Where Are the Marvel Universe's Infinity Stones Right Now?

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is hurtling toward a cataclysm known as Infinity War, during which a very bad space man will use magic gems to end our existence. That said, Thanos is gonna need his space bling first, so tracking the Infinity Stones is a future-minded fan adventure as a box office-crushing apocalypse looms. The magical MacGuffins are spread across the universe and following them isn’t always easy.

So let’s take a look at the MCU as it sits today, and identify where each Infinity Stone is currently hidden, or about where they’re going as we approach the biggest tentpole film of all time.

The Space Stone

The first stone, the tesseract or space stone, has been all over the MCU. It was the focus of Captain America and Avengers. At the end of the film, it’s shipped to Asgard and placed in a secure vault. However, in Thor: The Dark World, Loki secretly replaced Odin on the throne, so we should assume that one is back in evil hands. Most likely, Loki would not want to give any stone to Thanos, since he’s failed that evil Space Master twice now. Although Loki almost conquered the Earth with a single stone before, so let’s see what kind of damage he can do by his lonesome.

The Power Stone

Last seen in Guardians of the Galaxy, it was given to Glenn Close’s character from the Nova Corps who had it sealed away. We’re already seeing a series of stones in “secure vaults,” which Thanos will inevitably attack, Ocean’s 11 style.

The Reality Stone

The reality stone, as seen in Thor: The Dark World, was given to the mysterious Collector from Guardians, which means it was probably in the room during Guardians when that whole place blew up. Why were two stones in the same location this early? Poor planning. Also, is it still there, under the rubble? Was it part of the detonation? Does Howard the Duck have it? It’s unclear.

The Mind Stone

This gem was used in Avengers: Age of Ultron by Ultron, who accidentally created Vision, a flying robot hero with the jewel embedded in his damned forehead. Thanos acquiring this one will necessarily involve the death of Vision. He won’t go softly. Super Jarvis don’t fuck around.

The Time Stone

The Time Stone is rumored to be the crux of the forthcoming Doctor Strange which makes a lot of sense; magic toys belong in a movie about magic people.

The Soul Stone

We should probably assume Thanos isn’t starting to collect stones from scratch and, by process of elimination, this may be the one he’s starting with. That said, it’s possible Marvel wants to use these things to really connect all its properties, in which case we’d likely see this show up in Hell’s Kitchen on a Netflix show. We should assume that Thanos has at least one, because watching a bad guy track down six magical gemstones probably has no place in Infinity War.

When They Combine?

The Infinity Gauntlet is a very powerful, very shiny glove. It fits Thanos.