Marvel Studios has been sprinkling Infinity Stones in their movies ever since 2011, but fans will be quick to point out that the job up until now has been incomplete. While the movies have revealed five of the powerful ingots -- Power, Space, Time, Reality and Mind -- one mystery that's been maintained is the location of the sixth and final stone: the Soul Stone. As it turns out, it's information that's been specially held for the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War, and two people very happy it turned out that way are the film's writers, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. They recently told me,
Christopher Markus: The Soul Stone was very helpful to us story-wise. When you see the movie you'll see why. We were always worried about Thanos just checking off his shopping list. Right? If I know where everything, is it's pretty predictable.Stephen McFeely: Also, if he knew where everything is, why is he doing it now? Why didn't he do it during Avengers, if he knew where everything was?Christopher Markus: That's a nice question that we answered.
Prior to actually seeing Avengers: Infinity War, I had the pleasure of sitting down for an interview with Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely to discuss their work on the blockbuster, and it was during this press day chat that the subject of the Soul Stone came up. I asked if Marvel had orchestrated it so that the important MacGuffin wouldn't be revealed in any other movie, and the writers explained why they were ultimately super happy that things happened the way that they did.
There's no question that they make a number of good points. If the audience knew where all of the Infinity Stones were before the start of the film, that would also have the equivalent effect of giving the audience an early peek at the blockbuster's structure. By having the Soul Stone as a mystery, you know that there's at least one portion of the film that will reveal special new location information and a unique avenue to explore.
Furthermore, it's great that Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely were thinking about the idea of, "Why has Thanos been waiting all this time?" We haven't seen him make a genuine move for an Infinity Stone since 2014 when he sent Ronan The Accuser out to collect the Power Stone, and there's been some reasonable questions regarding why he was waiting to make his big move. If he doesn't have all of the information he needs to succeed, that fully explains it, and will ultimately make it feel like Avengers: Infinity War has a stronger narrative.
For those desperate for answers, the mystery of the Soul Stone will soon be over, as Avengers: Infinity War arrives in theaters this Friday, April 27th. We'll have a ton more feature and interview content for you here on CinemaBlend in the coming days, so stay tuned!
