The thing about Infinity War is that it was grandiose, vast and an almost never-ending saga. It was the culmination of ten years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. An arc that focuses mainly on stopping the bad guy from getting a bunch of stones with which he can control the universe sounds ludicrous in real life but Marvel used it as their ultimate selling point and made not millions but billions out of it. But in the grand scheme of things, we often forget that Marvel can also slip. True, Infinity War is one of the best superhero movies ever but it still had few major flaws regarding the chief plot element that is the Infinity Stones. Presenting 14 Crazy things about MCU’s Infinity Stones that make zero sense!!!
1. The Reality Stone is a liquid/stone
What is with this Marvel?? The Reality Stone was introduced to the MCU in Thor: The Dark World. It was called the Aether then, in a vague attempt to conceal the fact that Marvel was introducing the Infinity Stones to the MCU. But the thing about the Reality Stone is that it is in liquid form. That is expected since it was called the Aether then. But then why did it turn into a stone when Thanos came for it.
2. The Space Stone acts like the Mind Stone and the Power Stone
The Space Stone is essentially the stone that controls spatial dimensions. It can open portals and help you teleport instantaneously from one place to another. But here’s the catch. The Space Stone once was used as a power source for Hydra’s Weaponry in The First Avenger and in Thor’s Post Credits scene, established a mental link between Erik Selvig and Loki.
3. The Soul Stone Ceremony
There is no necessary prerequisite for obtaining the Infinity Stones. But there is one for Soul Stone. When Thanos and Gamora travel to Vormir, they encounter the “Stonekeeper” Red Skull who leads them to the Soul Stone. The Soul Stone requires a sacrifice for it to be wielded by anyone. But why is that? Besides, why was Red skull chosen as its guide? What are the criteria for being in his position?
4. Why did Thanos even need to snap his fingers?
The Snap-in the MCU is an important event. It was the very thing that instantly wiped out half of all life in the universe. But the thing is that the Snap is not even needed. Once you have the Infinity Gauntlet, the moment you think of something, you have it in the palm of your hands. Thanos just needed to think about annihilating half the universe and the Gauntlet would have made it a reality.
5. Why didn’t Malekith rewrite the laws of Reality in Dark World?
In Thor 2, Malekith the Dark Elf gets his hands on the Reality Stone aka Aether and uses the stone to fire anti-matter blasts at the God of Thunder. But that is not what the Reality Stone does. It can rewrite the laws of reality itself. Reality Stone is the most dangerous of all the Stones in the Marvel Universe and its use is only limited to people who know the aftermath of changing reality for their own selfish needs. Malekith could have just turned Thor into paper and then set him on fire. But he didn’t!!
6. The Reality Stone’s powers have a time limit
When Thanos encounters the Guardians in Knowhere, the Guardians try to get the jump on him. Star-Lord, Gamora, Mantis and Drax attack him at once but then Thanos uses the Reality Stone to do away with them. Drax and Mantis are literally transmuted. But when Thanos leaves the area, they turn back into their original self. This wasn’t supposed to happen like the way it went. When you will something using the Infinity Stone, it is essentially permanent.
7. Thor’s Vision in Age of Ultron
Thor is forced to see a doomed Asgard in the form of a vision induced by Scarlet Witch in Age of Ultron. Many fans had many theories about how this vision would literally bring about Ragnarok aka the End of Days in Norse Mythology for the Marvel Universe. This scene has not been converted into any sizeable plot line and Thor: Ragnarok makes no mention of it. The mystery is frustratingly incomplete and we want to know why!!!
8. The Mind Stone acts like the Power Stone
While we are talking about one stone mimicking the power of another, how can we leave the Mind Stone unexplained? As the second stone to ever appear in the MCU, the Mind Stone was the blue stone that adorned Loki’s Staff. In The Avengers of 2012, the Mind Stone was used by Loki several times to fire energy blasts at his opponent. That is the domain of the Power Stone.
9. The Mind Stone gave the Maximoffs Superpowers
The Mind Stone is perhaps the most well researched and dissected stone in the entire Marvel Universe. The Mind Stone also happens to have one unknown trait that is not shown in the comic books. It can give people superpowers. Baron Von Strucker used it to give the Maximoffs reality-altering powers and Super Speed. But how is it even possible? Is it the Mind Stone or the Mutant Stone?
10. Why didn’t Thanos use the Space Stone to transport his enemies away?
The Space Stone’s primary power is transportation across vast distances. All you have to do is make up a fist and the Space Stone activates, opening a wormhole to virtually anywhere. So why didn’t Thanos just use wormholes to teleport the Earth’s mightiest heroes to the Vacuum of space where they will die and Thanos can take a breather without breaking a sweat?
11. The Collector was given the Reality Stone!!!
It was a wise choice of Odin to not let Asgard be the treasurer of not just one but two Infinity Stones. So the All-Father decided to hand over the Infinity Stone to Tanleer Tivan aka the Collector. But it was actually a really stupid decision. You see Tivan is a collector of super rare objects and artefacts. If anyone was looking for an Infinity Stone, Tivan would be their first and foremost target. More importantly, his collection was virtually unguarded. Thanos strolled in like it was a walk in the park.
12. How does Tivan know about the Stones’ Origin Story?
When the Guardians meet Tivan for the first time to deliver to him the Power Stone, Tivan explains the origin story of the stones to them. He says that there are six such Infinity Stones and each stone was once a singularity that preceded the present universe before the big bang happened. After the Big Bang, the stones were scattered throughout the cosmos. But how does the Collector know about this? Unless he is older than the Marvel universe, he is not supposed to know this story.
13. Thanos almost got himself taken down even though he had 5 Stones with him
When you can already control space, power, time, reality and soul, there is literally no one that can stop you. You can just snap your fingers and push your enemies into space or turn them to dust or change reality or just snap your fingers and watch them frozen in time. But Captain America and company managed to hold their own against Thanos even though he had 5 stones with him. It is either that the Stones are overrated or Thanos is just a nincompoop.
14. Why are they all in one galaxy?
If the Collector is to be believed, when the Big Bang happened, the stones were scattered throughout the cosmos. But in the MCU, all the stones lie within the same freaking galaxy? Shouldn’t they be a little more spread out? I mean it took Thanos just 2 and a half hours (cinematically speaking) to get his hands on almost all of them. For something that is said to be too hard to find, the stones sure are no masters of hide and seek.
The highest earning movie under the MCU banner is Avengers: Infinity War. The plot synopsis for the third Avengers movie reads:
“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 artefacts 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.”
