Saga of infinity Marvel Cinematic Universe was surrounded by mystery, following Thanos (Josh Brolin) in his quest to collect all the Infinity Stones in order to cut all existing life in the universe in half. Apparently, one of these magical artifacts turned out to be more difficult than the others, given its direct connection with the characters and the plot. Avengers: Infinity War. During a Q&A session following the film’s screening at Collider in 2018 Joe and Anthony Russofilmmakers, wanted to discuss why they need to be careful when dealing with the soulstone:

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“We knew that we needed to do something special with this stone, but we also knew that we needed it to have an emotional connection with the story and with Thanos as a character. I think that was the last stone we found out where it was. it was because it was the most difficult story. It was really the point where we decided the movie was a Thanos movie, we needed the lowest point of the movie to belong to him, so we started developing the story of the Soul Stone. How could we create pain? How could we resize him to go on this journey during the film?”

The emotional connection that the directors talked about was that any person who wants to get close to the Soul Stone must sacrifice for him something filled with great meaning - someone he loves. In the case of Thanos, it will be his adopted daughter Gamora (Zoe Saldanha). Like a dick guardians of the galaxy, the warrior was smart enough to know that an encounter with Thanos would likely result in her death, prompting her to keep her newfound family as far away from him as possible. She would be right, as she would lose her life when the Mad Titan took the Soul Stone.

Thanos holding the Infinity Gauntlet.
Image courtesy of Walt Disney Studios.

Another curious revelation regarding the Soul Stone was that it was guarded by a character that Marvel fans hadn’t seen on the big screen for a very long time. The red skullRoss Marquand) returned after disappearing in the final moments Captain America: The First Avenger. Bye Hugo Weaving created a character in this film, the actor was unable to return for the epic crossover because he and the studio could not agree on an appropriate salary, leaving Marvel Studios to make the decision to recast the villainous role. During a Q&A session, Joe Russo explained that the Red Skull “has been on a journey” since his “mystical ending” in Captain America. He said, “Now he is a ghost. He is a stone slave. He’s not the same person anymore. He is transcendent. He’s a ghost.” Russo went on to explain why he was the right character for this Infinity Stone:

“I think he has always been that character. I think we may have played him once or twice without being him, but we needed someone that the audience would trust so that when he explained the rules for getting the stone, they would believe this character. I think it was [Christopher] Marcus and [Stephen] McFeely, who fought very hard to get him back in the film.”

How does the soul stone work?

Thanos’ acquisition of the Soul Stone quickly became a point of no return for the villain, as Joe Russo explained that “The Soul Stone apparently has the ability to manipulate your soul, the essence of who you are.” to explain some of the things the Soul Stone allows you to do in exchange for your soul. “The key moment it’s used is when Doctor Strange transforms into multiple Stranges and then Thanos uses the Soul Stone to destroy all the fake Stranges and pushes Strange out of his own body for a moment,” Russo said. “Strange has to pull himself back in.” Then, later, “when Thanos goes to the very soul stone to talk to his dead daughter, he apparently has the ability to resurrect.” , to conjure up a spiritual representation of dead people.”

End of an era

Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man in Avengers: Endgame
Image via Marvel Studios

Thanos’ attack will eventually destroy the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. Five years after the release Infinity Warits effects could still be seen in projects such as WandaVision and recently released Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. The conflict with the unstoppable villain was also the last time Robert Downey Jr. played the role of Tony Stark, ushering in a new era of the franchise, in which the main roles will be taken by different people. It remains to be seen if Earth’s Mightiest Heroes can be as strong as when they face a powerful new threat in Avengers: Kang Dynasty.

You can check out the Collider interview with Joe and Anthony Russo below: