Joe Russo Clears Up Where Thanos Got the Gauntlet in Avengers: Age of Ultron

Tracking the Infinity Gauntlet in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been tricky. The Gauntlet first appeared as an Easter egg in Odin’s hall of treasures on Asgard in Thor. Thanos is then shown retrieving the Infinity Gauntlet from a vault of some kind in the post-credits scene of Avengers: Age of Ultron. In Thor: Ragnarok, Hela declares the Infinity Gauntlet in Odin’s vault to be a fake. Avengers: Infinity War reveals that Thanos had the dwarves of Nidavellir forge the Infinity Gauntlet for him so that he could wield the power of all six Infinity Stones. If that’s the case, then where was Thanos when he retrieved the Infinity Gauntlet in Avengers: Age of Ultron?

During a conversation with ComicBook.com’s Brandon Davis, Infinity War co-director Joe Russo says that the post-credits scene of Age of Ultron must be set on Nidavellir. During an interview with ComicBook.com in 2018 following the release of Infinity War, Russo expanded on this a bit more, saying, “I think that it would be connected to Eitri. I think that clearly, he is the one who forged the gauntlet and Thanos had the gauntlet at that point in time. It’s been a while since any of the Asgardians have interacted with Eitri and his people.”

This does still leave one question about the Infinity Gauntlet. If Thanos himself ordered the creation of the Infinity Gauntlet, then what was Odin’s false replica of the Gauntlet based on? There are ways to retcon in an explanation — the Asgardians knew of the Infinity Stones, so perhaps Odin or one of his forebears designed the original Gauntlet in an attempt to harness their power and Thanos based his own Gauntlet on those plans — but for now, it’s a minor continuity question that is left unanswered.

What do you think of the history of the Infinity Gauntlet and the Infinity Stones in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Let us know how you feel about it in the comments section.

Avengers: Endgame is now playing in theaters. Captain Marvel is also still playing in theaters. Upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5th.

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