“Avengers: Infinity War” is the culmination of 10 years of Marvel movies, but it also is the climax of the Infinity Stone story. Remember those colorful things that needed to be found or protected in movies like “Captain America” and “Guardians of the Galaxy” to prevent death and destruction? You were supposed to be paying attention to those MacGuffins, but if you didn’t, here’s a handy guide.

Infinity Stone Origins: As the Collector (Benicio Del Toro) explained in “Guardians of the Galaxy,” there were six “singularities” that existed before the universe was even created. After the universe came into existence, the singularities went into the stones. Only super powered beings can wield the Infinity Stones, which is why they are typically held in containers and Thanos (Josh Brolin) uses a gauntlet.

Now that you know where they came from, let’s look at the stones Thanos wants so badly.

“Avengers: Infinity War” Infinity Stones
The Space Stone will play a part in “Avengers: Infinity War.” Marvel Studios

The Space Stone

  • Nicknames: The Tesseract, The Cube
  • Movies: “Captain America: The First Avenger,” “Avengers,” “Thor: Ragnarok”
  • Color: Blue
  • Last Known Location: Space, close to where Asgard once was.

The Asgardians lost the Space Stone ages ago, but in the 1940s, Hydra found it in Viking ruins. Captain America (Chris Evans) drove his plane into the ice to make sure it didn’t hurt anyone. Seventy years later, Capsicle and the Infinity Stone were defrosted.

S.H.I.E.L.D. was trying to weaponize the Space Stone when Thanos sent Loki (Tom Hiddleston) to Earth to get it in “The Avengers.” After the Battle of New York, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) decided to keep the Tesseract in a vault on Asgard to keep it safe. In the battle at the end of “Thor: Ragnarok,” Loki was seen eyeing the Cube before he and the Asgardians fled the planet. Presumably, he grabbed it and Thanos came to collect. The post-credits scene showed one of the purple alien’s ships in front of the refugee carrier.

Infinity Stones Power Stone
The Power Stone was introduced in “Guardians of the Galaxy” and will appear again in “Avengers: Infinity War.” Marvel Studios

The Power Stone

  • Nickname: The Orb
  • Movie: “Guardians of the Galaxy”
  • Color: Purple
  • Last Known Location: Xandar

The Orb was hidden in a tomb on Morag, a planet where the ocean only receded enough to get access to it every 300 years. Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) stole it during the last opening and was planning to sell it. He and the other Guardians realized how dangerous it was, so they negotiated a deal to give the Orb to the Nova Corps (space police) in exchange for them being pardoned.

The Reality Stone

  • Nickname: The Aether
  • Movie: “Thor: The Dark World”
  • Color: Red
  • Location: The Collector’s lair

The Aether was hidden for about 5 million years, but it eventually created a portal that Jane Foster stepped through. Thor obviously stepped in to save his love, but he didn’t want two Infinity Stones to be held in Asgard. He sent the Aether to Taneleer Tivan, also known as The Collecter. Tivan is also the one who sent Gamora (Zoe Saldana) after the Orb.

Infinity Stones Mind Stone
Vision has the Mind Stone, but how far will Thanos go to take it from him in “Avengers: Infinity War”? Marvel Studios

The Mind Stone

  • Nickname: The Scepter
  • Movies: “Avengers,” “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” “Captain America: Civil War”
  • Color: Yellow
  • Location: Vision’s Forehead

When Thanos sent Loki to Earth in “Avengers,” he lent him the Scepter, containing the Mind Stone. That’s how he possessed Hawkeye. The Scepter was left behind after the Battle of New York and Hydra got their hands on it. They used it to give powers to the Maximoff twins, creating Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). Then, Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) and Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) found a way to upload JARVIS into a synthetic body, and the lightning from Thor’s hammer helped bring him to life. The Mind Stone has been with Vision ever since.

Infinity Stones Time Stone
Doctor Strange has the Time Stone in New York in “Avengers: Infinity War.” Marvel Studios

The Time Stone

  • Nickname: The Eye of Agamotto
  • Movie: “Doctor Strange,” “Thor: Ragnarok”
  • Color: Green
  • Location: Earth

This Infinity Stone was introduced in “Doctor Strange.” After Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) used it to manipulate time and defeat Dormammu, it seemed like the necklace would be returned to Kamar-Taj. Even Wong (Benedict Wong) agreed that it was bad to walk around with an Infinity Stone in plain sight. However, Strange wore the stone when he met with Thor in “Thor: Ragnarok,” so it’ll likely be in New York when “Avengers: Infinity War” starts.

The Soul Stone

  • Nickname: Unknown
  • Movies: Unknown
  • Color: Orange
  • Location: Unknown

This is the only Infinity Stone yet to be introduced. There is speculation that it could be in Wakanda and perhaps was even introduced in “Black Panther” as the heart-shaped herb. Other theories include Tony Stark being an actual Infinity Stone or Thanos could already have the Soul Stone.

Thanos and the Black Order will be out to collect all of the Infinity Stones in “Avengers: Infinity War,” out Friday.

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