Written By: Nick Poulimenakos

WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THOR: RAGNAROK. PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is consistently praised for its connectivity. Each film nicely leads to the next with every film making mention to the greater Marvel film-verse. But, one issue that has plagued Marvel since its inception is its use of the Infinity Gauntlet. Fans know that this Gauntlet will be what Thanos uses to wield the six infinity stones in an attempt to take over the universe. But when Thor premiered in 2011 and when Avengers: Age of Ultron premiered in 2015, fans were quick to note that not one, but two Infinity Gauntlets had appeared in the MCU. Odin had one and so did Thanos.

This leads us to 2017 and the debut of Thor: Ragnarok. The film has been praised for numerous aspects but the one thing that Marvel made sure to do with Ragnarok that fans are loving is that it finally clears up why their are two gauntlets in the MCU. When Hela arrives in Odin’s vault after laying waste to the armies of Asgard, she quickly deems his Infinity Gauntlet a fake.

Kevin Feige, who recently sat down with SlashFilm, spoke about the issue and using Ragnarok to retcon the original Thor easter egg:

“Going all the way back to Phase One, where Infinity War was a barely a glint in our eye, we were working on Avengers and trying to get just put that all together for the conclusion of Phase One. And it’s in one shot. It’s in one shot in the background.” “And pretty quickly after that, within a couple years, we were like, ‘Well that’s clearly not the Gauntlet. The Gauntlet can’t be in there. And we had an internal Marvel theory that it was fake. That Odin who you’ve seen in the other films and who’s a… I guess a good father. He’s kind of an okay father. Kind of fosters the rivalry.”

Odin, a not so great father? Based on the MCU, this is one of the most least shocking revelations ever. It’s clear that when Disney and Marvel first started the MCU, their goal wasn’t a long term, 17 film franchise. They wanted to get the ball rolling first before committing to anything massive, hence the small Gauntlet eater egg.

Feige then turned to Hela and explained her role in exposing Odin’s Gauntlet:

“As we learn in this movie, he banished his firstborn daughter because he sort of got what he needed, he got to the top of the Nine Realms and it was like, ‘Oh, this is much too violent.; And Hela says, ‘Glad to have it, ashamed of how we got it.’ And we see that mural in the movie of [how] it was not a pleasant history of how Asgard got all that gold. So Odin has a history of doing what he wants to do to maintain power. And going back, I mean, now it’s probably five years ago we started again just in our internal creative group saying, ‘Well, it’s fake.’ Because if the Asgardians knew that there was something that had that kind of power, that could theoretically wipe out Asgard and whatever else with a, in the comics, a literal snap of the fingers. They might question Odin’s ability to protect them.” ‘So Odin put a fake and he goes, ‘It’s fine, I got it. Look, it’s fine, it’s in our vault, don’t worry about it.’ And it’s not until Hela goes down there. It was fun being back in that vault, by the way, for the first time since Thor 1. It was just the opportunity to call it a fake. So for people like yourself, and like all of us at Marvel Studios who were paying attention, that answers that question. And for people who have no idea that an out-of-focus Infinity Gauntlet appeared in the back of Thor 1, it just showcases her knowledge and her sort of disgust with the way Odin had handled things on her way to the true power that is below the surface.”

Well, that settles it. Odin had a Gauntlet simply for show. He had a fake made to calm the nerves of his citizens. While some would call it noble, others would probably see it as a King providing false hope to the people he rules. In any case, we now have a definitive answer and Thanos is the only one who holds the Infinity Gauntlet. Not only that, but he’s ready to use it. Ragnarok confirms that Age of Ultron was set two years prior, which means that Thanos has been on the hunt for the stones for a little while now. And if the the mid-credit scene of Ragnarok says anything, it’s that Thanos is about to cause some serious havoc for the people of Asgard.

Thor: Ragnarok is in theatres everywhere now while Avengers: Infinity War flies into theatres on May 4, 2018.