How & Why Avengers: Secret Wars May Bring Back The Infinity Stones & Gauntlet

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The MCU's Infinity Stones and the Gauntlet that houses them could return in Phase 6's Avengers: Secret Wars. Marvel Studios' Infinity Saga put a lot of emphasis on the importance of the Infinity Stones, building them up slowly until all six were revealed and collected by Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. While Avengers: Endgame saw the Infinity Stones destroyed, and the Stones acquired during the Avengers' Time Heist returned to their original timelines, What If...? continues to prove that the Infinity Stones are still important, so it's possible that they and the Infinity Gauntlet could return during one major event in the MCU's future.
During the MCU's Infinity Saga, Thanos gathered all six Infinity Stones, comprising Mind, Soul, Time, Power, Reality, and Space, and used their collective power to wipe out half of the universe's population. While the Infinity Stones have been missing from the main MCU continuity since Tony Stark's sacrifice to eliminate Thanos in Endgame, the Multiverse Saga's What If...? has explored a variety of realities where they are still a prominent force, including one upcoming episode that will see MCU original superhero Kahhori gain her abilities from the Tesseract. This suggests that the Infinity Stones' story might not be over, and Avengers: Secret Wars could hold the key to their return.
Marvel Comics Used The Infinity Gauntlet To Stop Incursions (Secret Wars' Big Threat)

The Infinity Stones have regularly been an important plot device in the pages of Marvel Comics, with many heroes and villains wielding the Infinity Gauntlet over the years. During New Avengers Vol. 3 #3 in 2013, this responsibility fell on Captain America, who finds himself working with the Illuminati to try and stop a universe-threatening incursion, a catastrophic event that has already been teased in the MCU. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness revealed that incursions occur when two or more universes collide, and even confirmed that an incursion has already begun in the MCU, which will lead directly into the events of Phase 6's Avengers: Secret Wars.
When a series of incursions plague the Marvel Universe during the New Avengers storyline, the Illuminati hatched a plan to re-assemble the Infinity Gauntlet and use its power to stop the destruction of their reality. Captain America wields the Gauntlet, and uses the Stones to push back the colliding universe, though this sends a shockwave through the Gauntlet that destroys five of the Infinity Stones and makes the Time Stone vanish. The fact that the Infinity Gauntlet could be used to stop an incursion, however, could be vitally important to the MCU, as it seems as though Marvel Studios is thrusting the MCU into a universe-ending event in Phase 6.
The Infinity Gauntlet Could Be Re-Assembled In Avengers: Secret Wars

Currently scheduled for release on May 1, 2026, Avengers: Secret Wars will conclude the MCU's Phase 6 and the Multiverse Saga. The film is expected to be adapted from Marvel Comics' 2015 Secret Wars miniseries, which saw the Marvel Universe destroyed by an incursion, and combined with various other realities as the patchwork planet Battleworld, ruled over by the tyrannical Doctor Doom. During the Secret Wars storyline in Marvel Comics, a version of the Infinity Gauntlet is used to battle Doctor Doom, and the Black Panther uses the Infinity Stones to rebuild the universe after its complete destruction, combining several realities into the main continuity.
It's possible that this storyline could be told in the live-action MCU, as Phase 4 teased the onset of incursions and the sheer devastation they could cause, as glimpsed in Sinister Strange's universe in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Should several realities combine into one, akin to Battleworld, during Avengers: Secret Wars, versions of the Infinity Stones could return to the MCU, as What If...? and even Loki have already demonstrated that they are still around in other realities. The Avengers' past experiences with the Infinity Stones mean they know what power they hold, and so would quickly realize that the Stones could be their ticket to survival.
Should The MCU Bring Back The Infinity Stones & Gauntlet?

Avengers: Endgame revealed that Thanos destroyed the Infinity Stones, leaving that reality without their protection, and forcing the Avengers to embark on the Time Heist to collect the Stones from other timelines. While it could be argued that the MCU's Infinity Saga perfectly closed the book on the Infinity Stones, and they shouldn't continuously be used as a plot device, seeing their return would be important for the MCU's future. The Ancient One warned the Hulk in Avengers: Endgame that a reality without the Infinity Stones would be at risk from dark forces, so bringing the Stones back could help to provide some stability to the MCU.
What If...? season 2 will continue to emphasize the importance of the Infinity Stones, so this should also be reflected in the live-action MCU. This could also be a great way to mirror the ending of the MCU's Infinity Saga, which saw Tony Stark sacrifice his life by using the Stones to save the universe, an honor that could be gifted to another prominent hero at the end of the Multiverse Saga. The hunt for the Infinity Stones in Endgame technically kick-started the Multiverse Saga, using them in Avengers: Secret Wars to save the multiverse could provide the perfect full-circle moment.
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