After Thanos destroyed half the universe’s population with a snap of his fingers at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, he told an apparition of Gamora’s younger self inside the Soul Stone that the act cost him “everything.” In a less exaggerated and dramatic fashion, we finally know the exact physical toll that the infamous “snap” cost him.
In a lengthy interview with Collider published Tuesday, Infinity War screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely revealed that using the Infinity Gauntlet to eliminate half the universe severely injured Thanos’s left arm. “That’s an immense amount of energy,” Markus said when asked about the physical price Thanos paid “There’s a reason why other people haven’t done this. Because I think it’ll kill you. So the strongest guy in the universe has to be the one to do it. And I don’t think he’ll be doing much with that arm.” This makes a lot of sense considering how damaged both his arm and Gauntlet looked after the Snap.
Thanos won't be able to do stuff like this anymore in 'Avengers 4'.
After Thanos returns from his ethereal visit to young Gamora, he goes through one of his Space Stone-activated portals to watch the sunrise on some far away planet. In both scenes, you can see that his left arm is severely wounded and the Gauntlet is smoking. It’s still unclear to what extent Thanos will be able to actually wield the Gauntlet or any of the Infinity Stones, but if he won’t be “doing much with that arm,” then it’s possible that he’ll no longer able to use the Infinity Stones at all.
This revelation also kind of reinforces some Avengers 4 theories and supposed plot leaks that Hulk will wield a Stark-made Infinity Gauntlet after the surviving Avengers travel through time to collect the Infinity Stones. The Hulk will supposedly wield that Gauntlet and lose his arm in the process. It’s likely that nobody is impervious, not even the two biggest bruisers in the universe.
Even if Thanos can still use the Infinity Gauntlet and/or his arm in some fashion, the Mad Titan is still more vulnerable than ever before. The heroes of the MCU now have their best shot at defeating him for good. Considering the Avengers have half a universe to avenge, then there’s bound to be a huge conflict about to happen.
The still untitled Avengers 4 film will be released on May 3, 2019.
