Every MCU Character Who Wielded An Infinity Stone (Besides Thanos)

Thanos (Josh Brolin) came up with the idea to gather the six Infinity Stones, but many other characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe also wielded them at some point. The three phases of Marvel’s Infinity Saga focused on the unlimited power of the Infinity Stones and the Avengers’ quest to protect the universe from the devastating effects they can cause when used together. Despite their greatest efforts, Thanos accomplishes it and ravages half the universe before the remaining heroes go back in time to undo this atrocity.

The Space Stone is introduced in Captain America: The First Avenger. The Mind Stone is introduced in The Avengers. The Power Stone debuts in Guardians of the Galaxy. The Reality Stone makes its first appearance in Thor: The Dark World. The Time Stone is a key element of Doctor Strange, and the Soul Stone makes its highly anticipated debut in Avengers: Infinity War. Each of the six Infinity Stones represents an essential aspect of existence. Together, they have the power to affect the entire universe, as Thanos proves when he assembles them in his Infinity Gauntlet and wipes half of all life with only a snap of his fingers.

Although relatively obscure to most of the population of the universe, the Infinity Stones run through many hands before Thanos finally gathers them all. However, not all those who interact with the Stones are powerful or knowledgable enough to directly use their powers. So, as impressive as Goose’s Tesseract-flavored meal is in Captain Marvel, she doesn’t really wield the Space Stone. Voluntarily or involuntarily, there are quite a few characters who do.

Red Skull

Johann Shmidt, more infamously known as the Red Skull (Hugo Weaving), is the reason why the Space Stone becomes a key piece in the history of the earth in the MCU, as he’s the one who uncovers it after the Asgardians hid it on Earth. Aiming to turn World War II in favor of HYDRA, he uses its cosmic energy to power all sorts of Nazi weaponry until Captain America (Chris Evans) foild his plans. Red Skull flees on a bomber plane and grabs the Tesseract with his bare hand, but the Space Stone teleports him to Vormir, where he becomes the guardian of the Soul Stone, getting cursed to a long life of “guiding others to a treasure he cannot possess”.

Loki

One would think the God of Mischief would have come up with some shenanigans involving an Infinity Stone sometime before his 1000th birthday. Fortunately for the universe, that wasn’t the case. Loki (Tom Hiddleston) first comes in contact with an Infinity Stone when Thanos provides him with the Scepter, a Chitauri weapon that channels the Mind Stone’s power into strong blasts of energy and grants him the power to control minds. Unbeknownst to Loki, his mind is also influenced by the Scepter, which heightens his thirst for power and his hatred for his family.

Despite failing to retrieve the Tesseract for Thanos, he becomes infatuated with it and steals it in Thor: Ragnarok while Asgard burns to the ground. As opposed to Red Skull, Loki’s godly nature allows him to handle it with his bare hands, as seen in Avengers: Infinity War when he surrenders it to the Mad Titan moments before his death. Destiny finds its way, however, and the Tesseract ends up at his feet when the Avengers time travel to 2012 in Avengers: Endgame, prompting him to take the chance and grab it to teleport himself off their custody and into his own Disney+ show.

Jane Foster

In the MCU, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) has a bad habit of getting dragged to adventure by cosmic forces. First, it’s the storm that sent Thor (Chris Hemsworth) face-first into her truck in the first Thor film. Second, it’s none other than the Reality Stone in the form of the Aether in Thor: The Dark World. As a committed scientist and lover of all things Asgardian, she discovers a portal to the hidden location of the Aether, which chooses her as its host and seeps into her body. The substance protects her from all external harm but simultaneously eats away at her body. Luckily, Thor takes her to Asgard to introduce her to her in-laws and try to remove the Aether, but it’s the Dark Elf Malekith (Christopher Eccleston) who drains it from her.

Malekith

The only being more obsessed with the Reality Stone other than Thanos is Malekith, leader of the Dark Elves. His main goal in life is to use it to submerge the universe into darkness. During the first battle against Thor’s grandfather Bor (Tony Curran) and the Asgardians, Malekith gets millimetrically close to the Aether before the Asgardian army attacks him and confiscates the substance. It’s only until Malekith meets Jane Foster that he’s able to drain it from her body and absorb it. With the Aether inside, he can hold his own against Thor and attack him with it. However, Malekith doesn’t know the full extent of its abilities, and he’s promptly defeated without ever using it to manipulate the fabric of reality as Thanos does in Avengers: Infinity War.

Carina

Among all of the users of the Infinity Stones, the Krylorian alien Carina (Ophelia Lovibond) stands out as a character whose bravery vastly outweighs her physical weakness. Even after learning how destructive the Power Stone is, she dares to grab it in an attempt to kill her master The Collector (Benicio del Toro) and destroy his cherished lair, painfully exploding in the process. Her decision to end it all with a bang instead of sustaining a life of subjugation as The Collector’s slave speaks volumes of what she had to endure under his yoke, though her dazed expression while she reaches for the Stone could also be read as its corrupting influence on her.

Eson The Searcher and The Cosmic Beings

As The Collector illustrates to the Guardians of the Galaxy before Carina destroys his museum, the Celestial Eson was one of the only beings in the universe strong enough to wield an Infinity Stone without succumbing to its intensity. The upcoming Eternals movie may reveal who hid the Infinity Stones after the Celestials perished but for now, the only available information is that some time after Eson’s possession of the Power Stone, a group of mysterious cosmic beings tried to wield it together before getting overwhelmed and exploding.

MCU Theory: The Eternals Used the Infinity Stones to Destroy The Celestials

Ronan The Accuser

Thanos seemingly cares very little about Loki’s failure to retrieve the Tesseract since his next move is to entrust Ronan The Accuser (Lee Pace) with the task of retrieving the Power Stone. Unsurprisingly, Ronan follows Loki’s steps and tries to break off Thanos’ command as soon as he obtains it, leaving behind his deal to destroy the planet Xandar in exchange for the Stone. Drunk with power, Ronan inserts the Power Stone in his hammer and attacks Xandar himself. Despite surviving the crash of his ship and still holding on to the hammer, Ronan misses the chance to destroy Xandar when the Guardians of the Galaxy blast the Stone off his hammer.

The Guardians of the Galaxy

Without missing a beat, Star-Lord leaps toward the Power Stone and catches it in front of a stunned Ronan. To Ronan’s pleasure, Star-Lord immediately falls to the ground and suffers its intensity, but he’s able to stand up while Gamora (Zoe Saldana) holds his hand in order to resist it together. Drax and Rocket follow suit and the Guardians of the Galaxy teach Ronan the power of friendship. Although their joint forces are essential to winning the battle, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 reveals it’s actually Star-Lord’s Celestial heritage derived from his estranged father Ego (Kurt Russell) that lets him hold an Infinity Stone and manipulate its power without disintegrating in the process. Unfortunately, Star-Lord won’t be able to accomplish such a feat in the future after he killed Ego and renounced to his mighty genes.

Ultron

After the Space Stone, the Mind Stone is the second most passed-down Infinity Stone in the MCU, so it’s easy to forget that at one point it was in the cold metal hands of the most dangerous artificial being in history. It’s true that HYDRA uses it to bestow Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Scarlet Witch (Elisabeth Olsen) with superpowers, but they never really wield it as a weapon. When Ultron (James Spader) comes into its possession in Avengers: Age of Ultron, he doesn’t care as much for its use as a weapon either. Instead, he uses Loki’s Scepter to control Helen Cho (Claudia Kim) and immediately breaks it to implant the Mind Stone in Vision’s (Paul Bettany) forehead, his next intended incarnation.

Vision

Ultron’s plans crumble when the Avengers intervene and Vision’s body is taken to Stark Tower, where Thor gives him the final push to come to life. With the knowledge of JARVIS and Ultron, the power of Thor, and the Mind Stone embedded on his forehead, Vision quickly becomes one of the strongest characters in the MCU, worthy of lifting Thor’s hammer and able to modify his molecular composition at will. It seems he can’t use the Mind Stone to control people’s minds, but he can still shoot powerful energy beams with it. The major downside is that he dies once the Mind Stone is removed, as seen in Avengers: Infinity War when Scarlet Witch destroys it only for Thanos to revert time and pull it out with nothing but his fingers.

Doctor Strange

Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) proves himself to be a prodigy of the Mystic Arts in record time. That’s why, even after taking the Eye of Agamotto without supervision, Wong (Benedict Wong) and The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) get comfortable with the idea of him becoming the next Sorcerer Supreme. In Doctor Strange, he goes from using the Time Stone to rot and regenerate an apple to trapping the interdimensional being Dormammu in a time loop with it, saving the universe without anyone else realizing it. Just a couple of years later, Strange uses the Time Stone to watch 14,000,605 possible futures and pinpoint exactly which one to follow in order to defeat Thanos.

Hulk

In Avengers: Endgame, Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) has finally achieved what he desired for years: to come to terms with his gamma-radiated alter ego. Sacrificing Hulk’s useful strength and Banner’s human form for inner peace, he finds a middle ground and becomes a superstar with his own brand of ice cream and a large fan following. However, he can’t escape his fate. As he explains when the Avengers are trying to decide who will wield the new Infinity Gauntlet, he “was born for this”. The gamma radiation in his body allows Hulk to use all six Infinity Stones to snap his fingers and bring back everyone Thanos turned to dust, sacrificing his arm along the way.

Tony Stark

Since his first brush with death in the first Iron Man film, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is in debt with life. Throughout the rest of the Infinity Saga, he learns that he must face his biggest fears and put his life on the line to save the universe from Thanos. Even when things appear to take another direction after he moves on from Thanos’ snap in Avengers: Infinity War and raises a daughter, he knows that he must sacrifice himself for the greater good. With a sign from Doctor Strange amidst the final moments of the Battle for Earth, Stark steals the Infinity Stones from Thanos and makes a final snap, knowing it would be his last act of heroism in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

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