Comprised of six stones (Time, Space, Mind, Reality, Power and Soul), the fabled Infinity Gauntlet combines all their powers into a singularly awesome hand covering that allows whosever puts it on nothing less the ability to do whatever they please, be it wipe half the universe from existence or, even more impressively, make the MCU’s chaotic timeline make sense.
The five-fingered weapon has a long, complicated history so we’ve gone ahead and compiled some of its most important, unknown and coolest tidbits for your reading pleasure.
While the Infinity Gauntlet of the MCU has taken a decidedly different path to fruition than its comic counterpart, knowing everything there is to know about this armored mitt only makes Thanos’ destructive arrival into theaters all the more epic.
So if you’re looking to prep for watching Infinity War or want to make what you’ve seen on the screen even more amazeballs, you’ve come to the right place.
Here are the 15 Things Only True Marvel Fans Know About The Infinity Gauntlet.
Don’t worry, there won’t be any spoilers here– just some mind-blowing factoids about the greatest weapon the MCU has ever seen.
15. Iron Man Was the First Human To Use It
Despite being tailor made to fit Thanos’ bulky purple-y fist, the Infinity Gauntlet has found its way on the hands of many a hero, villain and jolly elf. But the first human to ever use it was not surprisingly Tony Stark.
In 2011’s Avengers #12, The Hood seeks to gather the gems. The Avengers assemble to stop him and Iron Man decides to nerf the situation by slipping on the Infinity Gauntlet.
The Hood promptly gets sent to prison and Stark wills the gauntlet out of existence. Or at least that’s what he tells his fellow Avengers.
In reality, Iron Man transports the gauntlet away to have its gems divided amongst the Illuminati for safekeeping.
Technically, Iron Man wasn’t the first mortal man to wear the gauntlet. That honor goes to Mr. Fantastic who put it on during 2007’s New Avengers: Illuminati #2, though he didn’t use it on that occasion.
14. It Isn’t the First Time the Gems Were Used Together
Originally known collectively as the “Soul Gems,” the stones were first seen when one landed on the forehead of Adam Warlock in 1972’s Marvel Premiere #1. A few years later in Avengers Annual #7, all six were brought together for the first time by Thanos using a giant synthetic jewel with the intention of snuffing out all the stars. You know, just because.
They were next used a decade later in 1988’s Silver Surfer #9 by the Elders of the Universe (of which the Collector and Grandmaster are members). The Elders connected the gems to a special device in an attempt to destroy Galactus. When that failed, they were ultimately divided up between the Elders and In-Betweener.
Then, thanks to knowledge gleaned from the Infinity Well, Thanos stole the stones from their respective guardians, renamed them the “Infinity Gems,” and slapped them onto a golden glove like a boss.
13. There Are Two in the Ultimates Universe
You know what’s better than one Infinity Gauntlet? Two Infinity Gaunlets, obviously. Leave it to the Ultimate comics to give the people what they want.
In this fan-favorite alternate Marvel dimension, there exists not six but eight Infinity Gems in total.
Though, instead of having been formed amidst the cosmos like in the main continuity, these gems originated on Earth, each formed from a different traumatic event incurred by the plaent such as the sinking of Atlantis or Ragnarok.
To accommodate the increased number of stones, two gauntlets were fashioned containing four gems a piece.
During 2011’s Ultimate Comics: Ultimates #25, the Incredible Hulk is unleashed wearing both gauntlets. Luckily for the universe, not all the stones were assembled at the time, but if ever there was a way to make smashing more awesome, this is it.
12. Thanos Believes He is Unworthy of it
The MCU’s villain problem has been well documented. However, if anyone can overcome the lack of interesting adversaries up to this point, it’s the complicated Thanos.
In fact, Thanos is not technically a villain at all.
Well, okay, on several occasions he has been as bad as they come. However, for much of his comic run, especially in recent years, he has been more of a misguided anti-hero than anything else, actually teaming up with Adam Warlock on a number of occasions to save the universe.
When creating the power-hungry character, Jim Starlin conceived Thanos by providing him with his own method of defeat.
Though supremely ambitious and arrogant, in the Infinity Gauntlet miniseries Thanos shows that he also secretly believes he is unworthy of the gauntlet’s immense powers.
This self-doubt ultimately ends up being his downfall and the only reason why he is able to be taken down while wielding the gauntlet.
11. It First Appeared In a Silver Surfer Comic
While Thanos is the character most often associated with the Infinity Gauntlet and its corresponding gems, two others have been central to their story: Adam Warlock and Silver Surfer.
In fact, the Infinity Gauntlet first appeared in 1990’s Silver Surfer #44 and was originally intended to only appear in a few issues of that series.
However, Marvel execs loved the concept so much that they used it to kick off the iconic Infinity Gauntlet miniseries. All of which was the brainchild of writer Jim Starlin.
Starlin helped first develop the Infinity Gem mythos (and co-create Thanos) back in the 70s. After a brief hiatus from Marvel, Starlin returned to helm Silver Surfer Vol. 3, which led to his creation of the Infinity Gauntlet and penning the epic that most inspired the Infinity War film.
10. Thanos Created it to Impress Death
The Infinity Gauntlet came about in an attempt to woo Mistress Death. After Thanos’ first failed attempt to unite the gems and snuff out the stars, he was ultimately destoyed by Warlock.
He traveled to a new realm after his passing, where he fell in love with Mistress Death and devoted himself to impressing her.
When one day Death noticed a universal imbalance not in her favor, she gave Thanos his shot. She resurrected him and asked him to destroy half of the universe’s population in her honor.
To accomplish this feat, Thanos goes on a quest to the Infinity Well – a sentient place that possess limitless knowledge and shows its user anything they desire.
Through it, Thanos learns the true nature of the gems that aided in his demise, and conceives of the Infinity Gauntlet to tap into their full power.
With that he fulfills Death’s wish, who still wasn’t all that impressed.
9. By Itself It’s Useless
For all intents and purposes, without the Infinity Gems, the gauntlet is powerless (unless your left hand needs warming up).
Prior to its creation, the glove was merely one of an armored pair that Thanos used to color coordinate his golden warlord outfit.
After learning the true potential of the gems and finally getting ahold of them, it was merely convenient to place them all on one of his hand coverings.
If Thanos had gone a different way, we could just as easily be calling this immense weapon capable of shaping the outcome of the universe the Infinity Underwear.
Kind of like soda without whiskey, Tom Selleck without his stache, or a Big Mac without loads of greasy fat, take away the Infinity Gems and you’re left with something rather boring and impractical.
Unless you’re Michael Jackson, of course, and a single gaudy oversized glove is your thing.
8. Santa Claus and Several Others Have Also Wielded it
Obviously something as cool as the Infinity Gauntlet is going to make the rounds. Save for maybe Thor’s hammer and Tony Stark’s bed, no other item has been shared more often in the Marvel Universe than the Infinity Gauntlet.
From Nebula to Spider-Man, Captain America, Magus, Silver Surfer and Black Panther, plenty have had a go.
Adam Warlock famously ended the Infinity Gauntlet conflict using it. Doctor Doom formed a universe with it. Even DC’s Darkseid has gotten in on the fun.
Though perhaps the best was when the mack daddy of them all — Santa Claus — put on the power glove.
In Marvel Holiday Spectacular 2009, Santa uses the Infinity Gauntlet to help deliver toys but it ultimately turns him into a real jerk.
Luckily, Namor saves the day by throwing a snowball at Santa and knocks the glove clean off.
7. It Has a Ridiculous Powerset
Understandably, so the movies don’t get too outlandish, the capabilities of the Infinity Gauntlet have been greatly minimized. Or at least not shown in their full potential.
Because ever since Thanos stuck those six gems in his knuckles, things have gotten a little crazy when it comes to unleashing the full force of the Infinity Gems en masse.
Amazingly, committing universal genocide and wiping out half of all life in the universe isn’t the most absurd feat pulled off by the gauntlet.
On top of that, Thanos also managed to manipulate matter, literally destroying Eternity and merging himself with the universe.
Likewise, Adam Warlock reset time using the glove. In the hands of Captain America, the Star Spangled Soldier wielded the Infinity Gauntlet to push apart two separate realities.
Then there’s Doctor Doom, who created an entirely new universe using its power.
6. It’s Abilities Are Limited
While the Infinity Gauntlet might be a cosmic force to be reckoned with, it does have one major weakness.
Namely, the gauntlet can only used within the universe in which the gems were created.
So for example the two gauntlets from the Ultimates universe would be useless in the main Earth-616 Marvel universe, and vice versa. This is largely due to the fact that the creation of the Infinity Gems are so closely tied to the creation of the universe.
We saw this limitation taken to the extreme during the 2003 JLA/Avengers crossover. The misiseries revolved around collecting six powerful objects spanning the Marvel and DC universes, one of which was the Infinity Gauntlet.
During the story, the gauntlet lands on Apokolips and into the hands of Darkseid. But the villain quickly tosses it aside when he realizes it’s powerless in the DC universe.
5. It Cannot Destroy Itself
There are a lot things the Infinity Gauntlet can do (and destroy). Ironically, one thing it can’t eliminate with a snap of the finger is itself. That’s because the Infinity Gems need to exist in order to keep the entire universe from folding in on itself.
We learned this nugget in New Avengers: Illuminati #2. Remember how we mentioned that Richard Reed never used the Infinity Gauntlet? Well it certainly wasn’t for lack of trying.
After fully assembling all the stones into the gauntlet, Mr. Fantastic attempted to put it to good use by willing the stones out of existence only to come up snake eyes.
On cue, Uatu the Watcher then appears and shares that the Infinity Stones are a part of the overall cosmic balance and cannot be removed from reality.
4. There Are Only Three Beings More Powerful Than Someone Wearing it (That We Know of For Sure)
Once fused with all six gems, anyone wearing the Infinity Gauntlet becomes a veritable god. However, even then we know for sure there are three entities out there who could win in a head-to-head matchup.
The Living Tribunal has shown domain over the stones on several occasions, and even removed their ability to work together following the events of Infinity Gauntlet, rendering the glove useless.
Since then LT has been destroyed by The Beyonders, so it’s reasonable to think that they too would defeat the gauntlet. Likewise, their sentient Cosmic Cubes operate on a multiversal scale and could probably outmaneuver the combined gems.
Proving the point, during 2015’s Secret Wars, God Doom imbued with the powers of the Beyonders bested a gauntlet-clad Black Panther.
Finally, there’s the One-Above-All. He created everything, including the Infinity Stones. Suffice to say, anything happening in the MU does so because this dude wants it to.
3. There Have Been Several Un-Glove-Like Variations
The Infinity Gauntlet is only one of many instances when the gems have all come together. In fact, in the the comics they originated as a singularity.
As the story goes, they are the scattered remnants of one of the universe’s earliest beings known as Nemesis, who destroyed itself out of loneliness.
On several other occasions in alternate storylines, there have been other gauntlet-esque copycats.
Earth-9047’s “Humorverse” witnessed Thermos battle the likes of Chaplain America, Black and Blue Panther and using the “Infinity Mitten.”
In an episode of Disney XD’s animated Avengers Assemble, Ultron manags to absorb all six gems and essentially becomes the gauntlet himself.
Perhaps our personal favorite, the Inhuman bulldog Lockjaw joined forces with the Pet Avengers to defeat Thanos, during which Lockjaw collects all the gems into a dog collar and becomes a god.
2. The MCU’s First Gauntlet Was a Mistake
Remember in Thor when we got a tantalizing glimpse of a bejeweled right-handed Infinity Gauntlet in Odin’s vault? Then perplexingly another left-handed Infinity Gauntlet showed up in the post-credits scene of Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Well, it turns out that the MCU really had no idea what it was doing when it first got started, and the gauntlet in the vault was an overeager mistake.
As MCU chief Kevin Feige told SlashFilm: “Within a couple years, we were like, well that’s clearly not the Gauntlet. The Gauntlet can’t be in there. And we had an internal Marvel theory that it was fake…”
Impressively, the mistake was retconned in Thor: Ragnarok, when Hela flippantly confirmed this theory.
Of course that doesn’t explain why Odin had a fully stocked replica? Or even knew about the gauntlet. Did Thanos wield it in the past? Or are we just reading too much into all this?
1. Only One Being Other Than Thanos Has Used it To Its Fullest Capacity
While several have had a go with the gauntlet, nearly all have either misused it or only tapped into a limited slice of its potential.
Dr. Doom admirably formed his own reality using two alternate dimensional gloves, but that ended up blowing up in his face.
Nebula was able to reset time and defeat the Cosmic Beings, but ended up proving too inexperienced to keep things up.
Only a truly advanced being can unleash the gauntlet’s full force and influence all the realms of possibility. Thus far only two have effectively done so: it’s creator, Thanos, and none other than Space Jesus himself, Adam Warlock.
For his part, Warlock successfully used the gauntlet to obtain godhood and end the Infinity Gauntlet conflict.
However, even then he was stripped of the glove when Living Tribunal finally declared Warlock (and all others) unfit to handle the power of the combined the gems.
Can you think of any other interesting facts about the Infinity Gauntlet that will appear in Infinity War? Let us know in the comments!
