MCU Theory: The Marvels' Powers Are Connected By The Infinity Stones

Contains spoilers for "The Marvels"

A great deal of the chaos in "The Marvels" comes from the film's charmingly imaginative (if admittedly contrived) conceit that the three central characters have their powers "entangled" by virtue of their shared source: light. And yet while Monica Rambeau's (Teyonah Parris) brief, perfunctory explanation is fine enough to justify 100 minutes of cosmic wackiness, it feels thin for the Marvel Cinematic Universe at large. But what if there's more to their connection than anyone realizes?

After all, Monica's hastily drawn conclusion ignores that Carol Danvers' powers in "Captain Marvel" don't appear to be solely light-based, but fueled by the cosmic energy she absorbed from the Space Stone (then housed in the Tesseract) — there's a massive gap between her Infinity Stone-powered, game-changing abilities and simple light manipulation. The most confusing part about this is how Carol should then be infinitely (no pun intended) more powerful than both Monica and Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) — yet "The Marvels" portrays them as near equals.

This isn't to say that Kamala and Monica should be less powerful (especially since watching the three of them play off one another in combat is one of the most fun aspects of the sequel), but that the connection between the Marvels' powers should be stronger and more specific. Strangely enough, Marvel Studios actually has (perhaps unintentionally) established a much more compelling bond between the three heroes in terms of their prior interactions with various Infinity Stones.

As seen on the Disney+ series "WandaVision," Monica's powers begin to manifest after she comes into direct contact with the borders of the Hex — Wanda Maximoff's (Elizabeth Olsen) energy field around the town of Westview, New Jersey. Though said series and "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" expand her lore to include more mystical elements, the mid-credits scene of "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" reveals that the Scarlet Witch's powers are awakened by the Mind Stone (then housed in Loki's scepter). So in the same way a light-speed engine powered by the Space Stone created Captain Marvel, a hex powered by the Mind Stone gives Monica her powers.

It's also interesting to note both that Monica's powers manifest with a blue coloring reminiscent of the scepter and that she possesses phasing capabilities — capabilities that are also possessed by Vision (Paul Bettany), another being whose powers come from the Mind Stone. Though Monica's powers could (and likely will) be expanded in terms of lore just like Wanda's (possibly even to include elements of her mutant origins), validating her connection to the Mind Stone would go a long way toward deepening her bond with Carol — and theoretically, with Kamala.

Though the reveal that Kamala is a mutant seemingly makes a connection to an Infinity Stone nonexistent, the purple hue of her gifts on "Ms. Marvel" (one of Marvel's Disney+ shows you need to watch to understand "The Marvels") might initially have had some people thinking back to the Power Stone. Meanwhile, "The Marvels" provides an interesting showcase of the Quantum Bands, which are closely tied to Kamala's powers. When Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton) uses them in combination with her Universal Weapon, it produces a very similar effect to when Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace) imbues said weapon with the Power Stone in "Guardians of the Galaxy." The purple, electric, and almost cloudy energy it gives off in both films is nearly identical (in terms of aesthetics, not scope).

While that resemblance could be dismissed as an attribute of the Universal Weapon independent of the Power Stone, the Quantum Bands themselves mimic the Power Stone without the Universal Weapon toward the end of the film. When Dar-Benn crosses her arms to open the jump point, her body disintegrates in a purple, agonizingly combustive manner that seems identical to how Carina (Ophelia Lovibond) and Ronan disintegrate in "Guardians." Yes, the connection between Kamala and the Power Stone is not obvious, but there's enough visual connective tissue for Marvel to present this as fact in the future — and if the studio wants to continue strengthening the ties that bind the Marvels together, this wouldn't be a bad way to do so.