MCU: Your Thoughts About The Infinity Stones (SPOILERS INSIDE)

[Mike Murdock]

So far, Thanos seems to be thinking that his minions will do that (that they won't realize the power of what it is they're getting so they think they're getting a good deal, while Thanos gets what he wants on the cheap).

 

[cph9fa]

I'm sure if Thanos offered him something he thought worth it Loki would give up the Tesseract... but that's too big a deal to happen off panel. I don't think Loki would follow through with the cube-for-army deal just out of honor.

Something like, perhaps, the throne of Asgard? We never saw what became of Odin that allowed Loki to take the throne (without Heimdal's knowledge). Presumably, Loki's deal with Thanos involved ruling a world in exchange for the cube. Any chance the Mad Titan could've helped Loki secretly remove Odin, so Loki could secure the throne of Asgard and return the cube deliver the cube to Thanos?

 

[cherokeesam]

Something like, perhaps, the throne of Asgard? We never saw what became of Odin that allowed Loki to take the throne (without Heimdal's knowledge). Presumably, Loki's deal with Thanos involved ruling a world in exchange for the cube. Any chance the Mad Titan could've helped Loki secretly remove Odin, so Loki could secure the throne of Asgard and return the cube?

I like that train of thought better than just the implicit "Loki ambushed and murdered Odin" plot point we're left with at the end of TDW. It would definitely make more sense that *Thanos,* not Loki, could take out Odin so easily.

However, that wouldn't make a lick of sense given the "no barren moon" threat from Avengers. Thanos wanted the Tesseract. Loki didn't bring him the Tesseract. Thanos promised that he would definitely find Loki, no matter where he was in the universe, and their next meeting would not go pleasantly at all. So, why would Thanos suddenly feel magnanimous enough to give Loki Asgard, *and* still let him keep the Tesseract? Not likely at all.

 

[cph9fa]

I like that train of thought better than just the implicit "Loki ambushed and murdered Odin" plot point we're left with at the end of TDW. It would definitely make more sense that *Thanos,* not Loki, could take out Odin so easily.

However, that wouldn't make a lick of sense given the "no barren moon" threat from Avengers. Thanos wanted the Tesseract. Loki didn't bring him the Tesseract. Thanos promised that he would definitely find Loki, no matter where he was in the universe, and their next meeting would not go pleasantly at all. So, why would Thanos suddenly feel magnanimous enough to give Loki Asgard, *and* still let him keep the Tesseract? Not likely at all.

Well, no, of course Loki doesn't get to keep the cube. That's my whole point (maybe I worded it poorly?). Loki arranges for Thanos to take out Odin, and once Loki has taken the throne, he hands the Tesseract over to Thanos. Both sides leave happy.

 

[CoherentChaos]

Thanos seemed generous enough towards Ronan to

Spoiler

let him kill the Other

, so I suppose letting Loki mess up but adjust the plan isn't unthinkable.

Loki promised him the Tesseract, and Thanos in returned gave him means to rule a world. Loki failing on Earth was just a bump. He and the Tesseract ended up on Asgard, so it's not like he completely lost the opportunity to rule and pay back Thanos. So both parties lost in Avengers, but they just had to wait a little longer to get what they wanted.

Now if Thanos did indeed dispatch of Odin, well that's a fight scene I want to see. It would explain how Loki was able to take the throne, and finally demonstrate to the GA, Thano's power, all in one fell swoop.

 

[fixxxer]

You're on to something. It's even more logical than that. Thanos with 2-4 infinity stones isn't unstoppable by the entire force of the cosmos. If Thanos were known to have the Aether and the Tesseract, would The Nova Corps, Asgard, the Kree Empire, and The Inhumans, wherever they are, stand for that? Or would Thanos being "logical" by collecting the known stones require everyone else in the universe be an idiot and just let the Mad Titan slowly gain omnipotence?

Better to allow Asgard and Xandar and The Collector to hold on to them for a bit.

Agreed. I think Thanos is maneuvering the Stones into very specific locations to grab them all in one fell swoop. The first act of Avengers 3 might very well be a sideways take on Thanos Quest... which I would absolutely love. I think that's more interesting than spending two and a half hours on a fully IG-powered Thanos.

Right now, the Infinity Stones are separated, and don't pose too much of a threat since even the select few who're "in the know" believe that somewhat reasonable people are currently safeguarding them.

The Orb (Power Stone) is with the Nova Corps. They seem pretty trustworthy. Maybe Thanos has a spy high up in their command who can supply it to him? The Nova Corps version of Sitwell, perhaps?

The Tesseract (Space Stone) and Gauntlet itself are in the Allfather's charge. What could go wrong there? Oops again. Loki's under clear instructions to supply Thanos the Tesseract when the time is right.

The Aether (Reality Stone) is with the Collector, who outwardly only wants to collect things, but maybe he too is secretly working for Thanos and will supply him the Stone in exchange for something he covets even more.

Maybe no one knows the whereabouts of the other three. Or maybe the Mind Stone is in fact the Staff as many have suspected and just got lost in the shuffle.

I mean, I'm not going to try to unpack all of this right now, but I'm pretty confident that Marvel will have Thanos assembling the Infinity Gauntlet in an interesting, compelling manner.

 

[metaphysician]

I have seen no evidence for the Collector working for Thanos.

 

[justanotherguy]

I have seen no evidence for the Collector working for Thanos.

Well the Collector wants the stones/gauntlet for himself then ("One down,five to go"), but has the Collector ever really wanted Power? What's his motivation?

 

[OriginalMiles]

Well the Collector wants the stones/gauntlet for himself then ("One down,five to go"), but has the Collector ever really wanted Power? What's his motivation?

He likes to collect stuff.

 

[Hyde]

Well, no, of course Loki doesn't get to keep the cube. That's my whole point (maybe I worded it poorly?). Loki arranges for Thanos to take out Odin, and once Loki has taken the throne, he hands the Tesseract over to Thanos. Both sides leave happy.

Thanos is too smart to keep Loki alive. He's been spurned by him once, and he would probably only see fit to partner up with him again if the gain was 100% his, if at all. He wouldn't enter a deal with a bad client which would result in said client as the ruler of a hugely powerful realm and eight others, in command of vast armies and powerful weapons which could pose a threat to him. The most I can see of that happening is Thanos pretending to go along with this new deal, and then once he has the Tesseract killing Loki.

 

[Spiderine]

Look like to me some of the Collector's stuff was destroyed. He need to check his inventory.

 

[R_Hythlodeus]

I just had a thought: nothing in Odin's vault can be an Infinity Stone, as the Tesseract is already there. So that means no Eye of Agametto (sp?), etc.

That was the Orb of Agamotto, not the Eye of Agamotto in Odin's vault. Big difference!!

Well the Collector wants the stones/gauntlet for himself then ("One down,five to go"), but has the Collector ever really wanted Power? What's his motivation?

His motivation is right there in his name. He's the Collector - he collects.
I'm sure a lot of the audience can identify with that.

 

[BigThor]

MS is overly dependent on them, it's like they over look heroes'/villains' actual powers in favor of highlighting the power of the gems.

 

[Kiltman]

Look like to me some of the Collector's stuff was destroyed. He need to check his inventory.

On second watch what is believed to be the Cocoon Adam Warlock is housed in gets blasted and the Dark Elf is gone for sure.

 

[R_Hythlodeus]

MS is overly dependent on them, it's like they over look heroes'/villains' actual powers in favor of highlighting the power of the gems.

don't worry, that will change in Phase IV

 

[cherokeesam]

Thanos seemed generous enough towards Ronan to

Spoiler

let him kill the Other

, so I suppose letting Loki mess up but adjust the plan isn't unthinkable.

Loki promised him the Tesseract, and Thanos in returned gave him means to rule a world. Loki failing on Earth was just a bump. He and the Tesseract ended up on Asgard, so it's not like he completely lost the opportunity to rule and pay back Thanos. So both parties lost in Avengers, but they just had to wait a little longer to get what they wanted.

Now if Thanos did indeed dispatch of Odin, well that's a fight scene I want to see. It would explain how Loki was able to take the throne, and finally demonstrate to the GA, Thano's power, all in one fell swoop.

Except Loki deliberately *didn't* pay back Thanos. He kept the Tesseract on Asgard, and (inexplicably) gave away the Aether instead of keeping it. The *only* way that mid-credit scene in TDW makes *any* freakin' sense at all is if Loki assumes The Collector works for Thanos, and is offering the Aether in exchange for the Tesseract, allowing him to buy time from his beating at the hands of Thanos ("no barren moon").

I have seen no evidence for the Collector working for Thanos.

You haven't seen any evidence that he *isn't* working for Thanos either, have you?

Again: *if* Tivan secretly works for Thanos, then TDW and GOTG make sense. If he *isn't,* then Thanos, Loki, AND The Collector all look like complete imbeciles, who have NO idea what these Stones do, and not ONE of them has shown any real capability of keeping a single goddamn one of them.

Personally, I prefer to see my supervillain masterminds have an actual clue. If you don't believe in "Tivan works for Thanos," then it's all a royal screwup, and there's not a chance in hell that any one of these uber-morons could gather all six Stones together, let alone hold onto them long enough to wield the Gauntlet.

 

[DrCosmic]

Agreed. I think Thanos is maneuvering the Stones into very specific locations to grab them all in one fell swoop. The first act of Avengers 3 might very well be a sideways take on Thanos Quest... which I would absolutely love. I think that's more interesting than spending two and a half hours on a fully IG-powered Thanos.

Right now, the Infinity Stones are separated, and don't pose too much of a threat since even the select few who're "in the know" believe that somewhat reasonable people are currently safeguarding them.

The Orb (Power Stone) is with the Nova Corps. They seem pretty trustworthy. Maybe Thanos has a spy high up in their command who can supply it to him? The Nova Corps version of Sitwell, perhaps?

The Tesseract (Space Stone) and Gauntlet itself are in the Allfather's charge. What could go wrong there? Oops again. Loki's under clear instructions to supply Thanos the Tesseract when the time is right.

The Aether (Reality Stone) is with the Collector, who outwardly only wants to collect things, but maybe he too is secretly working for Thanos and will supply him the Stone in exchange for something he covets even more.

Maybe no one knows the whereabouts of the other three. Or maybe the Mind Stone is in fact the Staff as many have suspected and just got lost in the shuffle.

I mean, I'm not going to try to unpack all of this right now, but I'm pretty confident that Marvel will have Thanos assembling the Infinity Gauntlet in an interesting, compelling manner.

I like the idea of Thanos collecting the gems fairly quickly in something like Thanos Quest. Drop in on Loki give him his comeuppance by revealing his true identity to his people, take the Tesseract, boom tube to Xandar, shrug off the Nova Corps and grab the Orb, jump to wherever to collect the others, end up with The Collector and trades him a crazy-unique item.

 

[Spiderine]

On second watch what is believed to be the Cocoon Adam Warlock is housed in gets blasted and the Dark Elf is gone for sure.

That was one hell of a blast. Forget that Elf. He needs to be looking for the aether. There was lots of damage and considering the Dog and Howard were freed no telling what else was lost escaped or stolen. The Collector doesn't looked concerned at all.

 

[Jasyn]

For those rare few among us that like Marvel's MCU movies but don't read comics (past or present), Mephisto (Marvel's incarnation of the demon ruler of Hell) played a huge role in the Infinity Gauntlet comic saga as a "servant" to Thanos. That role was somewhat played out in the MCU by the use of The Other up until GOTG. Assuming that The Other is now gone for good, I think we might see Loki take up that role in future movies of "serving" Thanos in his court, while all along the way planning to work against Thanos when the time is right. The part Mephisto played in the comics is perfect for Tom Hiddleston's on-screen Loki persona. This might occur after, say Odin returns to power or Thor possibly takes the Asgardian throne from Loki, in the anticipated THOR 3 (circa 2017-2018). My apologies if this has been suggested before.

 

[cherokeesam]

That was one hell of a blast. Forget that Elf. He needs to be looking for the aether. There was lots of damage and considering the Dog and Howard were freed no telling what else was lost escaped or stolen. The Collector doesn't looked concerned at all.

Why the hell did

Spoiler

Cosmo come back?
And why did he lick Tivan's face? It was a regular habit, too, according to Howard.

So Cosmo ran away, but then came back like a faithful k-9 to love on his "master"....wtf was that about?

 

[Kiltman]

For those rare few among us that like Marvel's MCU movies but don't read comics (past or present), Mephisto (Marvel's incarnation of the demon ruler of Hell) played a huge role in the Infinity Gauntlet comic saga as a "servant" to Thanos. That role was somewhat played out in the MCU by the use of The Other up until GOTG. Assuming that The Other is now gone for good, I think we might see Loki take up that role in future movies of "serving" Thanos in his court, while all along the way planning to work against Thanos when the time is right. The part Mephisto played in the comics is perfect for Tom Hiddleston's on-screen Loki persona. This might occur after, say Odin returns to power or Thor possibly takes the Asgardian throne from Loki, in the anticipated THOR 3 (circa 2017-2018). My apologies if this has been suggested before.

That's a pretty good idea actually.

Though Mephisto is a character I'd like to see pop-up. He roamed around so many character's worlds in the comics that he could really be a good connective element of the MCU in a similar but obviously fairly different way from what Agent Coulson is/was.

 

[Spiderine]

For those rare few among us that like Marvel's MCU movies but don't read comics (past or present), Mephisto (Marvel's incarnation of the demon ruler of Hell) played a huge role in the Infinity Gauntlet comic saga as a "servant" to Thanos. That role was somewhat played out in the MCU by the use of The Other up until GOTG. Assuming that The Other is now gone for good, I think we might see Loki take up that role in future movies of "serving" Thanos in his court, while all along the way planning to work against Thanos when the time is right. The part Mephisto played in the comics is perfect for Tom Hiddleston's on-screen Loki persona. This might occur after, say Odin returns to power or Thor possibly takes the Asgardian throne from Loki, in the anticipated THOR 3 (circa 2017-2018). My apologies if this has been suggested before.

They are supposed to be introducing the supernatural element of the MCU in Dr. Strange. We may get some of those darker forces established.

 

[Spiderine]

Why the hell did

Spoiler

Cosmo come back?
And why did he lick Tivan's face? It was a regular habit, too, according to Howard.

So Cosmo ran away, but then came back like a faithful k-9 to love on his "master"....wtf was that about?

The whole thing was weird. The place looked completely destroyed. Things got out. Artifacts were scattered. The first thing I thought about was the precious aether. And all he could do was have a cocktail.

 

[Hyde]

You haven't seen any evidence that he *isn't* working for Thanos either, have you?

Conspiracy mentality!

 

[The Endless]

Those end of credit scenes aren't meant to be taken too seriously. Apart from the Winter Soldier one.

Was the Avengers eating schwarma an important part of the narrative? Or the Jotunheim monster running around London? Or Howard the Duck showing up?

It's all just for ****s and giggles so what is the point of over analyzing it and trying to link it to the overall narrative? James Gunn said it himself "pure joy".