For the last few years, movie audiences have been teased by hints of the Infinity Gantlet’s awesome powers. The gems that are required to power it, the Infinity Stones, have appeared throughout Marvel’s films as well, each demonstrating their own remarkable abilities to some extent. Now in Avengers: InfinityWar, the pieces of this cosmic puzzle are seemingly all coming together at last. Scenes from the trailers show Thanos and his minions acquiring most of the Stones he needs to operate the Gauntlet, though the location of the Soul Stone is still unknown. But one thing still has yet to be explained: what, exactly, is the Infinity Gauntlet capable of?
The Power of the Infinity Stones
In the comics the Infinity Gauntlet is essentially capable of, well….anything. By tapping into the abilities of the Infinity Stones the Gauntlet’s wearer has mastery over time, space, individual’s minds and souls, and reality itself. Together this gives the wearer borderline omnipotence. The removal of the Gauntlet instantly cuts them off from using its power, though any changes they may have wrought with it will stay unless the next wearer undoes them. Notable accomplishments of the Gauntlet include destroying half of the universe’s population, creating entirely new planets and lifeforms, bringing the dead to life, and so much more.
The Collector explains the Infinity Stones to the Guardians
The Gauntlet itself
While the Stones have ancient and convoluted origins, the Gauntlet itself was created by Thanos. Once he had acquired all the Stones he needed an effective way to tap into their powers. A gauntlet was perfect for directly accessing and manipulating the Stones to any purpose he desired. Ever since the Infinity Gauntlet has been a mainstay of the Marvel Universe and directly connected to the Stones, though without them it’s essentially just a very large, ornate metal glove.
The empty Gauntlet in Age of Ultron
While it’s been confirmed that Thanos wants the gauntlet primarily to carry out his depopulation agenda (based off of the Gauntlet’s debut comic arc from the 80’s, The Infinity Gauntlet) we know nothing about what else it might or could be used for. The comics are the best base of knowledge we have so far, both the origin of the Gauntlet and Stones and the range of its abilities will almost certainly be changed or watered down to some degree. But unless any more information is released by Marvel or the Russo’s it seems like we will all have to wait for the movie to see what the Gauntlet is truly capable of.
