What If Loki Had The Infinity Gauntlet Instead of Thanos?

What would have been Loki’s fate had he accepted the deal to receive the Infinity Gauntlet in Loki? In the MCU, the God of Mischief has managed to obtain Infinity Stones in the past, but he’s never come anywhere close to getting his hands on all six and unlocking their full potential. The only MCU characters who have are Thanos and the Avengers.

Acquiring the Infinity Stones is one of the most challenging tasks one can embark on in the MCU, which isn’t surprising, given that they’re among the most powerful objects in the entire universe. Thanos (Josh Brolin) had to devote most of his life to getting them all. For the longest time, all he had was the Mind Stone (which he gave away and subsequently lost in an attempt to gain the Space Stone). After an unspecified period of strategizing and searching, Thanos finally executed his master plan and assembled the Infinity Gauntlet, but to get it, he had to go through dozens of superheroes. The Avengers had to face a different sort of trial in Avengers: Endgame. Instead of simply fighting their way to the Stones, the team actually had to figure out time travel so that they could pull them from the past.

The Infinity Gauntlet could have been assembled a third time in the Loki season finale, but in a much easier way. After reaching the castle hidden away in the Void, Miss Minutes appeared to Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Sylvie (Sophie Di Martino), and offered the former the Infinity Gauntlet. It was an offer that Loki might have accepted at the beginning of the series or at an earlier point in his timeline, but after everything that transpired in the series, but Loki’s remark that “we write our own destiny now” made it clear that at the current juncture, he doesn’t want the Infinity Gauntlet, or at least not in this way. In comparison to what the Avengers and Thanos had to go through, it certainly would have been a short cut to ultimate power. Loki passed up the chance, but the scenario posed by Miss Minutes raises questions about what could have happened if Loki had agreed.

Why Miss Minutes Offers Loki The Infinity Gauntlet

In the scene with Miss Minutes, Loki had an opportunity to kill Thanos, obtain the Infinity Gauntlet, take the throne of Asgard, and co-exist with Sylvie in the same timeline. Miss Minutes made this offer to Loki on behalf of He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors), who had decided to allow these things to come to pass, even though none of them were part of the natural flow of time. As noted by Miss Minutes, it would have been “crazy” for sure, especially since these would have been dramatic timeline changes, particularly Loki succeeding Odin and having all of the Infinity Stones, not to mention the idea of two versions of the same person being together. As someone who’s supposedly interested in protecting the timeline and maintaining some form of balance, He Who Remains making huge exceptions to his own rules just for Loki is quite telling. What it suggests about He Who Remains’ mindset at this time is desperation. Despite the confidence he exuded when he met them, his willingness to make this offer shows how afraid he was of dying.

How Powerful Loki Would Be With The Infinity Gauntlet

If Loki had gone along with He Who Remains’ plan, Loki would have wielded the combined abilities of the six Infinity Stones. He’d be able to bend reality to his will, exponentially increase his physical strength, rewind time like Thanos did in Avengers: Infinity War, and essentially have the capability to accomplish anything he wanted. He doesn’t have the raw power of Thanos, but that wouldn’t hold him back in any way. By compensating with the Power Stone, Loki would still be close to Thanos’ full power at the Infinity War. It’s hard to imagine any being in the universe having the means to oppose him. Even Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), Thanos, and Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) couldn’t compare to a Loki variant armed with the Infinity Gauntlet.

Why Loki's Infinity Gauntlet Plan Would Be Different To Thanos

Infinity War Comic Con Trailer Thanos Throws Moon

Though he’d be Thanos-level, Loki likely wouldn’t be quite as dangerous to the MCU as the Mad Titan. He, of course, could erase half the universe if he wanted to, but he’d lack the same motivation to do so. Thanos had a very specific and unique goal in mind in Infinity War, which was to restore balance to the universe. Loki, on the other hand, has never cared about such things and wouldn’t see the need for an act of mass-genocide on a scale that large. However, that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t pose a threat. The Loki variant may have demonstrated redeemable qualities in the show, but his ambition may not have faded.

Plus, it’s worth noting what Adam Warlock said in the original Infinity Gauntlet comic. Any person who possesses that much power would eventually be corrupted. And Loki, being a villain, would surely have become a problem, even though his plan wouldn’t have been as bad as Thanos’ in Infinity War. Looking at what Loki has done in the past, it makes sense that an Infinity Gauntlet-powered Loki would have tried ruling the universe.

How Endgame Would Be Different With Loki As The Villain

Loki (Tom Hiddleston) Gagged in Avengers

Just as they did with Thanos, the Avengers naturally would have opposed Loki. Exactly how the fight would have played out is hard to say definitively, but it’s entirely possible that the result wouldn’t have been that different from what occurred in Infinity War. Similar to the original outcome, Loki could have won round one, forcing Earth’s Mightiest Heroes to rally together for another attempt. Different to Thanos, Loki could have held on to the Infinity Stones, meaning that he would have been prepared for their next fight. Thanos destroyed them because he no longer needed them, plus he wanted to make sure no one else got a chance to use their abilities. But Loki may not have been so quick to give up all his power.

Taking that into consideration, the Avengers may have had to resort to time travel in that scenario as well, but for a different reason. In Endgame, it was necessary because Thanos had destroyed the Stones, but against Loki, they could have used this strategy simply because they couldn’t win without it. If so, they could have gone back in time and gained the power needed to beat Loki once and for all, presumably without any notable interference from his past self, who wouldn’t have been powerful enough to stand against them. Interestingly, the Avengers having to beat Loki with time travel is actually a thought that was briefly entertained by Hiddleston’s character in Loki. He assumed that his “ascent to god-king” had to be the reason why the Avengers went that far, and Loki getting the Infinity Gauntlet truly would have justified such measures.