Joe Russo confirms Soul Stone theory in Avengers: Infinity War

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

MAJOR SPOILERS for AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR, obviously. Over the course of the past decade of Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, we've slowly been introduced to the Infinity Stones, six immensely powerful objects which can bestow fantastic powers upon those who wield them, but one stone was a mystery: the Soul Stone.

As we know, the Soul Stone finally made its appearance in AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR. When Thanos (Josh Brolin) and Gamora (Zoe Saldana) arrive on the planet of Vormir to obtain the Soul Stone, Thanos is informed that he must sacrifice something he loves in order to get it, which turns out to be Gamora herself, and the Mad Titan tosses his daughter off the side of a cliff to her death. Flash foward to the end of the film, after Thanos has snapped his fingers and wiped out half the life in the universe, and we find Thanos reuniting with a young Gamora. Where exactly does this take place? Well, fans have theorized that it's actually within the Soul Stone itself, and INFINITY WAR director Joe Russo confirmed as much when he spoke with students during a talk at Iowa City High School.

 Yeah it’s- it’s implied it’s the soul stone. It’s all orange around, then he’s inside the soul stone with the amount of power that it took to snap his fingers- he has this out of body experience with Thanos. When he goes inside the Soul stone he has this kind of conversation with the younger version of his Gamora.

When asked whether Gamora was truly in there, Joe Russo again confirmed that that was the case. "She in fact is yes…. It was an attempt an attempt on our part- because we don’t like two dimensional roles or three dimensional villains every villain is a hero in their own story and as insane and psychotic and brutal and violent as Thanos is he’s a more complex villain if you go on  a journey with him emotionally," Russo said. "He does care for things and it is complicated for him to execute his plan and it cost him something. He said at the end “It cost him everything” and that it was the only thing he loved which was gamora which is why we put him back with her at the end. I  just want to reiterate with the audience that he does feel true emotion even though he is a monster." This could give Gamora a way to return in AVENGERS 4, as well as the rest of the heroes who were dusted, but I suppose we'll have to wait and see.

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR is now playing in theaters, so be sure to tell us what you thought of the film!