Marvel Theory: Loki, Wanda & 4 Other MCU Heroes Are The New Infinity Stones?
Throughout the aptly named Infinity Saga of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the fabled Infinity Stones take center stage. The powerful gems — the blue Space Stone, green Time Stone, purple Power Stone, orange Soul Stone, red Reality Stone, and yellow Mind Stone — are at the core of Thanos' (Josh Brolin) quest to destroy half of all life in the universe. Once he does so, it's revealed in 2019's "Avengers: Endgame" that he uses the stones to destroy themselves, preventing anyone else from taking their power. However, an emerging theory posits that the stones' legacy will live on in a fascinating way.
The theory, which was first shared on TikTok, suggests that a crew of MCU characters could be the "new" Infinity Stones, with the stones' power transferring to them before or after their apparent destruction. For instance, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is now in a new role as the guardian of the entire MCU Multiverse and is surrounded by shades of green, so could he be a stand-in for the Time Stone? Additionally, the Scarlet Witch's (Elizabeth Olsen) red motif and ability to manipulate reality make her a great candidate for the Reality Stone.
The space-faring Thor (Chris Hemsworth) or multiverse-traversing America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) could represent the Space Stone. Given his original form's connection to it, White Vision (Paul Bettany) could be connected to the Mind Stone. Adam Warlock (Will Poulter) could follow in the footsteps of his comic book self and adopt the power of the Soul Stone, and as for the Power Stone, its power could belong to whoever dons Ms. Marvel's (Kamala Khan) purple energy-emitting Quantum Bands.
At the same time, it's important to remember that the Infinity Stones themselves do technically still exist in the main MCU timeline.
What has become of the MCU's Infinity Stones and their power?
Functionally speaking, Thanos wasn't wrong when he said that he destroyed the Infinity Stones. As he explains to the Avengers early in "Avengers: Endgame," he used their unrivaled power to reduce the gems to mere atoms. While this made it basically impossible for the heroes to take them and use them to undo the Mad Titan's destruction, they weren't entirely wiped from existence. The events of 2023's "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" seemingly reveal that Thanos' description of the Infinity Stones' new state wasn't mere hyperbole.
During Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton), and Hope van Dyne's (Evangeline Lilly) trip to the microscopic Quantum Realm in the film, they run into all kinds of creatures. Among these is a group of small humanoids with different colored heads very much resembling the Infinity Stones. Thus, the apparent implication is that the Infinity Stones have literally been reduced to atoms by Thanos and now wander the Quantum Realm as sentient beings. Are these creatures really the stones? If so, have they lost their power? Alternatively, did their destruction result in their power transferring to specific characters and items present in the MCU?
As if it didn't have enough questions to answer already, hopefully, the MCU's Multiverse Saga sheds more light on the fate of the Infinity Stones and the status of their once-awesome power.