Every Time Thanos Used The Infinity Stones In Avengers: Infinity War

Just how does Thanos use the Infinity Stones in Avengers: Infinity War? In the MCU, the Infinity Stones are "six singularities" that predate the universe itself. When Thanos acquired the Space Stone, Ebony Maw claimed that his master was the first being in all of history to wield the power of more than one Infinity Stone. By the end of the film, the Mad Titan had claimed all six.

Over in the comics, Marvel recently revealed that the Infinity Stones exist in a sort of "feedback loop." Mastery of one Stone grants the bearer power over another. Thus mastery of the Space Stone, for example, amplifies the power of the Time Stone. It's unclear whether or not that same principle applies in the movies, but certainly there's some sort of synergy between the Stones shown in Avengers: Infinity War; that's why Thanos needed to acquire all six in order to be able to erase half the lives in the universe with just a snap of his fingers.

Marvel put a lot of thought into how they would demonstrate the power of each Infinity Stone. As Joe Russo explained, "Each gem has its own special power... Not only are you dealing with a lot of characters, you are also dealing with the Stones, the gems, and there's a lot of them. So for people to keep track of all of it, we had to get really specific." This was achieved by a pretty smart concept; the Infinity Gauntlet wasn't just envisioned as a glove containing the Infinity Stones, but as a mechanism that allowed Thanos access to their power. Every time he triggered an Infinity Stone by clenching his fist, the Stone(s) in use flared. That simple visual tool allowed viewers to know what was going on.

Over on Reddit, one Redditor has used this to help break down all the different and distinctive ways Thanos wielded the Infinity Stones. We'll follow a similar approach here, but we'll also examine what each use implies as regards the power of the Infinity Stones, and Thanos's mastery of them.

This Page: Using Infinity Stones To Collect Other Stones
Page 2: Using Infinity Stones Together To Beat The Avengers
Page 3: How Thanos Used Each Individual Stone

Thanos Using Infinity Stones on the Asgardian Ship

Thanos Using Infinity Stones on Thor’s Ship

Avengers: Infinity War begins with Thanos only wielding one Infinity Stone, the Power Stone (stolen from Xandar in a deleted sequence). By the end of this scene, though, he's acquired the Space Stone as well - and immediately shows a grasp of its power. He's able to wield both Infinity Stones to terrifying effect.

Thanos's first use of the Power Stone is to torture Thor by pressing it against the God of Thunder's face. This fits with the lore established in Guardians of the Galaxy, with just physical contact with the Power Stone burns a living being up. In this case, Thanos is less demonstrating what he can do with the Power Stone, than he is taking advantage of its very nature.

It's ironic that Loki gives Thanos the Space Stone before making an attempt on the Mad Titan's life; Thanos is able to use the Space Stone to freeze Loki's hand in space, preventing him from slitting his throat. Previous movies and tie-in comics had seen the Space Stone used as a power source (Captain America: The First Avenger, before Marvel had decided that the Tesseract was an Infinity Stone); to create portals (The Avengers); and to harness the Bifrost (Thor: The Dark World Prelude). This is the first time we've ever seen it used to freeze an object in space, and it's possible Loki didn't know it could do that.

Thanos then uses the Power Stone to build up a charge of energy that destroys the Asgardian ship; it's a similar idea to the one demonstrated by Tivan in Guardians of the Galaxy, when he claimed the Celestials previously used the Power Stone to judge entire worlds. The Mad Titan then teleports himself and the Black Order away from the ensuing explosion with the Space Stone.

Thanos Using Infinity Stones on Knowhere

Thanos Uses the Reality and Space Stones in Avengers Infinity War

The next scene featuring Thanos is on Knowhere, with the Mad Titan already in possession of the Reality Stone. Its powers haven't really been explored before; the Reality Stone (or the Aether) was introduced in Thor: The Dark World, but back then Malekith intended to unite the Reality Stone with a galactic event known as the Convergence. This was apparenty a time when the Reality Stone's power was at its height. With the Convergence now passed, Thanos gives viewers a glimpse of the Reality Stone's usual power levels.

Thanos's most impressive use of the Reality Stone is in his creation of what the writers and directors have called a "Reality Cloak," a false reality that deceives the Guardians of the Galaxy. It's so real that Gamora even briefly believes she's killed her "father" - before Thanos wills the Reality Cloak to fade away, revealing that he has already taken the Reality Stone. The most impressive aspect of the Reality Cloak is that characters Thanos has created appear to have some sort of autonomous will; Tivan waves as he disappears, perfectly in-character. Thanos then uses the full force of the Reality Stone against the Guardians, turning Drax into bricks, Mantis into ribbons and Star-Lord's blaster-shots into bubbles. With the Guardians defeated, Thanos depart from Knowhere courtesy of the Space Stone, taking Gamora with him.

It's interesting to note that, when Thanos leaves Knowhere, Drax and Mantis reform. This suggests that the Reality Stone has to be in relatively close proximity for its effects to be maintained. It may explain why Malekith needed the Convergence in order to amplify the Reality Stone's power; the Convergence seemed to break down the spatial barriers between all the Nine Realms, which would thus allow Malekith to use the Reality Stone on all of reality at once.

Thanos Using Infinity Stones With Gamora

Thanos uses Infinity Stones with Gamora in Avengers Infinity War

Moving on to Thanos's vessel, the Mad Titan tortures Nebula in order to force Gamora to reveal the Soul Stone's location. He combines the Power and Space Stones in order to do this, tearing Nebula's cybernetic body apart and causing her unbearable agony. This is the first time Thanos melds the power of two Infinity Stones.

Thanos then uses the Space Stone to transport himself and Gamora to Vormir. It's notable that he materializes on exactly the right part of the planet to get to the Soul Stone, hinting that - as in the comics - the Infinity Stones are drawn to one another. Later in this scene, he turns Gamora's knife to bubbles using the Reality Stone.

Page 2: Using Infinity Stones Together To Beat The Avengers

Thanos Uses The Reality and Power Stones in Avengers Infinity War

Thanos Using Infinity Stones In The Battle of Titan

Returning to Titan using the Space Stone, Thanos finds himself faced with a group of Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy. What follows is the most extended action sequence involving Thanos in the entire film, with the Mad Titan demonstrating his mastery of all the Infinity Stones he has so far acquired - Power, Space, Reality, and there are even a few glimpses of his using the Soul Stone. Given the sheer number of examples during the Battle of Titan, we'll look at each Stone one at a time rather than in the actual sequence they're used. We'll then explore the occasions Thanos combines the Stones, to devastating effect.

The Power Stone, the first Infinity Stone that Thanos acquired, appears to be the one he finds easiest to use. By this point in the film, Thanos is beginning to experiment with it, even projecting a flurry of energy beams at Star-Lord, Doctor Strange, and Iron Man. Concussive waves of power destroy the spacecraft Iron Man has crushed him with, knock out Star-Lord, Drax and Nebula, and dispel Doctor Strange's Mirror Dimension attack. Late in the battle, Thanos uses the Power Stone to generate some sort of force-field, protecting the Infinity Gauntlet from one of Stark's attacks; it's the first time we've ever seen the Power Stone used like this. There's one scene in which the Mad Titan enhances his own already-prodigious physical strength with the Power Stone, as he punches Tony Stark.

Thanos pulls off some impressive stunts with the Reality Stone as well. He first creates another Reality Cloak, showing Titan as it was before tragedy struck. Then, during the heat of battle, he uses the Reality Stone to convert parts of the crashed spaceship into bats, which pursue Iron Man (presumably in accordance with Thanos's will; unless he deliberately knew of a life-form that would be drawn to metallic armor like that). Finally, when fighting Doctor Strange, Thanos is able to compress debris into a sort of beam that he targets at the sorcerer.

It's clear that Thanos is beginning to develop tactics in which he combines the power of the Infinity Stones. He blends the Space and Power Stones to compress explosions caused by Stark, and then redirect them back towards Iron Man. More spectacularly, these two Infinity Stones are used to pull one of the moons of Titan towards the planet, and to tear it apart as a devastating weapon. Thanos combines the Soul and Power Stones during his battle with Doctor Strange, with the Soul Stone allowing him to identify the real Strange, while the Power Stone blasts him away. He then wields the Space and Reality Stones in concert to pull Strange towards him, while rotating the ground beneath his feet. Finally, Strange intervenes to prevent Thanos killing Tony Stark in a coup de grace that would have involved all four Infinity Stones being used at once.

It's interesting to note that the Soul Stone, Thanos's latest acquisition, is the least used of all the Infinity Stones during this confrontation. There's a mysterious flare of the Soul Stone's power when Thanos has knocked out Star-Lord, Drax, and Nebula, but it's unclear what that does. It's surprising that we don't get to see the Soul Stone in action, given the build-up to the mystery of its location. The official Avengers: Infinity War Prelude comic describes the Soul Stone as "the biggest threat" of all the Infinity Stones, so Thanos has presumably only begun to explore its power by the end of the movie.

Finally, the battle done, Thanos departs Titan via the Space Stone, heading straight to Wakanda.

Thanos Using Infinity Stones In The Battle of Wakanda

Thanos uses the Time Stone and Snaps in Avengers Infinity War

Thanos jumps straight into another fight, this time taking on the combined might of the Avengers. Unfortunately, unlike Iron Man and Doctor Strange, the heroes have no idea what they're dealing with; they're (mostly) easily defeated by the Mad Titan. Again, this action sequence shows Thanos increasingly confident in his use of the Infinity Stones, and at times it's hard to work out what he's done as he effortlessly disposes of heroes like Black Widow and Falcon. Again, we'll focus on this Stone by Stone, although this time round Thanos seems to focus on the Space Stone. That's exciting to see, given up till now the Space Stone has largely been used as a means of transportation.

Thanos's most interesting trick during the Battle of Wakanda is to render Bruce Banner out of phase, so he goes right through Thanos and then solidifies inside a rock. Presumably this is done by pushing apart the space between Banner's molecules, then pulling them back together. The Mad Titan then wields the Space Stone to knock out Falcon (there's a surge of blue energy), to deflect and defeat War Machine, and - most curiously - to push through Scarlet Witch's attack. It's possible he made a tactical error in choosing the Space Stone rather than the Power Stone this time around, but by the time he realized he was already committed.

Thanos is far less creative in his use of the Power Stone on Wakanda, swatting Captain America and Bucky away, deflecting Okoye's Vibranium spear, and knocking her aside as well. There's also one ambiguous scene in which he knocks Black Widow into the ground and covers her up with rocks, but it's unclear whether this is the Reality Stone, the Space Stone, or even both blended together He only exercises the Time Stone once, to reverse time around Vision and thus avert the Mind Stone's destruction. Given Wong and Mordo feared Strange was breaking the space-time continuum when he used the Time Stone on an apple back in Doctor Strange, it's difficult to know exactly what this use of the Time Stone did to the fabric of reality.

The Battle of Wakanda doesn't really see Thanos use the Infinity Stones in combination - at least until Thor's arrival. Here, the light effects suggest that Thanos's energy beam directed at Thor actually used all six Infinity Stones at once; they didn't have any success against the wrathful Thunder God, giving a sense of just how powerful Stormbreaker truly is. All six Infinity Stones are then used to perform the "snap," an act of such magnitude that it permanently damaged both Thanos and the Infinity Gauntlet itself. The Mad Titan is still able to use more than one Infinity Stone at a time, though, triggering the Space, Soul, Time, and Reality Stones as he departs Wakanda. It's unclear to what effect these Stones were used, but perhaps that will be explained when we see Thanos's state of health in Avengers 4.

Page 3: How Thanos Used Each Individual Stone

Avengers Infinity War Thanos Thor Power Stone

The Power Stone

Let's close this piece by examining just how Thanos used each individual Infinity Stone. First up, the Power Stone, acquired by Thanos a week before the events of Avengers: Infinity War begin. This is the one the Mad Titan appears to have mastered the best. Thanos used the Power Stone fairly traditionally on the Asgardian ship, torturing Thor and then destroying the vessel in the manner the Celestials used millennia ago. He seemed to like the idea of using the Stones for torture, combining the Power and Space Stones to leave Nebula in agony. During the battle on Titan, Thanos projects a flurry of power beams at various Avengers, as well as some powerful concussive waves. Late in the battle, he's able to project some sort of force-field (a trick Thanos repeats in Wakanda), and enhance his own strength to deal a stunning blow to Iron Man. Twice on Titan, Thanos chose to use the Power Stone in concert with the Space Stone, even shattering one of Titan's moons and drawing the debris to the planet. Finally, on Earth Thanos tosses Captain America aside using the Power Stone.

The Space Stone

Avengers Infinity War Thanos Space Stone

Thanos predominantly used the Space Stone for teleportation, jumping from one world to another with staggering ease. No sooner had he acquired it, though, than the Mad Titan began innovating new approaches; the most remarkable was when he froze Loki in space, preventing the Trickster God from slitting his throat. Thanos swiftly combined the Space Stone with the Power Stone as a method of torture, showing a sadistic level of creativity. He evidently liked that combination, using the Space and Power Stones in concert twice during the battle of Titan - most notably when he dragged a moon out of orbit. There was one occasion where Thanos also combined the Space and Reality Stones, drawing Doctor Strange towards him. Finally, it's during the Battle of Wakanda that Thanos shows his most unusual use of the Space Stone, apparently pushing Bruce Banner's molecules apart so as to make him briefly intangible.

The Reality Stone

Thanos's usage of the Reality Stone was quite remarkable. He showed a particular talent for creating immersive "Reality Cloaks," real enough that Gamora briefly believed she'd murdered him. He was also able to effortlessly transform Drax and Mantis into bricks and ribbons, a trick that the Titan didn't actually repeat during the battles on Titan and Wakanda. Thanos briefly used the Reality Stone together with the Space Stone in order to capture Doctor Strange, but then seems to have neglected this particular Infinity Stone.

The Soul Stone

As terrible a price as Thanos paid to acquire the Soul Stone, he didn't actually use it much. There's only one scene in which it was clear what he did with the Soul Stone, when Thanos used it to identify the true Doctor Strange, launching an attack upon the real sorcerer with the Power Stone.

The Time Stone

Thanos only used the Time Stone on its own once, to turn back time and prevent the destruction of the Mind Stone. However, with Avengers 4 dealing with time travel, it's sure to be very important in the sequel.

The Mind Stone

Strikingly, Thanos never actually used the Mind Stone independently at all; but then, as soon as he acquired that final Infinity Stone, he had only one goal in mind - to snap his fingers, and bring his twisted version of salvation to the universe.

All six Infinity Stones were used together to project a devastating beam attack against Thor, albeit an unsuccessful one. Thanos then combined their power to erase half the life in the universe at once.

It's clear that Thanos is learning the power of the Infinity Stones over the course of Avengers: Infinity War. Although he's done his research - the Mad Titan knows the right-hand gestures to use the Time Stone in order to reverse time - the Stones he really masters are the ones he first acquired. The Soul Stone's power is relatively unexplored, and he never has an opportunity to explore the Mind Stone's abilities. It will be interesting to see how Thanos wields the Infinity Stones in Avengers 4. The Infinity Gauntlet is damaged, so it's possible it will be harder for him to synergize the Stones' capabilities. On the other hand, though, he may well have had time to practice; and thus could have become far more creative.