This Age Of Ultron featurette explains the Infinity Stones better than the movies

By Caroline Siede  |  September 11, 2015 | 9:26pm
Aux Features Film

It would be entirely possible for a fairly dedicated fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to still be confused about the six Infinity Stones and the Infinity Gauntlet they fit into. After all, Marvel has paid far more attention to Chris Hemsworth’s abs than it has to these six MacGuffins and their larger MacGuffin home. And while it’s anyone’s guess as to whether these Stones will get more exposition in the studio’s Phase Three films, a new featurette on the upcoming Avengers: Age Of Ultron Blu-Ray aims to shine a little light on this complicated element of Marvel lore:

Embed was removed for legal reasons
The opening of the featurette mashes together the little bits of narration and exposition about the Stones that have actually made their way into the movies. The most clear-cut explanation comes in Guardians Of The Galaxy, which, confusingly, probably seems the most disconnected from the rest of the MCU to a casual fan. So talking head interviews with the likes of Kevin Feige, Joss Whedon, and James Gunn lay everything out in layman’s terms.

When the six Infinity Stones are placed into the Infinity Gaunlet, they give the wearer unlimited power. Thanos—the giant purple baddie played by Josh Brolin—currently has the Gauntlet. And as seen in the Age Of Ultron mid-credits scene, he’s ready to go out and get the stones himself. That will presumably fuel the plot of Avengers: Infinity War—Part 1 in 2018 and Part 2 in 2019.

The stones themselves are adaptations of the comics’ Infinity Gems and the featurette elaborates on the four that have appeared in the MCU so far:

  • The Tesseract (the blue Space Stone) allows for interdimensional space travel. It popped up in Captain America: The First Avenger and The Avengers, where Loki used it as part of his master plan. It’s currently stored in Odin’s treasure room on Asgard.
  • The Aether (the red Reality Stone) is introduced in Thor: The Dark World and is confusingly not a stone but a swirling magic liquid. Some Asgardian warriors deliver it to the Collector (Benicio del Toro) for safekeeping in a post-credits scene.
  • The Orb (the purple Power Stone) from Guardians Of The Galaxy is the one Thanos comes closest to getting his hands on until his lackey Ronan (Lee Pace) is defeated by a team of a-holes. It’s currently safe in the Nova Corps vault alongside Glenn Close’s dignity.
  • Loki’s scepter (the yellow Mind Stone) also plays a major role in The Avengers. It was a gift from Loki to Thanos (given offscreen before the movie begins), who should perhaps be more careful about lending out his prized possessions. In Age Of Ultron it gets fused onto Vision (Paul Bettany), who is protecting it for now.

The remaining two Infinity Stones—the Soul Stone and the Time Stone—are yet to be accounted for and will presumably pop up in some of the upcoming Phase Three films. But as even Thanos himself realizes, that means we still have a long time to wait before we see them in action:

[via /Film]

 
Join the discussion...