Marvel Fan Questions Why Doctor Strange & Thanos Use the Time Stone Differently

Avengers: Endgame is finally hitting theaters next month, and Marvel Cinematic Universe fans are taking to the Internet to share theories and ask important questions about how certain things work in the films. One such fan, u/IContiSonoInutili, posted to the /r/MarvelStudios subreddit, a page "dedicated to discussing Marvel Studios, the films and television shows, and anything else related to the MCU," to inquire about the Time Stone, which was kept safe by Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) until he gave it up to Thanos (Josh Brolin) in Avengers: Infinity War.

The question posed by the redditor centers on the difference between how Doctor Strange and Thanos use the Time Stone. "Doctor Strange seems to control it through spells while Thanos is able to will the stones without any practice. Is there any cannon around this?," they ask.

Luckily, there were plenty of Marvel experts who hit the comments with some explanations.

"The Gauntlet is designed specifically to allow the wielder to use the stones, so I imagine that gets around using spells. The Eye of Agamotto is probably designed to allow the wielder to use the stone through spells, probably to protect them from the stone's energy. Every one of the stones seems to need to use something to use it without killing the wielder (Space has the Tesseract, Mind has Loki's staff, Time has the Eye, Power has Ronan's weapon. No one tries to use the Soul stone directly, and it's been so long since I've seen Dark World I can't remember if it's true for the Reality stone)," u/Benjamin_Grimm replied.

"Thanos probably spent years studying the stones through whatever manuscripts he could find in his long life to know how to use them better than their previous users (Time for Strange, Reality for Malekith, etc)," u/DekMelU suggested.

"There is another option. What Thanos did just doesn't require a spell. But to do time loops or see the future as Strange did require that. The spells may add a layer of precision or manipulation of forces the stone can't alter. Take the Hydra Weapons, they harness the power of the tesseract but Thanos never fired off similar blasts. Other heroes got powers from the stones, Thanos didn't demonstrate those abilities," u/neoblackdragon replied.

Do you think these sufficiently answer the Time Stone question? Tell us in the comments.

Hopefully, more answers will come when Avengers: Endgame hits theaters. The film stars Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Chris Evans (Captain America), Josh Brolin (Thanos), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye), Brie Larson (Captain Marvel), Danai Gurira (Okoye), Paul Rudd (Ant-Man), Karen Gillan (Nebula), Mark Ruffalo (Hulk), Don Cheadle (War Machine), and Bradley Cooper (Rocket Raccoon).

Avengers: Endgame is finally being released on April 26th. Other MCU films include Captain Marvel, which is currently playing in theaters everywhere and Spider-Man Far From Home, which lands in theaters on July 5th

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