a stone and is transported to an unknown point in the universe. Although we never saw the Red Skull again after this film, it is likely that he could have ended up in a place where time flows completely differently and he could still be alive, planning his return and subsequent revenge. Are we looking forward to the return of the Red Skull in the next Captain America solo film? If, of course, Cap remains alive...
The color of stones and its effect on human vital energy
Color is an energy flow of a certain frequency. Therefore, color is also energy that can have a positive or negative effect on a person’s aura. In recent decades, the practice of color therapy has become widespread. In ancient times, they also knew about the influence of color on a person’s mental and physical health. For example, during measles, red curtains and rags were hung in the patient’s room. Avicenna recommended wearing red clothes for apathy.
| Color | Name of the stone | Action |
| Red | Ruby, tourmaline, spinel, garnet | These gems increase vitality and the immune system, and improve performance. They influence the composition of the blood, thin it and cleanse it. Stones can help a person, but they will also require payment in return: red is not only the color of love, but also of hatred. Red-colored amulets not only attract attention to a person, but also enhance negative aspects - aggression. Remember that you should not wear jewelry with red stones for a long time, otherwise you can bring disaster upon yourself through emotional incontinence. |
| Yellow | Topaz, zircon, beryl, citrine and others | These are stones of optimists; they are able to neutralize even the most persistent melancholy and depressive feelings. With their help, you can quickly cope with the consequences of stress and get an incentive to live on and move along the chosen path. These gems bring back the taste for life. |
| Green | Jade, tourmaline, beryl, chrysoprase, emerald, aventurine and others | The energy of the stones saturates its owner with vitality. With their help, you can quickly restore wasted energy and return to work. They are often used in healing practice for cell regeneration and recovery from illness - you just need to hold the gem in your hand for 15 minutes, thinking about your well-being. Transparent green gems are especially useful. |
| Blue, light blue | Sapphire, celestine, amazonite, aquamarine | These gems have a relaxing effect on the psyche and physical condition of a person. They extinguish emotional impulses and help to concentrate on any object. They are used in meditative practices to relieve nervous tension and equalize mood. The stones help to recover from energy depletion, but it is not recommended to use them often. |
If you need to quickly restore spent energy resources, use yellow-colored minerals:
- Amber - quickly restores vitality (but without insects inside);
- yellow jasper - saves from overwork, restores energy balance;
- rutile quartz - a powerful flow of energy if placed on the solar plexus;
- golden-hued topaz - replenishes energy reserves;
- citrine - can increase energy and replenish vitality.
