WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War, now in theaters nationwide.
For 10 long years, Marvel Studios has been building towards its crowning cinematic achievement, Avengers: Infinity War. In that time, the powers that be have made a conscious effort not only keep new plot holes to a minimum but also to retroactively “correct” those introduced in previous films.
However, despite the studio’s best efforts, even its latest superhero blockbuster isn’t 100 percent immune to this ailment, so with that in mind, here are the three plot holes in Avengers: Infinity War that are too big to ignore:
Gamora Going to Knowhere
After coming into contact with Thor, the Guardians of the Galaxy learn that the Mad Titan Thanos is likely heading to Knowhere to obtain the Reality Stone from the Collector. While Thor, Rocket, and Groot head to Nidavellir to forge a new weapon for the God of Thunder, Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, and Mantis decide to try to cut Thanos off at the pass and stop him from getting his hands on the stone.
However, on the way to Knowhere, Gamora takes Star-Lord aside and tells him that she knows a secret that Thanos can never find out, and she makes him promise to kill her if Thanos ever takes her captive. Of course, as we soon find out, that secret is the location of the Soul Stone, but one can’t help but wonder: If Gamora knew it was so dangerous for her to be in such close proximity to Thanos, why did she agree to go to Knowhere instead of simply going to Nidavellir with the others?
If you think about it, by going to Knowhere, Gamora practically handed over the Soul Stone to Thanos with a shiny bow wrapped around it. Her plan isn’t the only one that raises questions, though.
Thanos’ Plan
Thanos – like most villains – doesn’t shy away from sharing his diabolical plan with the heroes in Avengers: Infinity War. According to the Mad Titan, after his homeworld was decimated by overpopulation, he made it his life’s goal to collect the six Infinity Stones and use them to eliminate half of all living beings in the universe to create perfect balance.
Certainly, wiping out 50 percent of life on each and every planet is one way to ensure there are enough resources to go around, but wouldn’t it be equally, if not more effective to simply use the immense and presumably unlimited powers of the Infinity Gauntlet to increase the number of resources, instead? After all, even Thanos admits that his self-appointed role as the universe’s “savior” is a heavy burden, so you’d think such a brilliant tactician would have realized that there might be another way to make things right.
Think about it this way: If your family was starving and you had a shotgun, would you use to put them out of their misery, or would you use it hunt for food? Clearly, one of these options makes a bit more sense than the other.
You know what doesn’t make any sense, though? The history of the Infinity Gauntlet in the MCU.
The Infinity Gauntlet
If you’ll recall, the very first time we saw the Infinity Gauntlet in the MCU was all the way back in the first Thor film in 2011. It was a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, but sure enough, there’s a fully assembled Infinity Gauntlet sitting on a pedestal in Odin’s trophy vault. Then, four years later, we see Thanos retrieve the Infinity Gauntlet (minus the Infinity Stones) from some sort of safe in the mid-credits scene of Avengers: Age of Ultron, emphatically declaring that he’ll “do it [himself]” (presumably referring to collecting the Stones).
This led many fans to believe that perhaps there were two Infinity Gauntlets in the MCU. In actuality, though, it was simply a plot hole resulting from what was meant to be nothing more than an Easter egg in Thor, back before the trajectory of the MCU had been fully fleshed out. To Marvel’s credit, though, the studio did a commendable job rectifying this in Thor: Ragnarok by having Hela stumble across the Infinity Gauntlet in Odin’s Vault, only to declare that it was an elaborate fake.
Problem solved, right?
Well, not exactly.
In Infinity War, we learn that Thanos forced the Dwarf King Eitri to forge him a weapon capable of harnessing the power of all six Infinity Stones. After Eitri reluctantly created the Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos then proceeded to massacre everyone else on Nidavellir and turn Eitri’s hands to metal.
Here’s the problem, though: How could Odin have had a replica Infinity Gauntlet on display in his vault in 2011 if the first time it was created was presumably after Asgard was destroyed in Thor: Ragnarok? Did the creator of the so-called “fake” somehow know what Eitri would end up creating for Thanos in the future?
Furthermore, when are we to believe the mid-credits scene of Age of Ultron takes place? Typically, these scenes are meant to take place around the time of the film they accompany, but Age of Ultron presumably takes place two to three years before Thanos gets the Gauntlet from Eitri and destroys Nidavellir.
What about you? Did you notice any glaring plot holes in Avengers: Infinity War? Let us know in the comments section!