Avengers Endgame spoilers: How does the Infinity Gauntlet ACTUALLY work?

Avengers: Endgame picked up in the aftermath of Avengers: Infinity War. The 2018 movie saw Thanos wield the Infinity Gauntlet to snap half of life out of existence. With Endgame, the Avengers sought to undo the snap. Warning: Avengers: Endgame spoilers ahead.

How does the Infinity Gauntlet actually work?

Many fans who have seen Avengers: Endgame were left puzzled by one thing.

When Tony Stark snapped his new Infinity Gauntlet, why didn’t it wipe out half of existence as it had previously?

Professor Hulk had already used the gauntlet to bring back those who had been snapped.

But when Tony snapped, instead of wiping half of existence out again it wiped out only Thanos, his Black Order, and Outriders.

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The prevailing theory is the gauntlet works in a similar way to a geenie’s magic lamp.

Whatever the intentions of the person who wields the gauntlet are, that is what the gauntlet will do.

So when Thanos wanted to destroy the Infinity Stones, he was able to use the Infinity Stones to do just that.

Likewise, Professor Hulk wanted to restore those who had been snapped – so he did.

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It does seem, however, that the gauntlet can’t undo death, despite being able to grant its user their wish.

Professor Hulk said he had tried to bring back Vision and Black Widow.

The former was killed by Thanos in the final moments of Avengers: Infinity War.

Black Widow sacrificed her own life in exchange for the Soul Stone on Vormir.

The Gauntlet harnesses the power of all six Infinity Stones.

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Each stone is responsible for a part of the universe: Space Stone (blue), Mind Stone (yellow), Reality Stone (red), Power Stone (purple), Time Stone (green), and Soul Stone (orange).

The Gauntlet uses the power stone to instigate the snap.

Then the time stone makes the stones all work at once.

The Mind Stone is key to what will actually happen when the snap occurs, figuring out what its user wants.

Then the souls of those being snapped are selected and are erased from reality across all of space.

Avengers: Endgame is now playing in cinemas.