Even since Phase One of Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Infinity Stones have been at the core, even though they were first mentioned in the post-credits scene of ‘Thor: The Dark World‘. After the events of ‘Avengers: Endgame’, the Infinity Stones have been wiped from the phase of the universe after the famous Thanos’ snap. As MCU shifted its focus to the multiversal saga, the stones are nowhere to be found, despite their importance.
In the MCU timeline, these six Infinity Stones represent each aspect of the universe. Mentioned in the post-credit scene of ‘Thor‘, Tesseract is the Space Stone. The Avengers secretly debuted the Mind Stone, hidden within the gem of Loki’s scepter. ‘Thor: The Dark World‘ saw Malekith seek the Aether, a.k.a. the Reality Stone, while ‘Guardians of the Galaxy‘ introduced the purple Power Stone. ‘Doctor Strange‘ saw the titular Master of the Mystic Arts wield the Time Stone, saving the Soul Stone till last, debuting in ‘Infinity War‘.
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Thanos Destroyed Infinity Stones After The Events Of ‘Avengers: Infinity Wars’
‘Avengers: Infinity War’ finally brought all the Infinity Stones together for Thanos to snap and destroy half the existence to bring balance. This led to widespread devastation, as trillions of lives were lost randomly, and in an instant, the cosmos was thrust into five years of turmoil. To restore balance the Avengers set out to look for the Mad Titan three weeks after the snap.
The Earth’s mightiest theories found Thanos in ‘The Garden’ where they learned that he destroyed the Infinity Stones. Thanos confessed that he destroyed the stones using the stones itself meaning a second snap reduced the infinity stones to atoms. The Avengers embarked on a time heist five years later to collect Infinity Stones from various periods in the MCU’s history, bringing everyone back to life in ‘Avengers: Endgame’.
However, when Hulk met with the Ancient One to secure the Time Stone, she was hesitant to give away the Time Stone fearing the consequences. The pair share an enlightening conversation, during which the Ancient One suggests that the removal of the Infinity Stones from the universe could lead to devastation, but this hasn’t been seen to happen in the MCU after the Infinity Stones’ destruction in ‘Endgame’.
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Infinity Stones Still Exist Across The Multiverse
With the concept of a multiverse being introduced in the MCU, there is a possibility that the Infinity Stones may have been destroyed in one timeline but still ceased to exist in another. Several exist in realities explored during the Avengers’ Time Heist in ‘Endgame’ and later it appeared in Loki when the God of Mischief sees several Infinity Stones, their power doesn’t work in the TVA and some of the staff even use them as paperweights.
Marvel Studios’ ‘What If…?‘ further explored the role of the Infinity Stones in alternate storylines, showcasing their impact on pivotal events and characters. The introduction of the MCU multiverse has expanded the potential for diverse narratives involving the Infinity Stones, offering new possibilities for their exploration in future MCU releases.
‘What If…?’s’ most pivotal storyline saw Ultron, successfully transfer into Vision’s body, claim the Infinity Stones, and wreak havoc across the multiverse, forcing the Watcher to bring the Guardians of the Multiverse. These stones were locked in a pocket dimension along with Arnim Zola in Ultron’s body and a version of Killmonger and reappeared in ‘What If…?’ season 2 to defeat Strange Supreme when used in combination with one well-timed punch from Captain Carter.
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