Across the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), everything that has been happening always comes down to one thing, the Infinity Stones. Be it Red Skull using the Tesseract in an attempt to annihilate the United States of America, Loki showing up with his scepter, Captain Marvel gaining her powers, Peter Quill the leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy figuring out that he is half celestial, and more events are all linked to Infinity Stones in Marvel movies.
But we never really got to know a lot about these Infinity Stones in the Marvel Cinematic Universe except for a few stories and dialogues briefly describing the origin of these stones. So, in this guide, we will talk about Marvel’s Infinity Stones and everything you should know about them.
Note: This article contains spoilers for all Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movies, so we advise you to watch the Marvel movies in order (up to Phase 3) to avoid ruining the story.
How Many Infinity Stones Are There?
There are a total of six Infinity Stones in the Marvel Universe. According to the Marvel Universe mythology, long before time and space existed, there used to be six singularities, they were the only thing that existed.
When the Big Bang took place, these six singularities got compressed and took a gem-like form called the Infinity Stones. These stones contained the concentrated power of the 6 basic elements everything that exists is made up of namely. Here are the six infinity stones that exist in the MCU:
- Space Stone
- Mind Stone
- Reality Stone
- Power Stone
- Time Stone
- Soul Stone
Marvel’s Infinity Stone Powers
Each Infinity Stone contains a specific set of powers, which can either be used individually or in a combined manner using something like the Infinity gauntlet. So, now let’s talk about the powers each of the Infinity stones possesses.
1. The Space Stone
The Space Stone was the first Infinity Stone to be introduced to us but in the form of the Tesseract Cube. It first appeared in the mid-credit scene of the first Thor movie in 2011. The second appearance of the Tesseract was in Captain America: The First Avenger where Red Skull was exploiting its power to create weapons of mass destruction.
If we talk about the Space Stone, the cube is nothing but a sort of container to minimize the effects of direct contact with the stone. The true power of the Space Stone is to create limitless portals that can teleport the user from one place to another, even across universes.
2. The Mind Stone
The Mind Stone was first seen during the events of Avengers (2012) as a source of power for Loki’s Sceptre given to him by Thanos. Later on, we got to see the Mind Stone as a part of Vision, the superhero created by Tony Stark and Bruce Banner, the only difference was that the Stone changed its color from blue to yellow. The Mind Stone bestows its user with the power to control minds and also grants the user a higher level of intellect.
3. The Reality Stone
The Reality Stone appeared first in Thor: The Dark World when it was revealed that the red, liquid thing the villain Malekith wanted to use in order to replace all matter with dark matter, was a construct of the Reality Stone.
We see the Reality Stone was given to The Collector for safekeeping because apparently, the Space Stone and the Reality Stone should not be kept together. The Reality Stone has the power to manipulate the fabric of reality to the user’s will.
4. The Power Stone
Making its first appearance in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.1, the Power Stone was accidentally discovered by Peter Quill only to find out that Ronan the Accuser wants to use the power of this infinity stone to destroy entire civilizations.
Later on, The Guardians of the Galaxy stop Ronan the Accuser and give the Power Stone to the Nova Corps for safekeeping. The Power Stone can manipulate raw energy and increase the strength of its user to god-like levels.
5. The Time Stone
The Time Stone made its first appearance in Doctor Strange (one of the most powerful Avengers), where it was stored inside “The Eye of Agamotto.” Doctor Strange used its power to fight off Dormamu and later on used it against Thanos as well. The Time Stone has the power to manipulate and control time at the will of its user.
6. The Soul Stone
Thanos travels to Vormir after capturing Gamora to collect the Soul Stone, where he meets Red Skull, the villain of the first Captain America movie. He had been given the curse of guarding the Soul Stone because he tried to use the power of an Infinity Stone. Red Skull tells Thanos that he will have to sacrifice something he loves to gain the Soul Stone, so Thanos kills Gamora in order to get the stone.
The power of the Soul Stone has not been properly described in the MCU, but if we look at the comics, the Soul Stone can alter the soul of a person and the wielder of this stone can teleport other souls into an alternate dimension.
What is the Infinity Gauntlet?
The Infinity Stones are too unstable to be held as it is a person’s hand. Even the Mad Titan himself needs something to concentrate and control the power of the Infinity stones, and this is where the Infinity Gauntlet comes in. The Infinity Gauntlet is a golden glove Thanos forced Eitri, a dwarf blacksmith who forged weapons for the gods, to make that can hold and harness all the Infinity Stones. It allows the one wearing it to use the stones at their will.
We first see the Gauntlet in the treasure room of Asgard in the first part of Thor, but later on, we get to see it in the post-credit scene of Avengers: Age of Ultron causing confusion among the fans and also raising possibilities of two Infinity Gauntlets, co-existing. Marvel rather cleverly got rid of all the confusion when Hela, in Thor: Ragnarok, while walking through the treasure room of Asgard looked at the Gauntlet and called it “Fake” before tossing it away.
Stone Ability Infinity Stone Color First Apperance Space Stone Can create portals allowing the user of this stone to teleport Blue Thor (The Tesseract Cube) Mind Stone Can control minds, enhance the intelligence level of the user, can create new life Yellow Avengers – 2012 (Loki’s Scepter) Reality Stone Manipulate reality Red Thor: The Dark World Power Stone Manipulate raw energy and enhance the user’s strength significantly Purple Guardians of the Galaxy (The Orb) Time Stone Manipulate and control time Green Doctor Strange (Eye of Agamotto) Soul Stone Alter the soul and the complete personality of the holder Orange Avengers Infinity War
MCU Infinity Stones Future: Where Are They Now?
Everything that has been happening in the MCU till phase 3 was part of the Infinity Saga, meaning every single event that we witnessed in the MCU from phase 1 to phase 3 would eventually lead us to the formation of the Avengers and their dealing with the Infinity Stones. If we talk about the current status of the Infinity Stones, according to the movies and the lore, they are now destroyed.
If you remember, in Avengers Infinity War Thanos’ snap wiped out half the world’s population, and while doing so, the infinity stones were destroyed as well. This is the reason the Avengers had to go back in time to collect all the Infinity Stones so they could bring back everyone who vanished using the stones.
So now the question arises, where are the Infinity Stones now? Well, the answer to that is that they have been destroyed and no longer play a role in the MCU. With the end of the Infinity Saga, MCU is now moving towards it’s multiverse saga with some amazing upcoming Marvel movies.
Sanmay Chakrabarti
