The Infinity War - Understanding the Stones and the Glove in the Center of it all

The dates are available on just about any comic website:

Part 1 of the Infinity War is in theaters in May of 2018

Part 2 of the Infinity War is in theaters in May of 2019

Yay!  I mean....wait....what is the Infinity War?

The Infinity War will be the fight for the six Infinity Gems (Infinity “Stones” in the movies), or Soul gems as they were originally dubbed when introduced in Marvel Comics in the 70’s.  The Gems are six powerful, and indestructible, artifacts...the most powerful in the Marvel Universe.  The interesting thing is that although they each have a unique incredibly powerful property they can also be used together to cause even more havoc (the whole being greater than the sum of its parts).  In other words, they can grant the power of a god.

Not sure what the stones are or the power they represent?  Here’s a brief overview (and, yes, there are inconsistencies between the comic books and the movies in regard to color and power....sigh.  See below.):

Tesseract - The Space Stone

This gem was seen in both Captain America (used by Red Skull) and The Avengers (used by Loki).  The Tesseract is a blue stone capable of teleporting anything from point ‘a’ to point ‘b’.  Thor supposedly took it back to his homeworld of Asgard at the end of The Avengers.

Aether - The Reality Stone:

The Aether was represented by a red floating liquid like thingy that appears to connect itself to a host and make it...well...stronger.  As an aside, this is not how it was in the comics.  In the comics it was focused more on wish fulfillment.  The only appearance, so far, was in Thor: The Dark World.  It was given to The Collector for safekeeping by the end of the film.  No one is sure if its still there after the end of Guardians of the Galaxy where The Collector’s home is destroyed.

Orb - The Power Stone:

The destruction of The Collector’s home, as discussed above, was caused by this stone.  This stone gives the wielder immense power.  It can give superhuman strength and the ability to wipe out planets, just by touching the surface.  At the end of Guardians of the Galaxy this stone was being housed by the intergalactic police known as Nova Corps.

Loki’s Scepter/Vision’s Forehead - The Mind Stone:

Marvel tricked you!  (well...me too)  Loki’s blue-glowing scepter was the home of the yellow infinity stone!  As seen in The Avengers, the mind stone allows the bearer to control the minds of others (hence the name “The Mind Stone”).

The Soul Stone:

This one hasn’t made its appearance yet.  If you go by the stories in Marvel Comics, the Soul Stone was a somewhat sentient creature that could trap souls inside another world.  As “trapping souls” has not really been explored yet in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) there is no telling what the power may be.

The Time Stone:

Visit the future!  Visit the past! Alter them both so each time it's different!  You can even speed up or slow down the passage of time!  If you are horribly scarred go back in time and don’t have 6 beers before handling an arc welder, or pick up something safer like a nail gun!  I think you get the idea.  Like the Soul Stone, this gem has not been explored yet in the MCU.

So, what’s up with the glove?  Actually, it’s a gauntlet.  And, as an FYI, there are two of them, so it should be gauntlets....plural.  If you don’t believe me watch Thor.  In the Asgard treasure chamber, along with the other dangerous relics, the right glove can be seen.  At the end of The Avengers: Age of Ultron, however, we see Thanos pick up the left glove.  I’ll wait while you go and watch the movies to try to prove me wrong.

When will we see the last two stones?  I would venture to say that they will appear in any one of the number of Marvel movies coming out between now and Infinity War, Part 2.   I make this ridiculously safe bet because I really hate to lose.

If I wanted to just go with just a “semi-safe” bet I would point the finger at Doctor Strange and/or Thor: Ragnarok and/or Guardians of the Galaxy 2 for the other“gem sightings".

The Marvel Easter Egg:  Do The Stones Spell “Thanos”?

There have been rumors that the name of the stones spell out “Thanos”.  So far we have the “T” in Tesseract”, the “A” in Aether, the “O” in Orb, and the “S” in Scepter.  That leaves “H” and “N”.  But what would the names of the stones be?  Helicopter and Numbskull?  Horace and Norris?  wHo kNows?  I’m not going to lose sleep over it, it’s just a rumor and, frankly, a terrible excuse for an easter egg.

And What Comes After?

Once Marvel hits its cinematic peak in Infinity War Part 2, the conclusion that all of the movies have led to, what happens next?  It’s anybody’s guess and, as of right now, Marvel doesn’t have much planned.  All we know is that in July of 2019 the movie Inhumans is coming out.  This is kind of like planning dinner after having a feast for lunch.  What could possibly top what you just had?  I would NOT want to be connected to that film in any way, shape or form as all the reviews will be based on what was previously seen.

Infinity Gems or Soul Gems?  Easter Eggs?  Post Infinity War Movies?  It all remains a big question mark.  All we DO know is that people will wait decades to watch the next part of a good mystery.  Just ask Star Wars.

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The Sides Taken in the Upcoming Civil War Movie, Do They Make Sense?

Let me start by saying that I have every comic, story arc, spinoff, you name it, of the original Civil War series.  It was well thought out and very collectible.  Looking at the sides in the upcoming movie, though, I have to ask...why have these sides been set up so poorly?  Or are they the perfect mix?  Let’s take a look:

Team Captain America:

Captain America
Falcon
The Winter Soldier
Hawkeye
Ant-Man
Agent 13 (Sharon Carter)

Team Iron Man:

Iron Man
Black Widow
War Machine
Vision
Black Panther

Let’s start with Team Captain America and their philosophy.

As we know, Cap isn’t a big fan of the government’s idea about revealing the faces behind the masks.  This, however, seems at odds with the beliefs that he espouses.  Cap is a “just follow orders” guy.  It doesn’t matter what the orders are...they are orders.  He walks and talks the American Dream, Apple Pie and Mom.  One could argue that he is becoming disillusioned by all that is happening around him, but I still don’t think this would call for a radical behavior change.

As for the rest of the cast of characters it’s not a huge secret as to who these people are under the masks.  Hawkeye doesn’t use one.  Ant-Man never worried too much about people knowing who he was under the mask.  The Winter Soldier doesn’t wear a mask anymore.  Sharon Carter is...well...Sharon Carter.  The Falcon never let on that he was even remotely concerned about this type of issue and, frankly, he doesn’t appear to be a big government fan either, and we already discussed Cap.

Now let’s shift to Team Iron Man and their philosophy.

First, if you didn’t do a double take at Tony Stark agreeing with the government and acting as a strong-arm for them, you haven’t been paying attention.  In every movie to date Tony Stark has thrown the finger at the government and went out of his way to make them look like idiots.  It’s really no wonder why he doesn’t mind being outed....he already did it to himself and everybody knows he is Iron Man.  But supporting the government?  Come on, Tony, really?

As for the rest of the cast of characters I find this team to be even more bizarre than Cap’s team.  Let’s start with Black Widow, she and Steve Rogers have been tight through every movie and have had each other’s backs at every turn.  Further, Black Widow doesn’t even wear a mask and everyone knows her full name.  She hates what her government did to her, she’s no fan of the bureaucrats that she has come in contact with in the movies, she has no real fondness for Tony, yet she wants people to unmask and sides against Steve.  I can’t wait to find out how this came to be.  Second is War Machine, well, since Tony made him who he is, and everyone already knows that he is under the mask, his choosing this side is no more of a surprise than the Winter Soldier siding with Cap.  The Vision?  Really?  The Vision who is not human, doesn’t wear a mask, or maybe he does, has an opinion?  What could he possibly have to gain either way?  Can the Vision even really unmask?  It makes NO sense.  Lastly is the Black Panther.  If ever there was a person who tried to remain on the fence and not take sides it’s the Black Panther.  The thought of him even taking a stance in United States affairs like this is surprising.  Why would Wakanda even care?

So, we have Steve who is a classic government man going against the government.  We have Tony who is always against the establishment now the defender of the bureaucracy.  We have unmasked characters on both teams (and how did Hawkeye and Black Widow who could easily be confused as brother and sister get on opposite teams?).  We have the classic “fence sitter” taking a firm stand in a country that isn’t his own.  We have an android who has an opinion on something he can never relate to.  Really, what we have are sides that are hard to make sense of.

There is no doubt that Civil War is shaping up to be an incredible movie, and I will be right there with everyone buying a ticket, but they should have done the lead up to this movie much differently.  They aren’t following the comic book Civil War already, why try to with Cap and Iron Man?  Picture it differently:

Cap comes out saying that everyone should unmask.  Most on his team are unmasked and no harm has come to them or their families.  There aren’t too many people who don’t know that Steve Rogers is Captain America and he hasn’t had too many issues.  After all, it comes with the turf doesn’t it?  If we turn against the government now it would be anarchy!  Brother killing brother!  The rules must be followed and this is a rule set down by the government.

Iron Man states that this is clearly the wrong solution.  Sure he came out and revealed his identity, but he has a multi billion dollar security system around him constantly, he has nothing to fear.  But the government telling him, or anyone else, what to do?  What a load of crap that is.  He won’t stand for it and neither should anyone else.  No one tells Tony Stark what to do!

Drop Sharon Carter out of the mix, she’s not a hero anyway so her opinion is as worthless as the Vision’s.  Drop the Vision as well.  Both are non-entities.  Also, drop out Black Panther as he would NEVER take sides on any issue let alone this one.

The Winter Soldier and Falcon stay with Cap out of loyalty whether they agree with the overall philosophy or not.  War Machine sticks with Tony out of loyalty whether he agrees with the overall philosophy or not.

Hawkeye and Black Widow then take Cap’s side because he is now saying everyone should unmask.  After all, neither of them wear a mask, they are also very tight, so they would both be of the same opinion on the topic.

Ant-Man can stay with Cap as even though he isn’t really trying to hide who he is in his movie, he will want to keep it a secret based on what happened to him and his family in the movie.  Remember the huge Thomas the Tank Engine scene?

Now the teams are looking a little different aren’t they?

To round out Tony’s team shirking the government would be Bruce Banner, Wolverine and the currently absent Spider-Man.

Here’s how they look now:

Captain America’s Team:

Cap
Hawkeye
Winter Soldier
Falcon
Black Widow

Iron Man’s Team:

Iron Man
War Machine
Bruce Banner/Hulk
Wolverine
Spider-Man

Now things have gotten interesting.

You may or may not agree, but I would like to hear your opinion on this.  Who would you put on each team and are Cap and Tony fighting for the right causes?

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