Infinity Gems

The Reed Richards of Earth-616, in an attempt to "solve everything", meets with a council of alternate universe Reeds. Three of them wear Infinity Gauntlets, which only work in their respective universes.[31]

During the "Incursion" storyline, the Avengers travel to a parallel Earth where a pastiche of the Justice League have replaced this Earth's Avengers who all died in a previous cataclysm. Here the Gems are all square planes which are assembled into the "Wishing Cube", a composite of the concepts of the Infinity Gems and the Cosmic Cube.[32]

After various alternate universes are combined into Battleworld, Doctor Strange gathers Infinity Gems from other universes into a new Infinity Gauntlet that works in the area where Doom has built his palace. Strange leaves the Gauntlet hidden until he has access to someone he can trust it with. After his death, the Gauntlet is claimed by T'Challa,[33] who uses it against Doom in the final battle.[34][35]

A separate section of Battleworld known as New Xandar also has a Gauntlet fought over by multiple factions until the majority of the Stones, except the Reality Stone, were taken by Thanos.[36] Thanos eventually tracks the missing Stone to Nova Corps member Anwen Bakian. When Thanos confronts her to get the Stone, Anwen gives him a duplicate of the Reality Stone she created called the 'Death Stone'. When used along with the other five Stones, the Death Stone corrupts Thanos with black matter and turns him to dust.[37]

In the Ultimate Marvel universe, an Infinity Gauntlet is seen in Project Pegasus.[38] The Mind Gem (stolen by Hydra) is used by Modi (Thor's son) to control both Director Flumm and Cassie Lang, but are stopped by the Ultimates.[39] The Power Gem is later revealed to be in the possession of former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Sayuri Kyota, while a second Infinity Gauntlet is recovered from an A.I.M. base by Thor and Susan Storm.[40] Kang the Conqueror later allies himself with the Hulk, Reed Richards and Quicksilver as part of a plan to steal the two Gauntlets, which results in the destruction of the Triskelion. Quicksilver recovers two additional Gems allowing the villains to teleport away.[41] Richards is later able to recover another of the Gems, which is found lodged in Tony Stark's brain. He informs Stark that the Infinity Gems are needed to save the world from a coming cataclysm that will destroy the entire universe.[42] After brainwashing Johnny Storm and forcing him to travel to the Earth's core, the Dark Ultimates are able to recover the final gem,[43] but are defeated by the Ultimates. The gems then shatter, rendering the Gauntlets useless.[44]

In a reality where Doctor Doom retained the power of the Beyonder, Doom acquired the Infinity Gems from the Elders of the Universe and used them to defeat the Celestials in a 407-year-long war before finally forsaking his power.[45]

In an alternate reality where the original Fantastic Four died, a new Fantastic Four – consisting of Spider-Man, Hulk, Wolverine, and Ghost Rider – was formed. With Iron Man replacing Ghost Rider, they were the only heroes available to fight Thanos when he initially assembled the Infinity Gauntlet. Despite Iron Man's use of Negative Zone-enhanced Celestial armor, Thanos still easily defeated the team until Wolverine tricked Thanos into erasing Mephisto from existence before cutting off Thanos's left arm, and therefore the Infinity Gauntlet. With Thanos powerless, Spider-Man used the gauntlet to undo the events of Thanos's godhood.[46]

In the Contest of Champions miniseries, an alternate version of Tony Stark uses the Reality Gem to win the superhero civil war and affect the outcome of a presidential election. When he tries to use the Gem on Battleworld, he is killed by the Maestro, who says the Gems do not work in any universe other than their own.[47]

• The Infinity Gauntlet and the Infinity Gems appear in The Super Hero Squad Show television show.[48]
• The Infinity Gauntlet and the Infinity Gems appear in Avengers Assemble; the Infinity Gauntlet only has five Infinity Stones, lacking the Soul Stone.
  • The Soul Stone is a part of Adam Warlock (Thanos didn't pursue the Soul Stone because he fears Adam Warlock) and both appear in Guardians of the Galaxy.

Thanos wielding the Infinity Gauntlet with the six Infinity Stones

The Infinity Stones are significant in the first three phases (also called the "Infinity Saga") of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), playing important roles in several films. In Guardians of the Galaxy, the Collector explains that the Infinity Stones are the remnants of six singularities that existed before the Big Bang, which were compressed into Stones by cosmic entities after the universe began and were dispersed throughout the cosmos. In Avengers: Infinity War, it is further explained by Wong and Doctor Strange that each stone embodies and controls an essential aspect of existence. Throughout the series, the Mad Titan Thanos seeks to collect them all and use them to wipe out half of all life in the universe, believing that his plan will save it from extinction. Having completed this goal in Infinity War, Thanos then uses the Stones' power to destroy them so that his actions cannot be undone. Despite this, in Endgame, the Avengers use the quantum realm to travel back in time to the years 1970, 2012, 2013, and 2014 and retrieve past versions of the Stones, allowing them to restore the half of all life in the universe Thanos killed. However, a past version of the Mad Titan (having been alerted by their actions thanks to Present Nebula's cybernetic implants linking with her past self) is able to follow them to the present and, believing that his plan only failed because the survivors were unable to 'move on' from the losses, he attempts to use the Past Infinity Stones to destroy and recreate the universe. During the resulting full-scale battle between the Avengers and Past Thanos, Tony Stark claims the Past Infinity Stones and uses them to destroy Past Thanos and his fleet, although this act costs Stark his life. Steve Rogers subsequently returns the Past Infinity Stones and Past Mjolnir (which Thor had acquired from 2013) to the points in time the Avengers had taken them from to keep any alternate timelines from forming.

In order of introduction, they are:

• Space Stone (Blue):
  Housed in a cube-like object called the Tesseract, the Space Stone first appears briefly in the post-credits scene of Thor, with Nick Fury showing the object to Erik Selvig, not knowing that Loki was there as well. In Captain America: The First Avenger, the Red Skull steals the Tesseract from a church and uses it to power Hydra's weaponry during WWII. Amidst Captain America's final fight with the Red Skull, the Tesseract transported the latter to another location (later revealed to be the planet Vormir in Avengers: Infinity War) before falling into the Arctic Ocean where it was later recovered by Howard Stark and taken to a secret base. Captain Marvel revealed that Dr. Wendy Lawson tried to use the Tesseract in 1989 to unlock light-speed travel in order to help the Skrulls find a new home, but was unsuccessful, although her experiments resulted in Carol Danvers being granted superhuman strength, flight, and the ability to generate energy blasts. Danvers eventually recovers the Tesseract and hands the object over to S.H.I.E.L.D., although it was temporally swallowed by Goose (a Flerken disguised as a cat), who later vomits it out on Nick Fury's desk. In The Avengers, the Tesseract is shown to be capable of generating wormholes after Loki steals it from S.H.I.E.L.D. and uses it to transport the Chitauri army to New York City in an attempt to conquer Earth. After the Avengers repel the invasion, Thor returns it to Asgard for safekeeping in Odin's Vault and it is used to repair the Bifrost Bridge, which had been destroyed during the events of Thor.[49] Loki later steals the Tesseract once more before Asgard's destruction during Thor: Ragnarok,[50] and gives the object to Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War to save Thor's life. Thanos then crushes the Tesseract to acquire the Space Stone so he can use its ability to open wormholes. After Thanos successfully wipes out half of all life in the universe, the Space Stone is then destroyed to prevent further use. In Avengers: Endgame, Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Scott Lang and Bruce Banner time travel to the Battle of New York during the events of The Avengers in 2012, where Stark and Lang attempt to steal the 2012 version of the Tesseract before it can be returned to Asgard in the aftermath of the battle, but 2012 Hulk accidentally knocks Stark down and the 2012 Tesseract slides over to 2012 Loki, who uses it to open a wormhole and escape. Stark and Rogers then travel to 1970 and steal the 1970 version of the Tesseract from a S.H.I.E.L.D. base in New Jersey (also retrieving new samples of Pym Particles to travel back) and use a stolen briefcase to sneak it out. The 1970 Space Stone is then brought back to the present time and (having been removed from the 1970 Tesseract) used to undo Thanos' actions and to disintegrate 2014 Thanos and his forces from existence. Rogers later returns the 1970 Space Stone to 1970 New Jersey.
• Mind Stone (Yellow):
  Housed in a scepter, the Mind Stone was first seen in The Avengers when Thanos and the Other give Loki said scepter to help locate the Tesseract and conquer Earth with its ability to control people's minds and project energy blasts.[51] After Loki's defeat, the scepter fell into the hands of Hydra leader Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, who is shown in the mid-credits scene of Captain America: The Winter Soldier to have been using it to experiment on humans. Avengers: Age of Ultron revealed that the only surviving subjects of Strucker's experiments are the siblings Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, in whom superhuman abilities were unlocked before Strucker's base was attacked by the Avengers, who took back the scepter. The scepter is later revealed to contain the Mind Stone, which itself contains an artificial intelligence that grants sentience to the computer program Ultron, who steals the scepter and removes the Mind Stone to create a newly upgraded body. The Avengers steal the Mind Stone-infused body from Ultron and upload the A.I. J.A.R.V.I.S. into it, giving birth to the android Vision.[49][52] The Mind Stone can also enhance the user's intelligence,[51] grant them immense knowledge, and create new life.[53] In Avengers: Infinity War, Vision is injured by the Black Order in their attempts to get the Mind Stone and is taken to Wakanda to have it removed; in the hope that he'll be able to live without it. When the removal operation is interrupted, Wanda is forced to destroy Vision and the Mind Stone, only for Thanos to use the Time Stone to repair them both and collect the latter, killing Vision again. After Thanos successfully wipes out half of all life in the universe, the Mind Stone is then destroyed to prevent further use. In Avengers: Endgame, Rogers, having traveled back in time to the events of The Avengers in 2012, retrieves the 2012 version of the scepter from Hydra operatives from within S.H.I.E.L.D. in the aftermath of the Battle of New York. Rogers then uses the 2012 scepter to render his 2012 counterpart unconscious after he mistook him for a disguised 2012 Loki. The 2012 Mind Stone is then brought back to the present time and (having been removed from the 2012 specter) used to undo Thanos' actions and to disintegrate 2014 Thanos and his forces from existence. Rogers later returns the 2012 Mind Stone to 2012 New York.
• Reality Stone (Red):
  Transformed into a fluid-like weapon called the Aether, the Reality Stone first appears in Thor: The Dark World when Malekith the Accursed attempts to use the Aether to destroy the Nine Realms and return the universe to its pre-Big Bang state; only to be thwarted by Bor, who had it hidden. Jane Foster becomes infected by the Aether after coming across its resting place, though Malekith later draws it out of her. After Malekith is defeated by Thor, Sif and Volstagg seal the Aether in a lantern-like container and entrust it to the Collector to keep it separate from the Tesseract; as they consider it unwise to have multiple Infinity Stones close to each other (unaware that the Collector planned to obtain the other five).[49][54][55] The Aether, once bonded to a host, can turn anything into dark matter as well as suck the life force out of humans and other mortals. The Aether can also disrupt the laws of physics and repel threats if it senses any.[53] In Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos acquires the Aether from the Collector and turns it back into the Reality Stone off-screen; allowing him to repel the Guardians of the Galaxy's attacks by turning Drax the Destroyer to stone, Mantis into ribbon strips, and causing Star-Lord's gun to shoot bubbles. After Thanos successfully wipes out half of all life in the universe, the Reality Stone is then destroyed to prevent further use. In Avengers: Endgame, Thor and Rocket Raccoon time travel to Asgard during the events of Thor: The Dark World in 2013 to extract the 2013 version of the Aether from 2013 Jane (also retrieving the 2013 version of Mjolnir). The 2013 Reality Stone is then brought back to the present time and (having been converted back into its solid form) used to undo Thanos' actions and to disintegrate 2014 Thanos and his forces from existence. Rogers later returns the 2013 Reality Stone and 2013 Mjolnir to 2013 Asgard.
• Power Stone (Purple):
  Housed in an orb hidden on the planet Morag, the Power Stone can increase the user's strength and destroy entire civilizations with a single blast. However, the stone is too much for most mortal beings to physically handle as its power will destroy them on contact.[56][57] In Guardians of the Galaxy, Ronan the Accuser seeks the orb for Thanos, but Star-Lord finds and steals the orb from Morag's resting spot before Ronan’s men could. An all-out war occurs between Ronan's forces and the Guardians of the Galaxy for the orb, with Ronan successfully acquiring it in the end. After learning about the Power Stone; however, Ronan betrays Thanos and tries to use its destructive power to destroy the planet Xandar, only to be stopped and defeated by the Ravagers, the Nova Corps, and the Guardians of the Galaxy; who seal the Power Stone in a new orb and entrust it to the Nova Corps for safekeeping.[49] Avengers: Infinity War revealed that the Power Stone was the first to be obtained by Thanos, who "decimates" Xandar in the process. After Thanos successfully wipes out half of all life in the universe, the Power Stone is then destroyed to prevent further use. In Avengers: Endgame, James Rhodes and Nebula time travel to Morag during the events of Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014, subduing 2014 Star-Lord before taking the 2014 Power Stone in its orb. The 2014 Power Stone is then brought back to the present time and (having been removed from the 2014 orb) used to undo Thanos' actions and to disintegrate 2014 Thanos and his forces from existence. Rogers later returns the 2014 Power Stone to 2014 Morag.
• Time Stone (Green):
  Housed in the Eye of Agamotto by Earth's first sorcerer, a Master of the Mystic Arts can use the Time Stone to alter and manipulate time. In Doctor Strange, Dr. Stephen Strange finds the Eye of Agamotto and learns how to use it to save the Earth from Dormammu by trapping him in a time loop until the demon abandons his plans for Earth. Strange returns the Eye of Agamotto to the Masters of the Mystic Arts' secret compound Kamar-Taj in Kathmandu, Nepal, though he is seen wearing it again in the mid-credits scene, which takes place during Thor: Ragnarok.[58][59] During the events of Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos' lieutenants attempt to steal the Eye of Agamotto from Strange, but are foiled by Iron Man, Spider-Man, and Wong. While on the planet Titan (Thanos' homeworld), Strange uses the Time Stone to look into future timelines; viewing millions of possible outcomes of their conflict with the Mad Titan and learning of only one future in which they win. To ensure that future comes to pass, Strange later surrenders the Time Stone to Thanos to save Stark. During the confrontation in Wakanda, Thanos uses the Time Stone to undo the Mind Stone's destruction. After Thanos successfully wipes out half of all life in the universe, the Time Stone is then destroyed to prevent further use. In Avengers: Endgame, Bruce Banner traveled back in time to 2012 and went to the New York Sanctum during the Battle of New York to convince the Ancient One to relinquish the 2012 version of the Time Stone. The 2012 Time Stone is then brought back to the present time and used to undo Thanos' actions and to disintegrate 2014 Thanos and his forces from existence. Rogers later returns the 2012 Time Stone to 2012 New York.
• Soul Stone (Orange):
  An object that has the ability to manipulate the soul and essence of a person,[60] control life and death, and contains a pocket dimension called the Soulworld.[61][62] The Soul Stone is first seen in Avengers: Infinity War. At some point in his past, Thanos tasked Gamora to find the Soul Stone, as there is little record of its existence compared to the other Infinity Stones. Gamora found it hidden in a shrine on the planet Vormir, but chose not to tell Thanos; only telling Nebula of it and swearing her to secrecy (little realizing that Thanos wasn't fooled by their lies). After Thanos captures and tortures Nebula, Gamora agrees to take him to Vormir, where they encounter the Red Skull (having been transported to the planet by the Tesseract and cursed to serve as the Stonekeeper). Thanos willingly yet reluctantly sacrificed Gamora in order to fulfill the requirements to obtain the Soul Stone once the Red Skull explains them that the Stone requires the sacrifice of a loved one to earn it.[63][64] After using all six Infinity Stones to wipe out half of all life in the universe, Thanos is briefly transported into the Soulworld and encounters a vision of Gamora as a child.[65] The Soul Stone is later destroyed to prevent further use. In Avengers: Endgame, Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton travel to Vormir in the past, where each attempts to sacrifice themselves to allow the other to return with the Stone. Ultimately, the former wins the struggle and jumps to her death so that Barton can return to be with his family. The 2014 Soul Stone is then brought back to the present time and used to undo Thanos' actions and to disintegrate 2014 Thanos and his forces from existence. Rogers later returns the 2014 Soul Stone to 2014 Vormir.

The Infinity Gauntlet also appears in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. A right-handed gauntlet appears in Thor, where it's stored in Odin's vault;[49] though this one was later revealed to be a fake by Hela in Thor: Ragnarok.[66] The mid-credits scene of Avengers: Age of Ultron revealed Thanos had acquired a left-handed gauntlet (the real one).[67] Avengers: Infinity War elaborates on this, revealing Thanos had forced Eitri to create the gauntlet by threatening to kill his people, though he did so once it was completed anyway as well as crippled Eitri's hands to prevent him from making anything else. In Avengers: Endgame, after Thanos wipes out half of all life in the universe with the Infinity Stones – in the event that is now known as "The Blip" – and destroys them to prevent his work from being undone, the Avengers use nanotechnology to create a third, right-handed gauntlet in order to use the Infinity Stones they had acquired from the past. Bruce Banner in his "Professor Hulk" form, due to being the most immune to the gamma radiation the Infinity Stones' combined powers emit, uses the gauntlet to reverse the Blip (though not without strain also caused by the combined powers). Immediately afterwards, the Avengers are besieged by a past version of Thanos (who learned of their actions due to Present Nebula and Past Nebula's cybernetic implants linking with each other) and his army, with the Mad Titan now intending to use the Past Infinity Stones to destroy the universe and build it anew once he erases all memory of the original out of revenge for them attempting to undo his work. In the ensuing battle, Tony Stark sacrifices himself by using the Past Infinity Stones—having incorporated them into his armor—to disintegrate Past Thanos and his forces; removing them from the timeline altogether. After Stark's funeral, Steve Rogers returns the Past Infinity Stones (without the Tesseract, scepter, orb, and with the Past Reality Stone remaining in its solid form) and a past version of Mjolnir that Thor took from 2013 to the times and places they'd come from to prevent alternate timelines from forming.

• The Infinity Gems are featured in some games developed by Capcom:
  • The gems are featured in Marvel Super Heroes In War of the Gems (based on the "Infinity Gauntlet" saga) and Marvel Super Heroes.[68][69]
  • The Infinity Gems are seen in Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes when Thanos uses Power, Soul, Reality, and Space for his Supers.
  • The Infinity Stones play a major role in Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite. During gameplay, using an Infinity Stone will grant player characters a specific enhancement based on the Infinity Stone being used.[70][71] In the game's story, Ultron and Sigma use the Space Stone and Reality Stone to be Ultron Sigma and merge the worlds into one under their control, and the heroes must retrieve the other four stones to stop the fused supervillain, with a reluctant help from Thanos, whom Ultron Sigma betrayed prior to convergence. Although the Reality Stone is unknowingly being broken by Thanos during his second fight against Ultron Sigma, the heroes of two worlds begin to rebuild a new society after X destroyed Ultron and Sigma.[72] The Infinity Stones in the game use the Infinity Stones' naming and color scheme from the Marvel Cinematic Universe rather than the Infinity Gems' naming and color scheme from previous Marvel video games. The Collector's Edition of the game comes with a replica of the Infinity Stones housed in a small box with an LED display.
• The Infinity Gems, including the Infinity Sword, appear as a driving part of the Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet video game.[73]
• From January to August 2012, Wizkids presented the Infinity Gauntlet program at stores that host HeroClix tournaments. An Infinity Gauntlet prop was released, followed by a different Gem each month. Each Gem can be added to the Gauntlet, increasing its power in game. The Gems can be displayed on a stand that comes with the Gauntlet or on each Elder that Thanos encountered in the story Thanos Quest.[74]
• Replica Infinity Gauntlets were given out as trophies at Ultimate Fighting Game Tournament 8, a 2012 Road to Evo tournament.[75]
• In a tie-in with the film Avengers: Infinity War, Marvel and Epic Games announced the "Infinity Gauntlet Limited Time Mashup" mode for Fortnite Battle Royale, where players can find the Gauntlet hidden on the game map and become Thanos with added abilities.[76]
• The Infinity Stones appear in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order. A key part of the game's story, Thanos and the Black Order attempt to collect the Infinity Stones in order to achieve galactic conquest and are opposed by the Avengers, the X-Men, the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Defenders, the Heroes for Hire, the Web Warriors, the Inhumans, the Midnight Sons, the Spider-Verse, the Fantastic Four and the Marvel Knights, including some villains like the Brotherhood of Mutants, Venom (Eddie Brock), Loki and Doctor Doom. It is revealed when the full gears of Infinity Armor combines with the Stones, it proves too dangerous for the users who wears them, making them unstable and progressively killing themselves along with every life in universe, as demonstrated by Thane and being the main reason why Thanos only take the stone equitable gauntlet of the armor. The clash between Thanos and his now fallen son Thane results the birth of the greatest threat that will invade the universe.
• The Infinity Stones and Infinity Gauntlet make a cameo appearance twice in Lego Marvel's Avengers as well as mentioned several times. While playing as "Thanos" after idling for about a minute, Thanos will pull out a replica, shine it, then put it on his hand. It is again featured in the level based on the Marvel Cinematic Universe movie Thor: The Dark World.