Marvel's New 'Living' Infinity Stones & Their Powers, Explained
Thanos has devised a dark plan to wield a fully loaded Infinity Gauntlet, and it involves the supervillain hunting down living Infinity Stones in an effort to join them with the brand-new Death Stone.
The Infinity Stones were transformed following the events of Marvel Comics' 2018 "Infinity Wars" crossover, when Adam Warlock granted each of the gems sentience. As a result, the cosmic-powered artifacts bonded with different hosts from across the galaxy, granting their wielders incredible powers. More recently, Thanos' quest to gain the love of the living embodiment of Death — something he's wanted for nearly his entire life — ended with the Mad Titan encapsulating her inside a new gem, creating a seventh Infinity Stone, one with tremendous, deadly potential.
A storyline years in the making, Marvel first teased Thanos leading an undead army of heroes in a dark vision Black Winter shared with Thor, showing the thunder god's inevitable death. In "Thanos Annual" #1 (by Derek Landy, Salvador Larroca, Guru-eFX, and VC's Cory Petit), the titular villain's quest to regain the Infinity Stones he collectively wielded several times before begins again. But taking the cosmic artifacts won't be as easy as simply locating them, as he'll need to defeat and remove the stones from their current wielders. Plus, the whereabouts of the Mind Stone remain a complete mystery. Here's everything you need to know about the various gem hosts and the powers Thanos will face in his mission to take possession of his prizes once again.
Quantum bonded with the Space Stone
Debuting in "Miles Morales: Spider-Man" #7 (by Saladin Ahmed, Javier Garron, David Curiel, and VC's Cory Petit), Quantum is a henchman to the Assessor, an artificial intelligence-powered being that works for the Beyond Corporation, where it runs trials and tests scientific research. With the Space Stone, Quantum can teleport, manipulate space, and has the ability to create portals. He encounters and captures Miles, leading the Assessor to experiment on the web-slinging superhero to learn more about his powers.
Despite doing the bidding of the Assessor and helping him battle and capture heroes for the Beyond Corporation's research, Quantum isn't in full control of his actions. After the Assessor's eventual defeat, Quantum's blue costume disappears, allowing him to speak. He reveals that the A.I. and Beyond kept him like an animal in a cage, promising to remove the Space Stone from his body in exchange for doing whatever the villains wanted. This lasted for two years.
Quantum is last seen escaping the Assessor's hideout while providing Spider-Man with the information needed to continue his investigation into what the Beyond Corporation has been up to. In "Thanos Annual" #1, Quantum tries to adjust to a normal life but is pulled into the Mad Titan's attempts to take the Infinity Stones from their hosts. After initially escaping, he helps teleport some of the Stone bearers across the universe, where they team up to fight the titular villain.
Prince of Power bonded with the Power Stone
First appearing in "Guardians of the Galaxy" #3 (by Al Ewing, Juan Cabal, Federico Blee, and Cory VC's Petit), Prince of Power comes from the planet of Muscula, a parody of "Eternia" from the "He-Man" franchise. As an infant, his mother viewed his twin brother as superior, leading to him gaining the nickname as the Otherone. Growing up ugly and stupid, Prince Otherone becomes an apprentice paper clip sorter, while his He-Man-esque brother is a noble hero.
However, after mistaking the Power Stone for a jellybean and eating it, Otherone transforms into the Prince of Power. Now, he has become the muscle-bound hero he always dreamed of being. Unfortunately, he accidentally destroys his home planet and kills everyone on it when he tries to join the fight against evil, only surviving by holding his breath for days before being rescued by longtime Rocket Raccoon nemesis, Blackjack O'Hare.
With the Power Stone, Prince Otherone has incredible strength and durability, and is even capable of bringing certain beings back to life, as he did with Groot during an encounter with the Guardians of the Galaxy. He agrees to train under the Avenger and Greek demigod Hercules, admitting he was afraid of what someone with better mental faculties could do with the Power Stone. He is last seen with Blackjack O'Hare, where he is living as a mercenary alongside his friend.
Star bonded with the Reality Stone
Ryan Ripley debuted in "Captain Marvel" #1 (by Kelly Thompson, Carmen Carnero, Tamra Bonvillain, and Clayton Cowles) as a reporter who wants to gain powers and become a superhero. However, she achieves her goal by siphoning super abilities from Captain Marvel with the help of the Kree soldier Minn-Erva and tries to supplant Carol Danvers' place as a hero. Unfortunately, Star's power obsession leads to her eventual defeat at Captain Marvel's hands. But, upon being put in the super prison known as the Raft, the Reality Stone merges with her and grants young Ryan the ability to warp and alter reality. Star ultimately escapes, thanks to her new powers.
Since gaining the powers of the Reality Stone, Star has taken a more villainous path. She battles the likes of the Black Order and Scarlet Witch and is put on Kingpin's Thunderbolt team, which has been tasked with finding Sentry's corpse to use as a bomb during the King in Black's invasion of the Marvel Universe.
In "Thanos Annual" #1, Star fights with the titular bad guy, but the Mad Titan defeats her and removes the Reality Stone from inside her body in a horrifying scene that seemingly kills her. Thankfully for Star, the events are soon reversed by the time-controlling Overtime. Her fellow Infinity Stone bearer shares that he changed the timeline as she was supposed to die at the hands of Thanos. Together with Quantum, she begins the search for the present-day Overtime as they prepare to defend the cosmic gems as a group.
Overtime bonded with the Time Stone
Overtime, whose real name is Hector Bautista, debuted in "Infinity Wars: Infinity" #1 (by Gerry Duggan, Mark Bagley, Andrew Hennessy, Guru-eFX, and VC's Cory Petit) as a prisoner on death row for a murder he didn't commit. However, before his execution, the Time Stone merges with him, allowing Bautista to manipulate time and escape his cell.
Using the incredible abilities derived from the Time Stone, Overtime is capable of freezing and reversing time, speeding and slowing it as he desires. Additionally, he can travel through time and focus his powers on specific people and objects. He captures the attention of Loki and Wolverine, who try to protect him against forces going after the Time Stone. During this adventure, Logan tries (and fails) to get Overtime to take him back in time to prevent the deaths of the X-Men.
Overtime is trying to use his time-manipulating powers to become a hero and has been thrust into the throes of Thanos' quest in "Thanos Annual" #1, working alongside Star and Quantum to halt the villain's mission to acquire the new Infinity Stones. He reverses time after Thanos dissects Star to prevent him from getting the Reality Stone. Overtime doesn't mince his words for the Mad Titan, calling him a terrifying, mass-murdering alien without the same power as those hosting the stones. Upon helping his fellow stone-bearers escape, Overtime reveals he's actually from the future, and he needs Star and Quantum to find his present-day counterpart as soon as possible to prepare for what's coming.
Multitude bonded with the Soul Stone
Multitude is the Infinity Stone host with the fewest appearances, to date. Debuting in "Avengers Annual" #1 (by Jed MacKay, Travel Foreman, Jim Campbell, and VC's Cory Petit), he's a synthezoid created to learn more about the human condition and the soul. However, after getting attacked by a group of human supremacists, the Soul Stone appears and merges with the soulless being. This captures the attention of Captain America and Iron Man, who investigate the whereabouts of the cosmic gem. Afraid humans and mutants are going to take him apart in an effort to study him, Multitude creates incredible constructs of heroes and villains, including Juggernaut and Wolverine, complete with their impressive strength and powers. Ultimately, he leaves the battle in search of his fellow Infinity Stone bearers, promising to change the world alongside them.
Multitude was last seen in "Guardians of the Galaxy" #9 (by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, Kev Walker, Walden Wong, Matt Hollingsworth, and Petit), where he encounters Mantis and Gamora as they ask for the soul of Drax to help bring him back to life. After an initial conflict, Multitude agrees to provide them with Drax's soul and is rewarded with some valuable Mysterium, the incredible material from the X-Men's White Hot Room that was used to build Iron Man's Sentinel Buster armor.
With his ability to control souls, Multitude serves an extremely important role in the Marvel Universe, as he can keep and release them as he pleases, a power Thanos desperately wants for his own.