'Avengers 4: Endgame' Spoilers: New Comic Reveals a Key Detail We Missed

Despite being labeled as comics directly tied to Avengers: Endgame, the first two issues of Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame Prelude comic do little more than recap Infinity War. But there’s one important area where the comics improve over the film version: They make it abundantly clear which Infinity Stones Thanos uses in each battle.

Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame Prelude #2 hit store shelves on Wednesday, and it’s the second of three comics billed as a prelude to Endgame. Written by Will Corona Pilgrim, the comic lifts dialogue directly from the screenplay written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely for the big screen, with extra bits of dialogue thrown in to make the action more comprehensible.

One clarifying set of details that comes as a result of new perspectives in the comics is that whenever Thanos uses the Infinity Gauntlet, we get a clear perspective on exactly which Infinity Stones he’s using. This isn’t always noticeable in the film, where darker scenes can make it difficult to discern which Stones he’s using, especially when there are multiple being used at the same time.

The comic picks up in Scotland when Steve Rogers and co. save Wanda and Vision from Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive, proceeding through their reunion with Rhodes at the Avengers Facility in upstate New York. We also see most of Thor’s journey with Rocket and Groot to build Stormbreaker, along with Iron Man, Spider-Man, and Doctor Strange aboard Ebony Maw’s donut ship.

But the interesting scenes in question involve Thanos encountering several Guardians of the Galaxy on Knowhere when the Mad Titan clearly uses the Reality Stone to project a vision and then to disassemble Drax and Mantis and turn Star-Lords blaster fire to bubbles.

Shortly after that, we get a clear picture of Thanos using the Space Stone to create one of his signature blue portals — but we knew that was the case since the very beginning of the movie.

The third, and most interesting, instance in the comic comes when Thanos tortures Nebula aboard his ship. It’s fairly clear in the film version of Infinity War as well, but Thanos has to use both the Power and Space Stones when he tortures her.

Why?

When Thanos tortured Thor in a similar fashion at the start of the movie, he had to press the Power Stone directly against Thor’s temple. Remember that in Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 1, Ronan the Accuser had to get the Power Stone to actually touch the surface of Xandar to destroy it. But when Thanos uses the Space Stone to amplify the Power Stone’s range, he’s able to trigger the same effect at a range.

That speaks to what makes the Infinity Gauntlet so incredibly powerful: By combining the powers of the various Infinity Stones, specific Stones are able to overcome the limitations of others. And if ever there was a combo that Thanos should’ve gotten first, it was the Power and Space Stones.

Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame Prelude #1 and #2 are available now, with #3 due out February 20 2019.

Rewatch how Thanos uses the various Infinity Stones fighting Doctor Strange on Titan.