Summary
- Thanos believes the Death Stone will kill his enemies, however the powerful artifact refuses to obey him.
- Thanos created the new Infinity Stone by imprisoning the cosmic being Death inside an artificial Infinity Stone, feeling she had abandoned her purpose.
- With Death refusing to kill for Thanos, the Mad Titan begins a quest to collect the other Stones, giving him total control over his creation.
After changing Marvel's cosmic order by creating a new seventh Infinity Stone, newly forged Death Stone. After being teased for years, Marvel's Death Stone is finally a reality, with Thanos' new artifact prompting the huge Infinity Watch crossover taking place across this year's Marvel annuals, beginning with Thanos Annual #1.
In a preview of the issue, Thanos advances on an injured alien, attempting to use the Death Stone to end its life. However, the Mad Titan quickly finds that the powerful artifact refuses to do as he orders - likely because the being inside his new weapon absolutely loathes him.
In the recent Thanos miniseries from Christopher Cantwell and Germán Peralta, Thanos captured Death itself - the physical embodiment of mortality in the Marvel Universe, sometimes known as Lady Death. Thanos imprisoned Death in an artificial Infinity Stone he'd forged in the heart of a black hole. The Mad Titan believes that Death has abandoned her cosmic duty, having tried to experience mortality by taking human form on Earth with help from the Illuminati. The reading order for the Infinity Watch event is as follows.
Thanos Annual #1 (2024) |
|
|---|---|
|
|
Marvel’s New Color-Coded Doors Secretly Connect the Franchise’s Most Powerful Forces
Captain America, Scarlet Witch, and Hulk have encountered magical, otherworldly doors that appear to connect the Marvel Universe in mysterious ways.
Thanos Wields the Death Stone, But It Won't Obey Him
Thanos Needs the Other Infinity Stones to Break the Death Stone to His Will
Taking place across Marvel's 2024 annual, the Infinity Watch event will unite a new version of the iconic team dedicated to safeguarding the Infinity Stones. Currently, each of the Infinity Stones is bonded to a different 'bearer,' who has each been granted powers by the synergy. Due to the Infinity Stones forming a circuit, each bearer becomes more powerful the closer they are to each other. Infinity Watch will see Marvel's iconic heroes - including Spider-Man, Moon Knight and the Avengers - face off against the bearers. Meanwhile, Thanos will be on his own quest to unlock the power of the Death Stone.
Current Infinity Stone Bearers in Marvel Continuity |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
||||
Infinity Stone |
Current Wielder |
Current Powers |
Affiliation |
First Appearance |
Reality Stone |
Star (Ripley Ryan) |
Short-range reality manipulation |
Former Thunderbolts member and Captain Marvel enemy |
Captain Marvel #1 by Kelly Thompson & Carmen Carnero |
Space Stone |
Quantum |
Close-range teleportation and portals |
Former henchman for the Assessor and Miles Morales enemy |
Miles Morales: Spider-Man #7 by Saladin Ahmed & Javier Garrón |
Mind Stone |
Worldmind |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
Soul Stone |
Multitude (aka Ward) |
Can summon lifelike energy constructs |
Solo operator |
Avengers Annual #1 by Jed MacKay & Travel Foreman |
Time Stone |
Overtime (aka Hector Bautista) |
Low-power time manipulation, including pausing events and very short-range time travel |
Solo operator |
Infinity Wars: Infinity #1 by Gerry Duggan & Mark Bagley |
Power Stone |
Prince of Power (aka Otherone) |
Enhanced physique and ability to enhance powers of others |
Galactic mercenary and Guardians of the Galaxy Ally |
Guardians of the Galaxy #3 by Al Ewing & Juan Cabal |
Death Stone |
Thanos |
None |
Solo operator |
Iron Man #55 by Jim Starlin Mike & Friedrich |
Turning the Death Stone into a weapon of death from which resurrection isn't possible could give it a major place in Marvel's future lore.
This Is the First Time Marvel Fans Have Seen the Death Stone's Power
Thanos Believes the Death Stone Can Kill, But That's Only the Beginning
It's clear from the preview that Thanos believes the Death Stone should be able to kill its victims, and that seems almost guaranteed - however, there's no reason to think its powers will stop there. Usually, each Infinity Stone can totally control the force for which it is named - for example, the Power Stone can make people stronger or weaker depending on the wielder's will, while the Time Stone can speed up, slow, or even stop time. This would suggest that the Death Stone should be able to prevent death as well as cause it.
It's also possible that the Death Stone can control what path its victims take through the afterlife. Recently, Resurrection of Magneto (Al Ewing and Luciano Vecchio) revealed crucial details about Marvel's afterlife, confirming that beings are offered eight paths after they die, including total oblivion, rebirth and judgment. It would be a major anticlimax for a new Infinity Stone to simply kill people, as there are thousands of Marvel artifacts that can do that, and none of them require the literal embodiment of Death to power them. However, killing a person such that they're completely obliterated would be a significant power, especially in a world where heroes and villains are all-but-guaranteed to rise from the dead. Turning the Death Stone into a weapon of death from which resurrection isn't possible could give it a major place in Marvel's future lore.
The Death Stone's further powers will be revealed over the course of Infinity Watch, as Thanos attempts to gather the other Infinity Stones to give him power over Death and the Infinity Stone that holds her. Hopefully, as Marvel has teased, Thanos will find his targets more capable than he imagines, and the Death Stone could even end up with a new bearer - someone who Death is actually prepared to bond with. The introduction of the Death Stone is a major milestone in Marvel continuity, and as Thanos dedicates himself to unlocking its power, it's sure to come with major consequences.
Thanos Annual #1 is coming June 26 from Marvel Comics.
