With Black Panther hitting theaters, IGN talked to director Ryan Coogler about the Infinity Stones, those powerful gems that big bad Thanos is after in Avengers: Infinity War.

Warning: full spoilers for Black Panther!

Loading

Avengers: Infinity War - Every Character Confirmed 32 IMAGES

As it turns out, the Black Panther movie does not include an Infinity Stone. Given that it’s the last movie before Avengers: Infinity War debuts in May, we theorized that Black Panther would be where we discover the last of the six Infinity Stones, the orange-colored Soul Stone, but that’s not the case.Here’s what Coogler said when we asked him why Black Panther didn’t feature an Infinity Stone.“I love the Infinity Stones as much as any comic book fan, it’s just Wakanda already has its thing, which is Vibranium. For us, that was special enough, so to throw in something like another special thing didn’t feel right. It felt like we should stick with our one MacGuffin for the country and explore that, let that be the important thing because, frankly we didn’t need to have another piece like that,” Coogler explained, adding, “[Marvel Studios] never really was interested in putting a stone in there, either.”This leads us to assume that the Soul Stone will make its debut in Avengers: Infinity War. If Marvel never planned on putting it in Black Panther, then there’s probably a good reason they’re saving it for the third Avengers movie. In terms of storytelling, leaving one stone undiscovered adds an extra layer of mystery going into the movie that wouldn’t be there if viewers already knew where every stone was and who has them.That said, Wakanda appears to be under attack by Thanos’ army in the Avengers: Infinity War trailer, and if that’s where Thanos is focusing his efforts, then logic would dictate there has to be an Infinity Stone there. So there’s a chance the Soul Stone actually is in Wakanda and we just didn’t see it in Black Panther. This is a stretch, but the Heart-Shaped Herb that grants T’Challa his powers allows him to commune with the souls of the dead, so perhaps the Soul Stone is in the dirt underneath the temple garden where the herbs grew, and that’s what gave them their special properties.Where do you think the Soul Stone is located? Let us know in the comments.

Joshua is IGN’s Comics Editor. If Pokemon, Green Lantern, or Game of Thrones are frequently used words in your vocabulary, you’ll want to follow him on Twitter @JoshuaYehl and IGN