Avengers Infinity War will be a grand affair. The Mad Titan is coming. And he is coming to claim his throne as the rightful ruler of creation. The Marvel Cinematic Universe introduced the idea of Infinity Stones – six Stones of immense power which when put together would help the wielder conquer the cosmos.
The Infinity Stones of the MCU are a concept derived from Marvel Comics’ Infinity Gems. But what is the difference between the ‘Stones’ and the ‘Gems’? We will help you there. This is how The MCU’s Infinity Stones are different from Marvel Comics’ Infinity Gems.
Spoiler Alert: Minor Spoilers for Infinity War. Enter at your own risk….
The Mad Titan will be seen in full throttle action along with his Black Order and a giant army of ruthless alien fighters as they wreak havoc and destruction upon anyone who dares to stop Thanos from retrieving Infinity stones. He wants to control cosmic singularities which will literally make him the most powerful cosmic entity in the universe. The only ones standing are the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy.
With Infinity War on the horizon, it makes all the more sense to help the fans realize just how different the stones would be from their comic book counterparts. Will they disappoint or will they be worthy of ovation? Will they be comic book accurate or will the powers they grant be drastically different than those in the comic books? That is the million dollar question right now. We are here to answer them. Brace yourselves for a bumpy roller coaster ride.
The Six Infinity Stones in the MCU are the Stones of Power, Reality, Time, Mind, Soul and Space. Let’s get into the devil in the details now.
The Space Stone
The Tesseract was first introduced in The First Avenger and everyone mistook it for another cosmic artifact called the Cosmic Cube, a reality warping object. The Tesseract was used by the Red Skull to power his weapons and his armies. At the end of the movie, the Tesseract opened up a gateway to space and launched Red Skull into Oblivion. But later, it was found out that the Tesseract was just a matrix holding the Space Stone. The real power was a Stone hiding within the cube.
In the comics, the Space Stone is capable of so many things other than teleportation. It can allow the wielder to travel at a speed greater than light. When coupled with the other stones, it effectively grants the wielder omniscience. It also allows the wielder to manipulate celestial objects.
The Power Stone
The Power Stone was introduced in the GOTG Vol. 1 movie. It was mentioned as an object of immense ‘power’ and everyone took the hint. When unleashed on a planet, the Power Stone could annihilate it within seconds and only beings of power like the Celestials could wield it. In the comics, The Power Stone does not just contain limitless energy; it also amplifies your inner strength.
Coupled with the other stones, the Power Stone can amplify the power of the Gauntlet. It also allows the user to get access to any superpower there ever was and ever will be.
The Time Stone
The Time Stone appears in Doctor Strange. It showed us how truly powerful it made the sorcerer supreme by allowing him to manipulate time itself. Strange could create time loops, reverse time, and possibly turn back to both the past and future events.
The Comic book version is pretty much similar in nature. Using the Time Gem, Thanos added yet another aspect of reality to his abilities. Without time being a hindrance, he learned of all the abilities of the Infinity Stones in an instant.
The Reality Stone
The most ambiguous of all the stones, the abilities of the Reality Stone were not sketched out nicely in Thor 2 (then again, so wasn’t the movie.). The Aether sought by Malekith contained the Reality Stone within it. The Aether’s liquid strands could create super strong life forms and bring an end to all life and plunge the universe into darkness. The Comic book version’s powers are more concrete in nature. It manipulated reality on a massive scale and when coupled with the rest of the stones, allowed Thanos to kill half of the universe with the snap of his fingers.
The Mind Stone
The Mind Stone made a secret entrance into the MCU. It was what made the killer AI Ultron and it is what gives Vision his powers. It also possesses mind control abilities from what was seen of Loki in The Avengers. Other than that, it does not offer us much clue.
In the comics, the Mind Gem can access the minds of every living being on Earth, giving the wearer unlimited access to knowledge. When coupled with the other stones, The Mind Gem could access all life in the present, past and future simultaneously.
The Soul Stone
The Great Mystery of the MCU is – where the hell is the Soul Stone? In the comic books, the Soul Gem grants the user absolute control over all the souls on Earth. It can turn the living into the dead and vice versa. When put together with the rest of the stones, Thanos could rule all life in the Universe, Maybe that is why Marvel is hiding it from the viewers for now as a power like that needs to be kept in check until the very last minute and the Big Reveal. The Soul Stone is lurking around somewhere in the MCU.
In the comics, the Soul Gem was jaded to the forehead of Adam Warlock. Maybe, just maybe, it is the same in the MCU too.
In the upcoming Avengers Infinity War, we will see all the six Infinity stones wielded by Mad Titan ‘Thanos’ as he steals them one by one and assembles the Infinity Gauntlet. The movie is directed by Russo brothers and produced by Marvel President Kevin Feige. The screenplay is written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely.
The ensemble cast is an impressive line up of actors including Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Chris Pratt (Starlord), Chris Evans (Captain America), Sebastian Stan (Winter soldier), Anthony Mackie (Falcon), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Samuel Jackson (Nick Fury), Mark Ruffalo (Hulk), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Cobie Smulders (Mariah Hill), Jeremy Reiner (Hawkeye), Benedict Wong (Wong), Benedict Cumberbatch (Dr. Strange), Tom Holland (Spiderman), Chadwick Boseman (Black Panther), Letitia Wright (Shuri), Bradley Cooper (Rocket Raccoon), Vin Diesel (Groot), Zoe Saldana (Gamora), Karen Gillian (Nebula), Paul Rudd (Ant-Man), Elizabeth Olsen (Scarlett Witch), Paul Bettany (Vision), Dave Bautista (Drax), Pom Klementieff (Mantis), Josh Brolin (Thanos).
Here is the official synopsis for the movie released by Marvel studios:
“Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk and the rest of the Avengers unite to battle their most powerful enemy yet — the evil Thanos. On a mission to collect all six Infinity Stones, Thanos plans to use the artifacts to inflict his twisted will on reality. The fate of the planet and existence itself has never been more uncertain as everything the Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment”.
“An unprecedented cinematic journey ten years in the making and spanning the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Studios’ “Avengers: Infinity War” brings to the screen the ultimate, deadliest showdown of all time. The Avengers and their Super Hero allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to defeat the powerful Thanos before his blitz of devastation and ruin puts an end to the universe”.
“As the Avengers and their allies have continued to protect the world from threats too large for any one hero to handle, a new danger has emerged from the cosmic shadows: Thanos. A despot of intergalactic infamy, his goal is to collect all six Infinity Stones, artifacts of unimaginable power, and use them to inflict his twisted will on all of reality. Everything the Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment – the fate of Earth and existence itself has never been more uncertain”.
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