Good guys, bad guys, and the Stones that brought them all together
By Greg Waldock, Staff Writer
Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War got its release date bumped up to March 25, catching geek journalists around the world off guard and forcing us to hurry up our re-watches and figure out exactly where all the chess pieces are. Here’s where every hero, villain, and Infinity Stone currently are (that we know of), as of the end of Black Panther. Be warned: Spoilers for literally every single Marvel movie are ahead.
The Heroes
Captain America
After Civil War, Cap busted his allies out of prison and vanished. He became one of the most wanted vigilantes on the planet after rejecting the Sokovia Accords and aiding the Winter Soldier. He went into hiding in Wakanda with Bucky Barnes and is now apparently being protected by T’Challa.
Iron Man
Tony Stark is in a bad place. He’s struggling with PTSD and anxiety, he’s alienated most of his friends, he’s still on a break with Penny, and his protégé Spider-Man declined being an Avenger. Tony spends most of his time being miserable and filled with regret. Infinity War could be a turning point for him.
Black Panther
He’s a king, he’s a hero, and now he’s the spokesperson for the most technologically-advanced nation on the planet. Wakanda has revealed itself to the world in time to get the attention of Thanos. Good work, T’Challa.
Thor
Missing an eye, missing a hammer, missing a home planet, and missing his Warriors Three. The God of Thunder was last seen leading the surviving Asgardians away when his situation somehow got worse: His ship was confronted by Thanos in the Thor: Ragnarok end scene.
Spider-Man
Peter’s having an amazing time! He has a cool new spider-suit, Tony Stark is definitely the best father figure, and he’s surrounded by friends and family—though he’s still unemployed and Aunt May knows his secret now. Poor Peter is going to have a rough time when Thanos shows up to kill everything.
Bucky Barnes
He cryogenically froze himself in Wakanda after learning that he hasn’t fully recovered from his brainwashing to disastrous effect in Civil War. By the end of Black Panther, however, he seems to be recovered and receiving therapy from Shuri.
The Guardians of the Galaxy
Still bumming around being heroic mercenaries, this crew deepened their bond over the course of the last film. It’s not clear how they’ll be involved in the Infinity War, but they run into Thor at some point according to the trailers. Nebula is hunting for a Mad Titan to kill. Unfortunately for her, she’ll probably find him.
Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, Ant-Man, Falcon
All were arrested for breaking the Sokovia Accords and immediately freed by Cap. Locations unknown, but we all hope Hawkeye is back on his farm. The guy deserves a break.
The Vision, Black Widow, War Machine
Unknown, but presumably struggling with guilt after Civil War. Vision also has an Infinity Stone in his forehead, so his chances of making it through Infinity War intact don’t look too great.
The Villains
Thanos
The big one. The only one, actually—except for the Vulture and Loki, the MCU has a bad habit of murdering all its villains. Thanos has the Infinity Gauntlet and is making his way towards Earth to fill it with the Stones. He encountered the fleeing Asgardian refugees en route, which can only be terrible for everyone on board.
Loki
Yes, he’s absolutely still a villain. I’m all down for his redemption arc but Thor: Ragnarok wasn’t serious enough for real character development. He’s currently traveling with Thor in space, though probably not for long. Thanos is a nasty ex-boss to contend with.
The MacGuffins
Almost all six Stones are accounted for. The blue Space Stone was in its Tesseract form in Asgard’s vaults before Loki (probably) stole it during Thor: Ragnarok, the yellow Mind Stone is within Vision, the purple Power Stone is locked away on Xandar with the Nova Corps, the red Reality Stone was given to the Collector for safekeeping, and the green Time Stone is in Doctor Strange’s Eye of Agamotto. The orange Soul Stone is the only one yet to appear, and in the comics it always had the strangest powers. Nobody knows where it’ll turn up, and of the heroes, only the Guardians (and maybe Doctor Strange) are even aware that the Stones make an even more powerful whole. Thanos is more than prepared for the coming war, and the heroes of Earth have no idea he even exists.
