We SOLVED Why Thanos Waited So Long to Pursue The INFINITY STONES | Marvel Theory 

Thanos ducked Odin, The Allfather is too powerful.

By this point, I think it should be confirmed that Thanos feared Odin for real.

Odin's death is at the beginning of Ragnarok, which we could consider lasting about a week. Thanos ambushes the Asgardians' ship at the end of it. When rescuing Thor, Quill remarks that Thanos "decimated Xandar last week". Thanos probably put his MFn helmet on and drove that big ass ship to the heart of the Nova Corp the very MOMENT he sensed // found out about Odin's death.

Don’t forget Hela. If Thanos was aware of her existence then he may have been waiting for that too.

In comics Thanos doesn't fear Odin, he's wary of him and extremely cautious. In the novel Titan Consumed, Thanos wasn't aware of the gems for a very long time. The first gem he found was the Mind Gem while it still rested in the scepter. It has also been stated in the Marvel Universe 616 that once one gem is found the others will be drawn to it, as their entire purpose is to be together. Odin could take Thanos when at full power. The young Thanos was still full of rage and so was more dangerous. Still, I think you're right that Odin was the issue. In the book, Titan Consumed this is confirmed more or less, and Thanos discovers how powerful even weaker Asgardians are. Plus probably better to attack before the Odinforce becomes the Thorforce. The power of 4 Gods, and an Elder God is scary.

Pretty important thing that you forgot to mention: Prior to the events of Thor: The Dark World, the Reality Stone was locked away in another dimension and there was no way to get to it. So even if Thanos could get the other 5, he would then just have to sit around waiting for the alignment to happen and his enemies would have time to try and take the other stones back.

Odin and Hela are OP and he knew it from his parents.

I think when Strange says he's been watching the possible futures, it's like he's living each one. The same as when the alternate Strange goes back to try and save Christine in What If. If that's true, he got to practice fighting Thanos on Titan 14 million times. I also think that when he's testing different outcomes like this and he chooses one he prefers, all the bad ones he experiences still happen in alternate timelines. This would explain why he couldn't simply bring Stark back to life, we're watching the "bad" timeline where Stark died. Interestingly, this would mean that there's a timeline where Wanda destroys the Mind stone in Vision's head, Thanos walks up, strokes her hair and then disappears into the past, never to be seen again. We, as the viewer just happened to follow Thanos' perspective back in time seeing as how Infinity War is Thanos' movie, this makes sense in a cinematic way.

I agree and believe Thanos felt if he has 2 infinity stones he would be the most powerful being in the universe and since he seemed focused on collecting the Space stone (Avengers) & Power stone (GOTG) it starts with these two opening the door to Unlimited Power + Space Travel to the other stones

I think ego might be the most overlooked too because he is a celestial with a whole planet he could kinda thrash Thanos.

It does come down to Odin in the end. This is exactly why he attacks after Ragnarok. Not only was he the Allfather, but he also posessed the Bifrost, which basically negates Thanos' ability to run with the Space Stone, since Asgard could follow.

The stinger from AoU shows Thanos deciding to just do it himself.

The space stone being his second choice makes perfect sense also as he can shift around to collect the remaining. Word of him collecting the stones would have travelled quickly and he would be able to get to places before defenses could be set up. His first two picks were' spot on as was his timing with everything you've explained.

That or Hela.. If you remember, Hela was able to come back once Odin was dead. It's possible that Thanos was aware of that fact, as well, and needed to ensure Hela was properly taken care of first.

I want to know why Captain Marvel didn't know what Thanos was doing during Infinity War? She shouldn't have to rely on Nick Fury paging her to know about Thanos's attacks because she would've heard about the assault on Xandar (like Thor did), heard the distress call from Thor's ship (like the Guardians have), and learned about the destruction of the Collector's shop in Knowhere. It makes no sense that Captain Marvel didn't investigate any of these events but found time to look for Tony and Nebula in space. Then again, she was never around for the other 2 Avengers films, the 2 Guardians of the Galaxy films, nor Thor: Ragnarok.

i felt he didnt fear the avengers just saw them more as a problem that could drag on longer then needed as any long fight would run the risk of unifying the planet.

The Tesseract is the best first stone to acquire because it allows you to travel to the location of the other stones instantly.

He knew where 5 of the stones were. The Power stone was on Zandar, Space Stone was on Asgard, Reality stone was in nowhere, time and mind stones were on Earth and it was once he got the information from Nebula about Gamora knowing the location of the Soul stone that he began collecting them. He was so confident in his ability to get the information from Gamora about the soul stone that he didn't find it necessary to go for Gamora first. I agree that Thanos collected the stones in a certain order, specifically the power and space stones first and second. Without the power stone he would have had a more difficult time getting the space stone. Thanos may have gone for the power stone first believing it necessary to get the space stone from Asgard, but fortunately enough for him Asgard falling made that task much easier. All things considered everything fell perfectly in place for Thanos making me wonder how much more difficult of a time he may have had in other timelines where Asgard may not have fallen. Oh the multiverse haha

Since everyone is complaining about rehashing old theories, here's a fresh one: Would the infinity stone stop working in the dark dimension, and how could Dr. Strange use dimension hopping to his advantage when fighting Thanos?!!?

I was under the impression, that it was a race. As soon as someone begins collecting them; they become a galactic threat. So they need to collect them all in one sweep before anyone can react. So with the death of Odin and the vulnerability of arguably the most powerful "speed-runner" stone, the space stone, he was able to get the ball rolling. More importantly, he needed to know where all the stones were and he'd found out Gamorra knew where it the last one he had no clue, was.

Is everyone going to ignore what the Russo brothers even said? It's flat out been stated by the Russo brothers and Kevin feige the the reason Thanos waited so lo g was because he did not have the location of the soul stone yet and he knew the moment he went for one stone the entire universe would ban together to try and stop him. So he had to wait until he knew the location of every stone before go after them. Other wise it would have been a pointless endeavour

“The hardest choices require the strongest wills.” This is something I think Thanos always thought to himself for all the years he pondered his plan for “correcting the universe.” In general, he likely needed to give himself time to muster the ultimate will to go through with his plan.

Joe Russo explained further: “The reason why [Thanos] has not gone after the stones before is because the minute he does, the forces of the universe are gonna line up against him. If he doesn’t know where the Soul Stone is, then what is the point.” This is the one and only reason. It’s not a mystery. The directors answered this years ago.

My theory is that Thanos started his quest once he captured Nebula… Then he knew Gamora knew where the Soul Stone was, so finally he knows how to find them all.

It's all but stated that the reason Thanos took so long was in fact because he needed to know the exact location of each stone. He knew the Time and Mind Stones were on Earth, the Power Stone was with the Nova Corp, the Reality Stone was with the Collector, and the Space Stone was with the remaining Asgardians...and once he discovered that Gamora knew exactly where the Soul Stone was, he was able to finally begin his quest.

I've always thought that when the mind stone created Ultron out of nowhere that it was somehow influenced by Thanos. Tony himself said that they weren't even close to succeeding and then all the sudden it just happened. So either the mind stone itself chose to act or the process was influenced by somebody who wanted chaos. That had all that earmarks of a plot thread that they decided not to follow after it had already been established.

I think thanos also only started taking the stones after the death of odin because that was also around the time he tortured nebula and found out gamora actually found the way to the soul stone. With that, he knew where every stone was located or at least had an idea of how to get to them. He kept nebula as leverage against gamora, attacked zandar, attacked the asguardian refugees, attacked knowhere while his people attacked earth. He knew gamora and her group had connections in knowhere, making it a good location to lure her out. From there, he either waits for his henchmen to take the stones from earth to him or he ends up going there himself. The time stone ends up being on titan as exected after strange got captured but still in the avengers' control hence the battle.

Your reasons are good, there's other factors in the comics that don't come up in the movies too. Half the over powered factors haven't even made the big screen

It seems like you guys "solve" this every other week

I think you're close but you missed something. When did Thanos have time to have the Gaunlet created? He knew that the dwarves were defenseless so getting weapons and the Gauntlet being forged had to happen because he knew Odin was not in Asgard to stop him. The rest is very good.

It makes sense the way u put it. Good observation!!!

After watching the Eternals, Thanos is looking more like an antihero trying to keep The celestials from being born

Here’s my new theory: we learn in The Eternals that had not Thanos done the snap then, the celestial inside the earth would have come alive a few days from the snap. When half of life went away, there’s less cosmic energy to feed it. Had he not started his push, the Mind and Time stones would have been lost… maybe in the hands of this new celestial. Thanos is an Eternal from another planet, so would know that there’s a celestial in the planet. That’s his deadline to beat.

My theory is that Thanos was tasked with and guided by the celestials to carry out his universal genocide. I’m theorizing that in the Eternals, we’ll learn that Thanos was an eternal for the planet Titan, and that for the planet to prosper he suggested his plan. When Thanos was cast out of Titan, the celestials approached him and told him that his plan was correct, and put him on and guided him through his journey and gave him the scepter, hence why he’s “cursed” with knowledge and knew just when to strike even with the knowledge of his heralds and spies. With that in mind I think it would be appropriate that in the Eternals, the so called “emergence” is the celestial judgement of the planet, as the people of Earth undid their plan and now seek to destroy Earth. I think this is a cool theory and would tie in great.

I also think that part of the reason he went himself instead of sending more representitives is that his recent reps were very powerful and also failed. Ronan the Accusor fell to GotG, and Loki to the Avengers. If someone of that power level cannot succeed then it's unlikely anyone else he sends will, and thus he needs to "do it himself". The death of Odin was definately a trigger to move now. If the Ancient One was still around he would probably still try to take the Time Stone, but his tactics would have been more stealthy than a direct assault.

Always feel like its a passion video. When its barely 10min. And advertisments in everywhere xD

Question? Where did the Asgardians come from? Who Created Them? Do They Possess The Abilities Of Celestials?

Had it not have been for Quill getting too emotional when Thanos was 'sleeping' they may have succeeded without a second attempt.

Think of it like this. Each thing that happens opens up a new window of opportunity. It's a sequence of events that takes time to complete. If you ever played any of the "mega man" games you know that the first one you beat is the power you needed to take your next step. In this case Thanos knows that one stone will make it easier to Gain the rest. Yet which was the one that was the best choice. Characters like Odin and Ego would of been hard to deal with if no stones was gained. He avoided direct contact with them until he had the right stone to deal with big problems

One thing many people forget and I have yet to find an explanation for is that Thanos already had the mind stone before the first Avengers movie. It was Thanos that gave Loki the staff which contained the stone. That leads me to believe that Thanos had already started his pursuit to collect the stones years earlier.

I think that when Thanos was in the possession of the mind stone, for many years, it read his thoughts and knew he would destroy the stones upon completing his mission, so it gave him some foreknowledge on how to obtain the other stones. I believe the stones are a type of micro dimension; like what, What If’s Dr. Strange trapped Kill Monger and Infinity Ultron/Zola in. I think each stone housed a piece of a powerful cosmic being and wanted to be freed. The stones allowed Thanos to obtain them, because they were aligned with Thanos’ vision: to bring balance to the universe. Which cosmic beings purpose is it to bring balance to the universe you ask! GALACTUS !!!!

I think ragnarok actually didn’t last a week it actually lasted from the moment Odin ascended to Valhalla to the moment thanos snaps and decimates for half the population. Know I don’t know a lot about norse mythology but I know that it ends with the universe being destroyed so thanos snapping destroyed the universe because most of all living things were wiped away that would include the nine realms. Hence Thor saying “ what ever asgardian are left” meaning that asgardians and other realms like musphelheim where affected as well.

He actually said something in the effects of "I missed my destiny once, I won't do it again" to Gamorah in infinity war. Meaning this wasn't his first time. That means he failed once before so I think he waited for the right moment. He clearly knew where the stones were before the avengers knew.

Thanks for sharing!

Was it planned that Thanos adopted Gamora to love her as his own daughter and assign Gamora to track the soul stone? Looks like Thanos already knew how the stones work before collecting them just like in the comics where Thanos gained knowledge on the stones while looking at the Infinity Well

Lol the Odin force is op.

What if the vaults of Asgard were constructed out of materials, imbued and reinforced with Asgardian magic to shield everything within from outside detection? We know the Odin Force was a power field of some kind the royal family can access and was still present in Asgard AFTER Odin died. Hela used it to regain her powers, after all. Once Asgard exploded, the Power Stones energy signature probably lit up some detector screen on Thanos' ship triggering an alert. Seeing it was on the move might have meant it was stolen, so they acted fast!

WOW! I love this video and the breakdown of the reasons that Thanos waited to collect the Infinity Stones. The team at The Marvelous Wave is quite impressive, to say the least. Your editing of the montage of scenes for this video is amazing! Thank you for taking the time to create and share this extensive, yet concise, explanation. I agree with the points made here because they make sense. And the narration is totally awesome. Have a wonderful week!

I really think that is going to come out that Kang played Thanos in the overall picture. I think Kang assisted Thanos throughout the whole process over time to collect the stones. Only because Kang could not see beyond the end of time did he allow Thanos to get all of the stones. All of this has allowed Kang to be able to see exactly how the Avengers and other Fighters would respond to the overall actions.

Thanos having that much luck getting the Infinity Stones reminded me of the luck that the Golden State warriors had to win the 2015 championship title. Everything just went their way.

Cool video i completely agree. Always thought Thanos was weary about Odin and have always thought Odin to be more powerful but also felt that Thor should've been stronger than what the mcu has shown. Feel like they watered him down seeing as he is part of Odins bloodline, he is an actual god and yet seemed so weak in all of the movies even the first Thor.

This sounds like a interesting team combo vs thanos. Ancient once, Odin, and ego. For some reason or another still being alive or being brought together to confront thanos sooner, sounds like a interesting story

There's a deeper theory to this. Odin once had possession of all of the infinity stones. This is why he had a replica of the infinity gauntlet in the vault. How do you think he originally conquered the nine realms and brought about peace?

He was more afraid of Asgard as a whole I think rather than just Odin. With Asgard gone the 9 realms had no protection and neither did nividilier. With the Ancient One gone Midgard had a novice Sorcerer Supreme. That was his window of opportunity, and he took it.

I think it was more the destruction of Asguard and the space stone leaving Asguard was the reason he started, since he started with xandar first, he either knew of Ragnarok, or at least heard of the sister of death, Hella(i think), and maybe he believed that she would try to use Odin's death to leave her exile, or escape her prison, to take a shot for the throne, assuming he didn't know that Odin's life force was keeping her imprisoned. So when he heard of Odin's death, he immediately started organizing to attack Xandar to get the power stone, so he could fight Thor, after which he started for asguard to either join Thor and Hella's fight for a three way battle, or just pick the stone from the ashes of asguard. ... and i just partially proved the viewpoint i was saying i didn't think was correct.

I think that the biggest threat to his plan (It was a complex plan) was Heimdahl, and the Bifrost. Asgard in general, and Odin as the leader of that powerful army, but Heimdahl was the 1 that could see what he was doing. He also held the key to the Bifrost. Omniscience, and near omnipresence, as well as an army powerful to thwart him went a long way. In the end, it wasn't 1 person that stopped him, it was The Evengers. Tony struck the final blow (Both times) but he couldn't have alone. So, the mystery to me is where Thanos was hiding out, from Heimdahl.

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!” Revelation 5:13 NIV ❤️💛❤️ 🥰

Although I'm not even a comic reader, i do know that Odin could easily beat Thanos or any of the powerful MCU villains.

Ego was not a Celestial. He was "considered" an Elder, but only by default.

Similar to how Loki remotely opened the portal in avengers because shield's experiments. The infinity stones have a connection to each other and I think that is how Thanos knew where they were. Also evident with vision knowing Thanos was on his quest.

Remember that I have commanded you to be determined and confident! Don't be afraid or discouraged, for I, the LORD your God, am with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 GNBUK 💛❤️💛❤️💛

I think it was the combination of the death of Odin, hella and the destruction of asgaurd(vault)

Thanos waited until he could locate the soul stone. Nebula gave him the info on Gamora knowing its whereabouts. The other factors may have played a small part but the Mad Titan feared none of them.

There are very few beings in the MCU/comics that can actually rival Thanos's might, Asgard being one of them. With the death of Odin and the destruction of Asgard soon after, the Asgardians were at their weakest point, prime picking for one as strong as Thanos.

I get what you’re saying I do but in my theory that I was needed the most powerful characters out of play before he can make his move on the stones and I think that is the only reason why he finally made his move but that’s just me I really enjoyed this video I’m definitely giving it a lake and a big ass thumbs up how much to share this video everywhere even though it’s old

I agree the death of Odin is a major factor but not just that but everything that happened in Thor Ragnorok is what made Thanos move. Odins dead, Asgardians fleet and army gone, Asgard destroyed, that's the space and the reality stones sorted(or located), with the power stone 1st, that's 3 in 1 sitting.

Imagine an Avengers team of Odin, Ancient One, Ego (turned good) paired with Peter, Thor with Storm Breaker….dude it would be a BEAT DOWN

I agree with the video…this was my assumption as well so in short! Thanos waited til the 3 main people he knew could whoop his ass were dead and (assuming he had no knowledge of captain marvel) who well I’d say wasn’t much help in the “end game” film but I’m sure in any other case she would’ve washed thanos as well one on one.

❤ great 👍 video thanks 🙏.

Odin was so badass. We need a young Odin story

The way Odin might have known was maybe through heimdall if maybe he could not just see every person but maybe he recognized people by their energy as they all had a unique energy which might take the form of intelligence and this might be why he could see the power stone aswell as it also gives off a different kind of energy though I dont actually know how heimdall can see only sentient beings in which he should only be able to see the soul stone so I dont know.

Your theory makes perfect sense.

Makes total sense

The death of Odin and Hela. Hela was quite formidable as well. The ancient one and Ego dying with those two dying and destroying Asguard left the universe vulnerable.

I believe you're right with everything. But yes he was waiting for the Odin because shortly after he was dead he went after the space stone. I'm guessing once he realized he was dead that's when he went after the power stone then got the space stone while they were still weak.

I think this video is spot on.

Whole heartedly agree

In a newly released clip, when Thor and Loki find Odin on Earth, he is a drunken homeless man dumpster diving in a dirty city alley "I FOUND IT FIRST! I FOUND IT FIRST!". He recognizes his sons, and at one point he tells Loki "I PUT THE STONES IN YOU". What is the reference? When Hela sees the Infinity Gauntlet in Odin's treasure room, she pushes it over and says "FAKE". We later learn that it wasn't fake! But where did the Infinity Stones go???? And why was the Infinity Gauntlet owned by Odin an exact copy of the one Thanos had made for him? There are many mysteries here, but when we see Loki create Yggdrasill, we see all of the colors of the Infinity Stones represented during these scenes. As if Loki does, in fact, have all of the Infinity Stones in him!

Pretty sure new Rockstar covered this theory in the hype of infinity war.. however still interested as this may give new info...

Makes sense to me!

To my knowledge...there's no debate to be had that Odin's presence was a deterrent for Thanos. Young or well-aged...Allfather at his core was complexed (neither good nor evil, both trustworthy and untrustworthy, completely savaged/merciful). Thanos was too much of a strategist to gamble with such a FORCE.

I think Young Odin needs a spin-off, seems he was a real Gangsta 😂😂😂😂

It wasn't just Odin, it was also the Sorcerer Supreme. She was way stronger than Dr. Strange; could probably have kicked Thano's astral body out of his physical one and he would not be able to manipulate the gauntlet.

I think the main thing he was waiting on was knowledge of the Soul Stone. He tracked the other stones through the years, but that was the bottleneck. Without it, he couldn’t complete his goal. But once he saw the memory from Nebula that Gamora knew its location, it was finally time that he could collect all of them at once; hoping that it would be flawless and before anyone could react. In fairness, despite the small skirmishes in Infinity War, it still worked out for him in the main timeline.

I believe it was mostly because of The All Father. Reasons.. 1. Odin is one a few beings that know of the Infinity Stones, 1 of which is in his Vault. 2. He was the one who actually commissioned the Gauntlet, i.e the fake one in his vault as well as Eitri already having the mold to make it. 3. Nidavellir is one of the realms conquered by Odin/Asgard and is under their protection. 4. Hiemdall would have seen Thanos and his forces approaching Nidavellir way ahead a time and would have alerted Odin. Asgardian forces would've been able to get their full force there within mere hours just by using the Bi-frost. Thanos did not have the space stone so he would've been months getting there. 5. Odin has the ability to enchant Uru. Even if Thanos got his hands on the Gauntlet, Odin could've easily enchanted it and any Uru Thanos and his army was using. 6. I'm just speculating but I think Thor would've told Odin about the other stone they left with the collector and Xandar would've been alerted to protect the power stone as well. The All Father held too many cards for Thanos to make a direct move while Odin was still in power and/or alive. Then you add if the Ancient one was still protecting the Time Stone and Xandar the Power stone.

This needs updated with what we know about Loki and Kane now.

Step 1 was to locate all of them, who has them, and who is in the way. Bc once you start to make the moves for the stones it needs to be quick. Step 2 wait. Bc once the Ancient One went down helped, but I have to agree once Odin fell and Hela followed he immediately went after the space stone with what was left of Asgard in a state of flux was the best opportunity to get to the next step. Step 3, collect quickly and any way necessary. Step 4, snap. Thanos, cursed with knowledge and the intelligence to use it effectively.

I agree that thanos saw an opening when Odin died and the fall out of Hela and Surtur with the destruction of Asguard, this led to an opening where the teseract was not so heavily guarded. To be honest I don´t belive that the Avengers were conciderd any threat in Thanos mind and the Ancient One did not move in the same circles as Thanos, also Thanos had at the time no Knowledge of where the soul stone was, each stone is powerful no doubt but Thanos goal "The Snap!" can only take place with all the stones together, that is the main reason for waiting it out.

We should have a thanos was right arc. Heroes realizing he may somewhat be right because resources are running out/overpopulatiom. It could be a nice way to introduce the illuminati.

I agree with you but I'd also add that Thanos may have been aware that upon Odins death Hela would be released and I highly doubt she would have been willing to share power. I belive Thanos would have been waiting not only for Odin to pass but for something to take Hela out as well.

The All Father demanded respect from everyone. Odin is fascinating character in comics and in life itself. That would've been fight worth watching on the big screen.

Makes sense...

I wouldve loved to see ego and or the ancient one have a go vs thanos

Not to mention, Odin would have been taken infinitely more seriously and actually listened to by Zeus and the others in the Council of Gods. If Thanos didn't want the smoke from just Odin and the Asgardians, he definitely didn't want any part of a unified effort against him from the other collected gods being led by both Odin and Zeus. Having to wait for the Reality Stone to actually be available and waiting for Odin (and to a degree Hela) to be out of the picture was absolutely necessary, without even having to factor in anyone else. It really was the perfect storm of bad timing for his potential opponents.

Surprised they didn't pursue the Hela connection. That would've been a good element to connect the events as well.

Strange thing that if what you say is possibly how Thanos's mind worked to getting these gems it is also odd how he head of them before all this it is possible he had been visited by a future version of himself or may have spies amongst the known galaxie in every time period to he had help from a traveller in time? And then there's his involvement with earth history did he help the Red Skull back then who gave the Red Skull that knowledge I think Loki was the main part of this but in the end it was Thanos every time? This does have one of many unanswered questions of how he did this and how far back did he really begin to plan for this? Asgard to Earth and Endgame was predicted or set in stone and will the Mad Titan rise again from the dust or will there be a new challenger of the Infinity Stones or the lost stone Ego? Ancient Egypt the first mutant or another gem stone in this land and the Sphinks?

Yesssss! Finally! Of course he couldn’t come out of the shadows until oden was gone! I’m the comics Oden put Thanos in his place twice! One of those times Thanos did posses the infinity stones. I’ve been waiting for this since the dropped infinity war

I think some people get the space and time stones, and time and dimensional travel mix up.

I agree with @bloodtypexforever. I believe he waited for Ragnarok because Hela would've been as powerful a foe as Odin. Remember, Odin feared her insatiable lust for power and domination; she caught then demolished Mjolnir; and she continued to dominate Thor, even after he became imbued with his full Thunder-God power.

When thanos puts each stone in the gaulent he absorbs its power. He didn't physically use the stone on the hulk but the power was still running through his system.