Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Infinity War has finally arrived. It’s been said, ever since Thanos was hinted in the post-credit scene of 2012’s The Avengers, that the Mad Titan would be the toughest villain our favorite group of heroes would face. That promise has definitely come to fruition in the 19th installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe given the dire situation that befalls the universe at the end of the movie.
Indeed, more than half of all the heroes in Avengers: Infinity War disintegrate, and with them half of all existence in the universe. As the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and the Masters of the Mystic Arts try to stop Thanos’s quest for omnipotent power, many meet their end, while some live to tell the tale.
Indeed, Thanos committed cosmic destruction , but that catastrophe and many other deaths could have been avoided if some of Earth and the Galaxy’s mightiest heroes had not forgotten some key abilities they’ve used many times before.
Prior MCU movies have established that many characters like Doctor Strange and Gamora are able to do rather specific things that are essential to their heroic status. Perhaps the arrival of Thanos gave the Avengers a little bit of amnesia, but if they hadn’t forgotten some key superpowers, maybe Thanos wouldn’t have snapped his fingers in the first place.
A little remembering could be the key to stopping a Titan.
Here are 16 Superpowers Everyone Forgot In Avengers: Infinity War.
16. Scarlet Witch’s Mind-Manipulation
One of the defining characteristics of Scarlet Witch is her ability to give people visions. Essentially, she is able to manipulate the minds of others and make them see illusions or hallucinations. This was set up in 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron. It’s one of that film’s most important plot point, as it later led to the many visions the Avengers had thereafter. She also uses it on the people of Sokovia to encourage them to evacuate during the film's climactic battle.
It’s a bit odd then that Wanda has seemingly forgotten how to use that power. It makes sense for her to omit that skill during Captain America: Civil War, as there she was fighting her friends and colleagues, but she should’ve used her mind-manipulation in Avengers: Infinity War.
A moment in particular during the movie where that skillset would’ve come in handy was when Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive first attacked her and Vision in Scotland.
Before Captain America, Falcon and Black Widow came to save the day, Wanda could’ve used her mind tricks against the Black Order without striking a single blow. That would’ve allowed her to safely transport Vision to another location. Even more, it would’ve been one tremendous scene to see. Especially since Scarlet Witch hasn’t used that power set since the aforementioned Avengers: Age of Ultron.
15. Doctor Strange and the Time Stone
Doctor Strange was one of the most important characters in the battle against Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War.
A Master of the Mystic Arts and the current Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Strange had in his disposal an array of magical abilities to quarrel Thanos and his Black Order. Indeed, he was a key player in the initial New York City attack by Ebony Maw, and perhaps the most powerful Avenger when he took on Thanos on the villain’s home planet Titan.
Even though Strange proved to be a formidable opponent, he forgot to use his most powerful weapon: the Eye of Agamotto, aka the Time Stone.
Even Thanos commented on the matter.
Doctor Strange could have easily used the Time Stone to turn back time at many points throughout the film. Right at the beginning, when Hulk crash-landed in the Sanctum, Strange could’ve used the Time Stone to stop Thanos’s attack on the Asgardian ship, to defeat the Titan before he’d assembled all of the Infinity Stones.
This could’ve also been done on Titan, especially since Doctor Strange and the other heroes on the planet spent quite some time waiting for Thanos to arrive. Instead of looking into the millions of futures to see a timeline where the Avengers would succeed, Doctor Strange could’ve simply reversed time and stopped Thanos before he became so powerful.
14. Mantis’s instant sleep
Mantis is a relatively new member of the Guardians of the Galaxy. While she is one of the most lighthearted and funny characters in the ensemble, she still packs quite the skillset. As an empath, she possesses the ability to alter people’s emotions. We got to see her powers fully manifest in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, where she made her MCU debut. In that film, Ego the Living Planet used her to help him fall asleep, and later when the she was recruited by the Guardians, she used her powers against her former master.
Now, recall that Ego the Living Planet was a Celestial, a literal god, before he met his end by the hands of Star-Lord.
If Mantis could make a god fall asleep in an instant, then the same should apply to Thanos, who only had four Infinity Stones in his possession.
Even Scarlet Witch was able to hold off Thanos, and that time the Titan had five Infinity Stones in his gauntlet. So Mantis could’ve definitely affected Thanos in more ways than she actually did in Avengers: Infinity War.
Even more, unlike Ego, who Mantis subdued while the Celestial was in full focus, Thanos was distracted and trying to escape the heroes’ grasps when Mantis did her mind tricks. She should’ve definitely used that instant sleep maneuver.
13. Spider-Man’s spider-sense on Titan
Peter Parker/Spider-Man had one of the best arcs in Avengers: Infinity War. His last scene, where he vanished and turned into a pile of ashes as he embraced Tony Stark, is perhaps the most emotional fans have got in the entire timeframe of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While that definitely was a powerful scene, it could’ve been avoided if it wasn’t for Star-Lord losing his composure.
Spidey and the other heroes were so close in taking Thanos’s gauntlet off his left hand, but when Star-Lord inquired about Gamora, Thanos’s response made him lose his cool, messing up the entire plan. While it’s understandable for Star-Lord to react that way, Spider-Man could’ve seen it coming, hence stopping him from hitting Thanos in the face. How? Because of his spider-sense.
We saw early in the movie that Peter’s spider-sense were actively working. While on the school bus, it was his spider-sense that alerted him of Thanos’s incoming spaceship. It was also his spider-sense that alerted him that the Guardians had just arrived on Titan and where about to engage the Avengers.
Spider-Man then could’ve used his spider-sense to sense Star-Lord’s act of aggression and stop him from ever putting a hand on Thanos.
Or maybe Nebula should’ve just held him back.
12. God-Thor from Ragnarok
Besides Thanos, Thor Odinson had the most screen time in Avengers: Infinity War. While the majority of his arc was limited to his visit to Nidavellir to forge his new axe/hammer Stormbreaker, Thor’s entrance to the battle in Wakanda was one of the most epic scenes in the entire movie. Stormbreaker definitely made the Thor character even more powerful than before, but let’s not forget that Thor is the god of thunder, not the god of hammers, as was explicitly and hilariously mentioned by Odin in Thor: Ragnarok.
Thor again reverted back to his hammer-wielding days, completely forgetting what he had llearned in his previous films: that he is in fact a god.
Granted, it was mentioned in Thor: Ragnarok that Hela, and by association Thor and Heimdall, derived their powers from the people of Asgard. Since Thanos obliterated all of the Asgardian citizens aboard Thor’s ship, perhaps Thor lost his god powers right after. Indeed, that would be the case, except that later in Avengers: Infinity War, Thor actually performs godly deeds before the forging of Stormbreaker. So, Thor’s god powers were there all along.
Stormbreaker might have actually limited his abilities, akin to Mjolnir in the past.
11. Scarlet Witch’s Hyper Telekinesis
Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch was perhaps one of the most underused characters in Avengers: Infinity War, even though she was still one of the strongest. She single-handedly defended Vision and was able to stop Thanos in his tracks. The Titan even had five Infinity Stones already in his possession. That’s pretty remarkable.
Okoye definitely had a point when she said that Scarlet Witch should’ve been in the fight all along. Indeed, it would’ve made a huge difference.
Scarlet Witch seemed to completely forget that she could’ve used her telekenisis skills to pull the Infinity Gauntlet off Thanos’ hand.
A maneuver akin to what she did to Crossbones in Captain America: Civil War would’ve done the trick.
In fact, when Scarlet Witch finally joined Black Widow and Okoye in the fight against Proxima Midnight, she used her telekinesis powers to destroy an entire legion of Outriders. If she had done that to Thanos in the same way she entrapped Crossbones in flames, perhaps Avengers: Infinity War would’ve ended very, very differently.
Even Thanos found Scarlet Witch’s abilities remarkable and the Titan is not easily impressed. Perhaps it was due to the heat of the moment that Scarlet Witch didn’t think of using her telekinesis. Yet, if she had, maybe Vision would still be alive.
10. Gamora’s Acrobatic Skills
Gamora’s arc was perhaps the most tragic in all of Infinity War. She had to watch Drax and Mantis get turned into blocks and strings, respectively, and she even was put in the terrible position of asking Star-Lord to take her life. The most tragic moment, though, was when she discovered that Thanos believed that he loved her and that she was going to be the victim of a terrible sacrifice.
In order for Thanos to get the most coveted Soul Stone, he had to sacrifice Gamora by throwing her off a cliff - essentially trading a soul for a soul. The way the sacrifice came about, though, seemed rather odd, considering we’ve seen Gamora jump longer scales in previous MCU films.
It seems Gamora forgot that she can jump and land from incredible heights without causing physical damage.
This was true in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. W hen Ego used his planet against the Guardians, Gamora and Nebula started to free-fall after the ground beneath them disintegrated. Both were able to land on nearby rocks without hurting themselves and they later even managed to jump so high they almost made it out of the hole unscathed. With this logic then Gamora should’ve somehow survived her fall in Vormir, since it was nowhere as long as when she fell in Ego’s planet.
9. Hulk Rage
Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner is the most dynamic character in the entire MCU. The character has managed to change his disposition in every subsequent movie he’s been in since 2012’s The Avengers. He was a serious scientist in the aforementioned movie, then a romantically unstable character in Avengers: Age of Ultron, followed by becoming a full-fledged comedian in Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Infinity War. The Hulk has also changed dramatically, and one superpower he has suddenly forgotten is his rage.
The Hulk gets stronger every time he gets angrier or is hit, but this is an ability that has seemingly vanished.
We first saw the Hulk’s rage in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk. This Hulk was portrayed by Ed Norton, but there’s no denying that this was the only time where the Hulk truly acted like the Hulk. Later in Avengers: Age of Ultron, the Hulk’s rage came back after Scarlet Witch put a spell on the Jade Giant. The spell didn’t last long, though, and Hulk was then eventually defeated by Tony in the Hulkbuster.
In Avengers: Infinity War Hulk was easily defeated by Thanos, yet he never got angry. If he had, then Thanos would be missing a few teeth right about now.
8. Vision can turn to solid Vibranium
There were many losses in Avengers: Infinity War right from the get-go, but none of the victims had the awful luck of going twice like Paul Bettany’s Vision. To stop Thanos from obtaining the Mind Stone, Scarlet Witch destroyed the Stone, which in the process ended Vision.
Thanos seemingly expected this to happen, so he then used the Time Stone to reverse time. He then followed to rip the Mind Stone off Vision’s forehead, ending him yet again. Moments before any of this transpired, though, Vision was impaled with a blade by Corvus Glaive, which left him weakened throughout the rest of the film. This could’ve been totally avoided by the simple fact that Vision can turn to solid vibranium.
Vision turned to solid vibranium during Captain America: Civil War, when Hawkeye tried to break Scarlet Witch out of the Avengers’ facility.
Vision could’ve used this technique to avoid any further damage from Corvus Glaive after the initial hit. Even when Glaive first impaled Vision, he could’ve already been in solid vibranium form.
The film never explained how strong Corvus Glaive’s blade is, so it’s safe to assume that it can’t penetrate vibranium. We even saw a glimpse of how vibranium reacts to his blade when the villain fought Wakandan guards in Shuri’s lab. Though Glave easily defeated the guards, his blade never broke any of the guard’s vibranium swords.
7. Spider-Man’s "Karen"
As previously mentioned, Spider-Man’s arc in Avengers: Infinity War was truly one of the most heartbreaking. His father-son relationship with Tony Stark really reached its high in the movie and the ending of the film couldn’t have been more emotional. With such character dynamics it was only a matter of time until Tony made Spider-Man a space suit.
Nicknamed “17-A,” the new Iron Spider suit gave Peter even more spectacular abilities, most notably the spider legs that protruded from his back. Now, while the suit may come with cool new features, that doesn’t mean that old features would suddenly vanish. Alas, Peter completely forgot about Karen, aka suit lady.
Introduced in Spider-Man: Homecoming, Karen became Peter’s new best friend as the voice within his suit. Like JARVIS, Karen helped Peter whenever he was in the Spider-Man costume. Except, that she was nowhere to be found in Avengers: Infinity War. With Thanos causing universal havoc, it would made sense for Karen to initiate her offensive mode. Perhaps that function is no longer available in suit 17-A, but we shouldn’t assume such is the case since Karen wasn’t even in the movie.
Realistically, with so many characters already in Avengers: Infinity War, it makes sense that Karen didn’t make the cut. But, from a narrative perspective, she should’ve definitely been there since the beginning.
6. Doctor Strange’s instant teleportation from Thor: Ragnarok
Doctor Strange had a massive power boost in Avengers: Infinity War. He was nowhere as skillful and powerful in his own movie, but we got a glimpse into Strange’s new skill set in last year’s Thor: Ragnarok.
When Thor and Loki visit New York City in search of Odin, Doctor Strange intervenes and has a sudden meeting with Thor. Strange then offers to help Thor in exchange for Loki’s quick exit from Earth. Thor accepted and what ensued after was one of the funniest bits in that movie. When looking for certain books, Doctor Strange instantly teleported himself and Thor throughout the Sanctum. Even more, he managed to do this without the need of a sling ring. If Doctor Strange can now do that, then he should’ve used the technique in Avengers: Infinity War.
Such a trick would have definitely been a huge help for the Avengers and the Guardians on the Titan.
Thanos would have never seen a punch coming and it would have also allowed for some more funny quips from the Doctor himself.
Doctor Strange’s instant teleportation trick was never really explained in Thor: Ragnarok, so perhaps that’s why it didn’t translate over to Avengers: Infinity War. Maybe the trick was done as a fun stunt exclusively for Thor: Ragnarok, with no intention of ever happening again in another film. Nonetheless, there’s no denying that that power set would’ve changed the tide of battle rather quickly.
5. Groot can control plant life
After Scarlet Witch, Groot was definitely the most underused character in Avengers: Infinity War. Besides serving as a plot device in creating the handle for Thor’s Stormbreaker axe, all Groot until the film's climax was play video games. While it definitely served as a fun joke throughout the movie, there was still so much more Groot could have done - especially in the final battle in Wakanda.
After Groot introduced himself to Captain America and Cap hilariously responded with “I am Steve Rogers,” Groot impaled a number of Outriders akin to how Adult Groot impaled a number of Kree soldiers in the first Guardians of the Galaxy. Groot forgot he can also control plant life, not just make himself into a weapon.
The ability to control plant life would have made a vast difference in the fight against Thanos. The place in Wakanda where the battle was transpiring was essentially a ginormous forest, with plant life all throughout.
Groot could have used the entire environment against Thanos with ease and maybe more damage could’ve been inflicted on the Mad Titan.
Perhaps since Groot is just a teenager he hasn’t grasped yet the full extent of his powers, but there’s no question that if Groot had had used his surroundings, Thanos wouldn’t be smiling by the end of the movie.
4. Doctor Strange’s sling ring slicer
There’s no cooler mystical artifact in the MCU than Wong and Doctor Strange’s sling ring. The device allows the Masters of the Mystic Arts to open portals and travel anywhere on the multiverse. Its primary use is to open up portals to different places on Earth, but it can also be used to conjure weapons, like when Doctor Strange formed a mystic nunchuck when he fought Kaecilius in his own movie.
In Avengers: Infinity War, the sling ring was used primarily as a portal device, but Wong turned the sling ring portal into a weapon when he accidentally cut off Cull Obsidian’s hand as soon as the portal closed. If it was no accident, though, and Wong knew that the sling ring could do such act, then it’s reasonable to think that Doctor Strange would know of this too. If so, then this trick would’ve been an excellent way to take the Infinity Gauntlet off Thanos’s hand. How? By slicing his hand instead of sliding the glove off it.
Considering that Doctor Strange opened up a portal that later sliced a taxi in half, then he most definitely knows that he can use the sling ring in such way to win the fight against Thanos.
This is one technique Doctor Strange totally forgot about.
3. Loki’s Intangibility and Shapeshifting Trick
After Heimdall met his gruesome end at the hand of Thanos, the next to suffer the Mad Titan’s wrath was Loki, the god of mischief. Loki tried all he could to save himself from Thanos’s might, but when Thor’s life was put at risk, the god of mischief didn’t hesitate in giving Thanos exactly what he wanted: the Tesseract, which held within it the Space Stone.
In an act of honor and pride, Loki attempted to fool Thanos by conjuring a knife under his hand. While Ebony Maw and the rest of the Black Order did not see it coming, Thanos saw the trick coming from a mile away. He stopped Loki’s assassination attempt and followed to break his neck as Thor watched in anguish. This was definitely not a good plan from Loki.
His plan could've worked if he had not forgotten that he can become intangible, like he’s done so many, many times before in the previous MCU movies.
One of the most memorable times in which Loki used his intangibility was when he visited Thor in Sakaar’s gladiator holding area. In fact, Loki’s power to create ghost versions of himself was a running motif throughout Thor: Ragnarok. He could’ve used that same trick against Thanos easily.
Even more, not only can Loki become intangible and create ghost replicas of himself, he can also transform into other people akin to shapeshifting. If he masqueraded as Odin for years, he could’ve used that trick to fool the Mad Titan.
2. Doctor Strange and the Mirror Dimension
Indeed, Doctor Strange was the MVP of Avengers: Infinity War. If it wasn’t for him, the fight against Thanos would’ve ended much sooner and maybe Tony Stark wouldn’t even be alive. At the same time, though, as we’ve mentioned earlier, there are so many things Doctor Strange could’ve done that could have greatly affected the outcome of the fight.
While Doctor Strange used his sling ring, a number of spells and tricks, and the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak, there was one maneuver he forgot to use: the Mirror Dimension. First introduced in 2016’s Doctor Strange, the Mirror Dimension is best remembered for when Kaecilius used it to bend reality and New York City to his will, causing a number of buildings to warp, split and bend, akin to scenes in Christopher Nolan’s Inception.
This trick would’ve been a tremendous asset for Doctor Strange in Avengers: Infinity War. As the name implies, the Mirror Dimension mirrors our reality. This means that, though it looks like the physical world, the dimension doesn’t react like the physical world. That’s why the Ancient One trained Stephen Strange in the Mirror Dimension. The Mirror Dimension only becomes dangerous if a more powerful sorcerer is trying to destroy you, as was the case with Kaecilius, who had in him powers bestowed by Dormammu.
Doctor Strange could’ve used the Mirror Dimension to bend reality and finally put an end to Thanos’s evil schemes.
1. Thanos didn’t use the Mind Stone
There’s no denying that Thanos was both the antagonist and the protagonist of Avengers: Infinity War. He was the only character with a complete arc and a “hero’s journey,” which came to fruition when he finally assembled all six Infinity Stones and snapped his fingers, committing cosmic destruction in the process.
Before amassing all of the six Stones, though, Thanos made the interesting decision to use each individual Stone indepently, showing us how each Infinity Stone works. With the Power Stone, he showed us how he can become even stronger than the Hulk. With the Space Stone, he showed us that he can open portals and control the space around him. Then with the Reality Stone, he put those powers to the test by literally changing reality, followed by the Soul Stone, which allowed him to take lives at a large scale. Finally, he turned back time with the Time Stone.
The only Infinity Stone he did not use was the Mind Stone, which could’ve left some audiences wondering what exactly is it that that Stone can do.
All the Infinity Stones coalesced at the end when Thanos used them in unison to snap his fingers and wish half of existence away. It would’ve been nice to see Thanos use the Mind Stone alone, since we didn’t see Scarlet Witch use her mind powers either.
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What other superpowers did the Avengers forget? Let us know in the comments.
