The Infinity Stones have cropped up all over the MCU over the past ten years and 18 movies. But with Infinity War approaching, it’s time to really pay attention to them.
Here’s the rundown: There are six Infinity Stones (also known as gems, but they’re rebranding): Time, Space, Power, Mind, Reality, and one we’ve never seen – Soul. When combined with the Infinity Gauntlet, they are the most powerful objects in the universe.
Five are accounted for. Time is with Doctor Strange, Space with Loki, Power with the Nova Corps, Mind with Vision, and Reality with The Collector. So where and what the heck is the Soul Stone? The new trailer is epic, but it does raise a bunch of questions about the film, as trailers are wont to do. Here are Seven of the biggest questions we’re pondering.
Watch ‘Infinity War’ Trailer:
1.Where Is the Soul Stone?
It’s looking increasingly likely that the final Infinity Stone, the only one we haven’t seen in a Marvel movie before, might not be part of Infinity War. For a while, fans thought we’d see the missing Soul Stone in Black Panther, but it was MIA in that flick too. The new Infinity War trailer doesn’t explicitly show the Soul Stone, so we’re still in the dark about its whereabouts. At one point, Tony Stark says “we have what Thanos wants, so that’s what we’ll use,” and later we see what looks like a big last stand in Wakanda. Is Tony specifically talking about the Soul Stone, which could, for all we know, still be in Wakanda? Or does he just mean the yellow Mind Stone in Vision’s forehead? Where is that dang thing?
Wakanda Forever
One of the most popular theories is that the great people of Wakanda, in addition to possessing abundant stores of vibranium, are perhaps unknowingly harboring the Soul Stone – how else could they go into the spirit world at will? Now that the country has revealed its true power, the eyes of the Earth and beyond are on Wakanda – including thirsty Thanos and his obsession with the stones.
Look to Asgard
A rewatch of Thor: The Dark World will remind us that Heimdall can see every being in the nine realms – literally 10 trillion souls, which is a lot of souls! Sounds like someone affiliated with the Soul Stone, doesn’t it? The stone might be connected to his orange eyes, or more likely to the gem embedded in the breastplate of his armor (though he no longer has that as of Thor: Ragnarok).
In Age of Ultron, Thor had a vision of a blind Heimdall whose sight could have been taken by Thanos in his quest for the Soul Stone. If not Heimdall, some speculate that Odin may have had the stone behind his eye patch, but the Asgardians already have one Infinity Stone and don’t believe in keeping any two close together.
Yet another theory suggests the stone was encased in Thor’s Mjolnir (R.I.P.) which raises the question… where is it now?
2.Is it Tony Stark (isn’t everything?)
Easily the least likely and most convoluted, this theory that’s popped up on social media is made up of a few different elements across a number of movies.
Ready? takes deep breath
The official Infinity War Twitter account released some promo art featuring the names of the Stones imposed on an image relevant to the film they were featured in – the Avengers for the Space Stone, Star Lord for Power, Thor for Reality, Vision for Mind and Doctor Strange for Time.
As for the Soul Stone, the background was none other than Iron Man , with the snazzy lens flare seeming to emanate from the Arc Reactor in his chest.
Not much to go on, admitttedly. But there are some other possible hints.
Tony couldn’t be controlled by Loki’s scepter, a.k.a. the Mind Stone in The Avengers, though we assumed that was because of the arc reactor. There’s a moment in the teaser trailer where Tony is moving when Banner and Strange seem frozen (they might just be in shock), which would mean he isn’t affected by the Time Stone either. If Tony used the Soul Stone to create his arc reactor, that would explain his body’s response to the other stones.
Some have also cited a series of posters that pairs Iron Man with the Soul Stone, but in all likelihood that’s because the color scheme worked out and whoever made them didn’t want lil’ Tony to feel left out while all his friends got their own posters.
He could still acquire it during Infinity War and then expend all efforts (perhaps even give his life??) to protect it.
Or…
Since we’re all throwing our Soul Stone theories out there, here’s mine: It doesn’t exist yet. Tony will sacrifice himself and his “soul” will create the stone out of inert material Thanos has in the gauntlet. #InfinityWar
— Donna Dickens (@MildlyAmused) March 15, 2018
3. It’s all about Guardians Vol. 3 ?
A popular and plausible theory is that the stone is with Adam Warlock, whom we know won’t be introduced until Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. The character is strongly associated with the Soul Stone in the comics, and his introduction to the MCU was teased in the end credits of Guardians Vol. 2.
And as long as we’re talking about Guardians Vol. 3 – the stone could as easily be with Ego, or even somehow connected to Peter Quill’s human mother, Meredith. A fun crack theory is that it’s with Howard the Duck, a drunk, talking waterfowl positioned close enough to The Collector, who has been known to possess more than one Infinity Stone at a time.
4.How Does Thanos Get the Stones?
In most of the trailer, Thanos already has the blue Space Stone and purple Power Stone, and the first trailer showed that he somehow gets the Mind Stone from Vision’s dome. But, how does he get those first two Stones? Thanos is reportedly going to do something horrifying in the first 5 minutes of the film. It would make sense if he either gets the Power Stone by leveling Xandar, the planet the Guardians of the Galaxy saved in their first movie, or by attacking Thor and Loki on their ship, as foreshadowed by the first Thor: Ragnarok post-credits scene. We didn’t explicitly see it in that movie, but Loki swiped the Space Stone/Tesseract from Asgard’s vault. Thanos wants that stone, and he has beef with Loki thanks to his actions in the first Avengers. The new trailer showed Loki standing around with Thanos’s henchmen, so it’s possible that he joins up with Thanos and gives him the Stone. It seems more likely, though, that Thanos might kill Loki, which would certainly be a dramatic start to the film.
5.What does Thanos want?
In the original comics, Thanos does what he does because he is literally in love with Death — not the concept, but Death personified in a female form. That’s a little much for the movies, at least for now, but Thanos still needs a reason to do what he does. Gamora says he’s always wanted to destroy half of the universe, and later Thanos talks about “balance,” lovingly. Flashbacks to Thanos and Gamora’s past, which this trailer confirmed we’ll see, will probably explain more, but the trailer raises as many questions as it answers.
6.Who Is Going to Die?
This is probably the biggest question fans have going into Infinity War, and while there’s no way that Marvel would just straight-up reveal who dies in a trailer, the new spot does seem pretty ominous for several of our favorite heroes. Both Iron Man and Captain America — two characters whose actors happen to have contracts that have just about run out — find themselves on the other end of Thanos’s fist. Fans have long suspected that one or both of those characters might bite it in Infinity War, but the new trailer also puts Thor, Loki, and Doctor Strange in rough positions. Plus, the last trailer confirmed that Thanos gets the Mind Stone, which might spell doom for Vision.
7.Where Is Ant-Man?
Sure, you can joke that Ant-Man is so small that he could technically be in every shot of the Infinity War trailer (I have done exactly that, actually), but it’s still kind of weird that Paul Rudd’s size-changing hero hasn’t made a visible appearance in any of the trailers. He’s also not in the new poster Marvel just released, which features basically every other character.
Supposedly, Rudd is in the film, and Infinity War is going to do a lot of setting up for Ant-Man and the Wasp. If he goes on some tiny mission to the Quantum Realm, the trailers sure as heck aren’t teasing it.
Hopefully, we’ll find out the answer to all of these questions when Infinity War premieres on April 27, 2018.
