Not so long ago, the Infinity Stones were world-changing objects in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), but they're not the stars of the show any more. Or are they?
Marvel fans on Reddit have started theorising about the role of these powerful stones in the franchise's future ahead of the long-awaited season two of Loki.
The show starring Tom Hiddleston is part of Marvel's Phase Five, which kicked off this year with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 and Disney+'s Secret Invasion.
Where are the Infinity Stones now in the MCU?
Before jumping into the Reddit theory, let's remember where the Infinity Stones now are in the MCU. Well, the ones that are accounted for, that is.
At the end of Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos (Josh Brolin) destroyed the Stones using their own power, making the Blip irreversible. In Avengers: Endgame, the Avengers travelled back in time to borrow the Stones, using them to bring everybody back and defeat an alternate-dimension Thanos.
After that, Captain America (Chris Evans) returned every single one of the Stones to the places in time where they were collected. He also took the opportunity to stay in his original time and live a long, happy life with Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). Aw.
What to Read Next
But what happened to the Infinity Stones after that?
In Endgame, while retrieving the Space Stone (aka The Tesseract) from 2012's Avengers events, Loki managed to steal it and escape, only to be trapped by the Time Variance Authority (TVA), as seen in Loki.
There, we find out the Stones are actually worthless against certain powers like the TVA, which operate with rules beyond the universe. We even see some TVA employees using the Stones as paperweights on their desks.
This shows how the MCU is trying to distance itself from the mighty power of the Infinity Stones, probably realising there's little left to use them.
Here's where an interesting fan theory emerges: What if the Stones' power was now represented by some Marvel superheroes on a cosmic level?
The Infinity Stones are being replaced by Marvel characters: A theory
According to the theory proposed by several Reddit users, the power of the Infinity Stones is being "transferred" into specific characters, who would become the embodiment of those cosmic powers.
The theory arose thanks to Loki's time-travelling abilities seen in Loki's season two trailer, which some fans believe connect him directly to the Time Stone. Also, his signature colour is green, just like the stone.
In fact, colour is a strong factor to support this theory.
Wanda Maximoff, aka the Scarlet Witch (Elisabeth Olsen), could embody the Reality Stone — which is red, like her iconic outfit — given the abilities she showed in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
In the Doctor Strange sequel, we also meet America Chavez (Xóchitl Gómez), who has the incredible power to jump through the multiverse — almost as if she possessed the Space Stone. Her clothing so far seems to lean into blue, which matches the stone's colour.
As for the rest of the Infinity Stones, it's not so clear.
Some fans have pointed to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3's Adam Warlock as representative of the Soul Stone due to the character's connection to it in the comics, as well as his yellow-gold skin.
A strong villain like Kang the Conqueror could be connected to the Power Stone, which is, like his preferred outfits, purple. It's also a colour associated with She-Hulk, in case the theory only works with superheroes, not supervillains.
Finally, the Mind Stone could somehow relate to Vision, who carried it on his forehead for a long time, but other candidates like Shang-Chi are also on the table.
"We're getting characters that represent each stone on a cosmic level, and they are going to team up and beat Kang," said one Reddit user.
So far, this is only a theory, but one that could make the Infinity Stones exciting again for the franchise and its devoted fans.
The Infinity Saga (and the rest of the MCU) is available to watch on Disney+.
Mireia (she/her) has been working as a movie and TV journalist for over eight years. Based in the UK, she is a former deputy movies editor at Digital Spy, and previously worked for the Spanish magazine Fotogramas. Mireia's work has been published in other outlets such as Esquire and Elle in Spain, and WeLoveCinema and GamesRadar+ in the UK. She is also a published author, having written the essay Biblioteca Studio Ghibli: Nicky, la aprendiz de bruja about Hayao Miyazaki's Kiki's Delivery Service.
During her years as a freelance journalist and film critic, Mireia has covered festivals around the world and has interviewed high-profile talents such as Kristen Stewart, Ryan Gosling, Jake Gyllenhaal and many more. She's also taken part in juries such as the FIPRESCI jury at Venice Film Festival and the short film jury at Kingston International Film Festival in London. LinkedIn
