The Great Glove Conspiracy

Or, Why Are There So Many Infinity Gauntlets?

Hey, there fellow movie fans!! Remember way back in the creation of the MCU? Back when they really had no idea where all of these movies were going? All the way back to the First Thor movie? Yeah? Good. Now take a moment to focus on Odin’s vault. In their haste to pepper the background with things that the fans would go crazy over, the filmmakers decided to show us an Infinity Gauntlet, chock full of stones, just sitting there. We all loved it. Am I right?

Moving right along… At some point, the powers that be at Marvel realized that Thanos and his mission to “snap” would be a great motivator for all these movies they wanted to make. But, they had already shown us the Infinity Gauntlet. What to do, what to do?

Screw it. Keep making movies.

Fast forward to the third film in the Thor franchise, Taika Waititi’s Ragnarok. Here we meet a new member of the royal family, Hela. As she tours the many treasures of Asgard, she arrives at the aforementioned gauntlet and announces to, well, us, that it’s a fake. Then she unceremoniously smashes it on the floor. Fast forward again to…

The Infinity War.

So, by now we’ve all been buying movie tickets for like ten years. We caught a glimpse of a right handed Infinity Gauntlet. The Infinity Stones became important things. Thanos said, “I’ll do it myself.” He put on a left handed gauntlet. Hela negated the validity of the right handed gauntlet. “Fake!!” Now, we’re smack in the middle of Thanos’ hunt for the Infinity Stones to bring his glove to full strength. During this, apparently Thor needs a new weapon.

Side note:

This is odd because we just got done seeing how much Thor doesn’t need a weapon in Ragnarok. Hela destroys Thor’s original weapon, Mjolnir. And I don’t mean she kinda’ busts it up, I’m saying she DESTROYS it, and doesn’t even break a sweat. Thor has all these issues about how to get along without his hammer. It takes a vision from his dad to convince him he’s gonna’ be ok. So, by the end of it all, Thor has finally figured out how to wield his power sans Mjolnir. But, sure, in the next movie he’s all, “I need a hammer.”

Back to Infinity War.

Thor guides his new besties Rocket and Groot to Nidavellir where we meet the giant Eitri. His people are responsible for forging the weapons of Asgard. We come to find out that Eitri is the last of his kind and that his hands have been rendered useless by Thanos. Why? As thanks for forging the Infinity Gauntlet, that’s why.

Here’s where we get into why this post is in our category of “Retcons.”

If Eitri made the gauntlet for Thanos, how is it that there’s a gauntlet dopelganger chilling in Odin’s vault? These movies were seven years apart. Even if you say that it hasn’t been that long in movie time, I’d have to argue that it hasn’t been that short an amount of time, either. Furthermore, the glove that Odin has squirreled away in his private collection is oversized, just like the one that Thanos commissions from Eitri. And why is a fake stashed in Odin’s vault, anyway? It would be one thing to have it on display for the citizens of Asgard to marvel at. But, noooooo! It’s in a sealed room where nobody knows about it. The whole notion is odd.

TL; DR. In conclusion. Whatever you prefer.

What can I tell you? We’re an easy going bunch. Right from the start we conceded that the whole idea of using the Infinity Gauntlet to propel the story arrived late to the party. Ever since that one decision was made, Marvel has been doing damage control to try to make the rest of the story add up. No matter whether you like it or not, Marvel and the litany of directors they have hired have done an impressive job of keeping basically one narrative going for a decade.

There are so many gauntlets because making these movies is a collaborative process.

We don’t mind it one bit. Hey, Marvel. If you keep making them, we’ll keep watching them. How about you, fans? Do you agree? Yes? No? Maybe so? Leave your take in the comments below. From all of us here at the Reel Theories screening room, thanks for reading, and pass the popcorn!

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