Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Infinity Watch #2!Thanosis often regarded as the master of theInfinity Stones, or - at the very least - he’s the Marvel Comics character most people think of when they think of the Stones. This reputation isn’t unfounded, as Thanos not only made the Infinity Stones famous in bothThanos QuestandInfinity Gauntlet, but collecting and using the Infinity Stones was his entire purpose in the MCU. However, just because Thanos is widely associated with the Infinity Stones doesn’t mean he’s their master, as that honor goes to someone else entirely.
In a preview forInfinity Watch#2 by Derek Landy, Ruairí Coleman, and Enid Balám,the newly-formed Infinity Watch is facing their greatest threat yet: Avery Zavala. Zavala is a former Stone Bearer from a dead universe who traveled to this one in the hopes of collecting the Infinity Stones and using them to overwrite his lost reality onto Earth-616. The reason Zavala’s universe is dead is that a villainous gang of rogue Stone Bearers known as the Apeiron decimated it after they stole Zavala’s Mind Stone along with the Stones from the other Stone Bearers of his universe.
Unfortunately, rather than recruiting Infinity Watch, Zavala decides to simply kill the Infinity Watch and steal all of their Stones. And, shockingly enough, Zavala did just that. Zavala killedColleen Wing (aka the Mind Stone Bearer)at the end of the last issue, and in this preview, he kills every other member of the Infinity Watch one-by-one. While there are a few members whose fates are left ambiguous, the point Zavala was trying to make is clear: the Infinity Watch members are unworthy of wielding the Infinity Stones, and they’re better off in his hands - the hands of a master.
Avery Zavala Proved He’s Superior to Thanos in More Ways Than One
Zavala is a Better Stone-Wielder Than Thanos & He Succeeded Where Thanos Failed
Zavala’s mastery over the Infinity Stones is made immediately apparent in thisInfinity Watchpreview. He murders Colleen without anyone even knowing, then he uses her Mind Stone to make everyone forget how to wield their own Stones. At which point, Zavala slaughters them one-by-one, lopping off their heads and stabbing them in their chests with his giant sword. His control over the Stones is effortless, and he knows how to weaponize one Stone over the rest without breaking a sweat.
In this short preview, Zavala exhibits a mastery over the Infinity Stones that Thanos quite frankly never has, which is why Thanos has never been able to hold onto the Stones for long, while Zavala can effortlessly travel to another universe and pluck the Stones from their Bearers like it’s nothing. Plus, when it comes to this group of Infinity Watch members specifically, Zavala quite literally succeeds where Thanos failed, asThanos was defeated by this Infinity Watchcrew inAvengers Annual 2024#1.
Avery Zavala Even Has a Better ‘Infinity Gauntlet’ Than Thanos
Zavala Collects the Infinity Stones on the Hilt of His Blood-Soaked Sword
When someone wants to wield allthe Infinity Stonesat once, they can’t simply hold them (or bond with them) as one can do with a single Stone. They need something through which to channel that immense cosmic power. For Thanos, that meant collecting them on a Gauntlet. For Zavala, that means collecting them on the hilt of his giant sword, which he also uses to kill the Stone Bearers he collects the Infinity Stones from. That’s a level of badassery that the Infinity Gauntlet - and Thanos - simply doesn’t possess, making Zavala’s version so much cooler.
Marvel Won’t Say It, But Fantastic Four’s Tie to Thanos Could Mean Big Things For the MCU
Thanos was the ‘big-bad’ of the MCU during its Golden Age, and with the release of Fantastic Four: First Steps, he may make his triumphant return.
From his profound control over the Infinity Stones, to the fact that he succeeded where Thanos failed, to the opinion that his ‘Infinity Gauntlet’ is simply cooler than the original, it’s fair to say that theInfinity Stones’ new (true) master, Avery Zavala, is better thanThanos- and the Infinity Watch learned that lesson the hard way.
