Why is the Infinity Gauntlet Treated like a Household Item?

[Citizen Kane]

Because in TRO it was used to establish two things. 1 the situation they were facing was so big that not even the nigh all powerful infinity gauntlet could stop what was coming without being destroyed (it's also an extension of ones will and Cap came off like he was still unsure of using it as you could see when he first recommended that T'Challa or Reed use the gauntlet) and only briefly halting the death of everything.

It is an extension of one's will, but a weak mind wouldn't be able to control the true power of the gauntlet. That's why Thanos was so worried when Nebula stole it for herself in Infinity Gauntlet.

And 2 once Doom took all the beyonders Power, it was the only thing that could even hope to moderately stand against it. Even though Doom took the power of the beyonders strange still realized that there would need to be check in place. hence why he had kept it secret.

I was referring to Doom in the original Secret Wars. Even if we consider Doom in the latest Secret Wars, Molecule Man had to be used as a conduit for Doom to use the power. His body and mind would have been destroyed otherwise.

Tchalla is one of the most determined heroes with immense will power and Given he knew his role to to ay Doom and distract him. It allowed him to play on one of his greatest super powers, the power of causing others to underestimate him.

He's still only human. I wouldn't expect Black Panther to be able to effectively use the gauntlet, by any stretch of the imagination.

[AnimalSquabbles]

How many times has the Infinity Gauntlet been wielded in the last 10 years?

It's not that many times.

Particularly in the 616 universe.

4 times that i know of. The Hood, Iron Man, Captain America, Black panther

[CentralPower]

That is every 2.5 years in real time. And, if one buys in for any variant of the old 4:1 Marvel:real-time rule, it is more like every 7 or 8 months.


The point of the original post is that the Gauntlet is over-used. And, that is a fair point. The real answer to the original question of "why" is that Marvel (like DC) lacks editorial discipline. "Time Runs Out" needed to happen, and could not have if there was a McGuffin like the Gauntlet, which is why Hickman had the Gauntlet fail.

The idea of the gems not working outside of their native timeline was new to Hickman, and arguably contradicted earlier content (from nearly 20 years before).

Having the Gauntlet show up in multiple comics does not necessarily diminish those comics. ("Time Runs Out" is a damned good read.) But, it does diminish the impact of seeing the Gauntlet, particularly for long-term readers. I honestly do not care about comics in 2017 being consistent with comics from 1992. But, as a reader, I do not want to read the same, or even similar comics, too many times.

The same applies to....I dunno, the Celestials. How many times (in either real time or Marvel time) can they show up to pass judgement on Earth? Or, how often does Ragnarok happen? (I swear, Asgardians could almost set their calendars to it.) There can be more than one good Ragnarok arc in Thor. But, how many Ragnarok arcs can a reader be expected to sit through before they want something else?

[strathcona]

I agree with the overuse of the Gauntlet, but what is really bothering me nowadays is how everyone is suddenly referring to them as Infinity Stones. They have always been gems before, but now that the movies are ramping up to their big Infinity War storyline finale, the comics have to call then stones too. Annoys me every time I read it.

[Zero Hunter]

In a lot of cases it comes down to bad writers. They look at a past story and think "I can do that better". They usually can't, but they still do it. The Gauntlet should have never been used after the Infinity Trilogy and the Living Tribunals edict that the Gems would never work in unison again should have stood. The Gems on their own are very powerful when used right, but no writer outside of Starlin when he was doing the Warlock and the Infinity Watch ever seems to remember that fact. They just want to use the Guantlet.

It is the same with how the Phoenix Force is used these days. Every Writer wants to do "Their" Dark Phoenix story or "Their" Galactus story. They just dilute what made those original stories great to begin with because of overuse.

[Triniking1234]

It hasn't been that bad compared to Thanos' appearances.

Bendis brought them back for his Illuminati story which tied into a story arc with the Hood and Red Hulk in Avengers later on.

Hickman used them in his Ultimate Comics: The Ultimates run AND a good bit his 616 Avengers run (along with Cosmic Cubes).

Now with the Gems (it's not Stones?) showing up in Legacy titles, I guess Marvel's gonna pull out a new Infinity _______ event.

sigh.

[Iron Fist]

It is a household item tho, It's an oven glove ... that's allegedly flammable.

[arveg2]

i have to disagree with this. the infinity gauntlet overall is still special and not overused...its not like a writer such as bendis would put it in one of his retarded stories and have an insignificant character like The Hood suddenly wield it, right?......

... oh, wait wut??..

[CentralPower]

I liked what Bendis initially did with the Gauntlet. The idea of the Illuminati holding the gems made sense. 6 guys who did not entirely trust each other holding an extremely powerful McGuffin to keep it away from everybody else made sense. The point of that run was that none of them were really qualified to hold the gems.

But, once the gems are on page, they are going to be used. Some writer or editor is going to get an idea for a comic, and then it is going to happen. Every time the gems are used, they become more common.

The most basic example of this dynamic is character death. I am old enough to remember when a character being killed off, even a c-lister, was a big damned deal. Even a poorly written death (and bad writing was endemic to the industry during and before the Bronze Age) of a minor character had some weight because it did not happen all the time. Resurrections were even more rare (requiring the death of a character, and then an editor to allow the return).

It may be hard to believe, but dead used to mean dead. Now, the closest thing to a major character to stay dead is Captain Mar-Vell (a c-lister). And, teasing his return has become a cliche unto itself.

At this point, the next new thing should be a return to editorial discipline.

[JudicatorPrime]

I always thought that Infinity Gauntlet should have been PIN-enabled. But of course Thanos never consciously thought about making the Gauntlet uniquely his. Not really. A simple cosmic childproof lock would have sufficed. But that's comics for you. The brilliant genius creates the ultimate weapon, but didn't contrive a safeguard to ensure that the hunter stays the hunter and the rabbit never gets the gun. (...'Cause as we all know, it ain't no fun when the rabbit has the gun!)

That said, the IG is based on the totality of a previous omniversal order. It should be "run of the mill" in the current one. Powerful, but not ALL powerful. I thought that was the obvious flaw in the concept of the gems being limited to just Space, Time, Reality, Mind, Soul and Power. There is more to the current omniversal structure than just those abstractions. Far, far more. (As Ewing established in Ultimates that each omniverse is different than its predecessor.) Maybe some deep-thinking author will sit down and either create new Infinity gems (which need not be divine relics -- the bones, if you will -- of a dead omniverse), or combine the IG and the Iso-Cosmic Cube into a new weapon of unimaginable power. And yes, maybe this one gets a PIN-lock?

[Citizen Kane]

That said, the IG is based on the totality of a previous omniversal order. It should be "run of the mill" in the current one. Powerful, but not ALL powerful. I thought that was the obvious flaw in the concept of the gems being limited to just Space, Time, Reality, Mind, Soul and Power. There is more to the current omniversal structure than just those abstractions. Far, far more. (As Ewing established in Ultimates that each omniverse is different than its predecessor.) Maybe some deep-thinking author will sit down and either create new Infinity gems (which need not be divine relics -- the bones, if you will -- of a dead omniverse), or combine the IG and the Iso-Cosmic Cube into a new weapon of unimaginable power. And yes, maybe this one gets a PIN-lock?

From what I understand, Reed simply reset the universe back to how it was just before the incursions took place. Considering this, the IG's origin should remain the same.

As readers, we still know very little about the Infinity Gems; there's still plenty of room for expansion.

[JudicatorPrime]

From what I understand, Reed simply reset the universe back to how it was just before the incursions took place. Considering this, the IG's origin should remain the same.

As readers, we still know very little about the Infinity Gems; there's still plenty of room for expansion.

I've admittedly only read the Ultimates, but if I'm interpreting Ewing correctly, the omniverse is a different one now, although Eternity is still the primary form. But you're right, maybe there was more in Secret Wars or one of the other comics that I missed.

As for the Infinity Gems creation, that all hinges on whether or not Nemesis is canon. As the story goes, that was the being that committed cosmic suicide, resulting in the creation of all of the Infinity gems. It wouldn't take much, though, to either retcon, or enhance that origin. I 'm not a fan of sentient omniverses self-terminating. I much prefer a narrative along the lines of the 6-7 previous iterations of the omniverse each creating a single Infinity stone as a parting gift left for its successor. So there could conceivably be 7 gems. Possibly more. Only TOAA really knows how many omniverses there have been and he/she/it ain't disclosing any time soon.

[CentralPower]

I always thought that Infinity Gauntlet should have been PIN-enabled.

In a sense, they have done that. The Gauntlet (or the gems) tend to "remember" previous users). And, if something were to happen to make a user forget that PIN lock, it would be worse than losing one's ATM card. (And, as established by Starlin, Thanos does not necessarily want to win. Post-Starlin Thanos may be a different story.)

Maybe some deep-thinking author will sit down and either create new Infinity gems (which need not be divine relics -- the bones, if you will -- of a dead omniverse), or combine the IG and the Iso-Cosmic Cube into a new weapon of unimaginable power. And yes, maybe this one gets a PIN-lock?

How many cosmic McGuffins does Marvel need though? They have the equivalent of weaker gems with Cosmic Cubes. The gems have nothing to do with previous iterations of the universe. (Hickman and Ewing both establish that the gems only work in the universe that they are native to. The gems are from wherever they are from. They do not have, nor need, any detailed origin.)

[lowfyr]

Not to forget that the Gauntlet is in the end meaningless and is just Thanos glove. And it was a plot point that he should have put the gems somewhere safer. Today it sounds like the gauntlet is a special item needed to control the gems. If he put them on his boot would the crossover been called Infinity Boot^^?

[davew128]

Not to forget that the Gauntlet is in the end meaningless and is just Thanos glove. And it was a plot point that he should have put the gems somewhere safer. Today it sounds like the gauntlet is a special item needed to control the gems. If he put them on his boot would the crossover been called Infinity Boot^^?

Well keeping the gems safe was a major plot point of Warlock and the Infinity Watch. Amongst other things, only two people knew where the reality gem was or who guarded it. The space gem of course was in a place few would dare go, and the power gem needed a kick to the solar plexus from Gamora.

That said, the Illuminati should NEVER have been able to gather the gems. Time travelers, Elders, and cosmic beings couldn't do it but these guys could? Please.