WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS for Black Panther
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Black Panther may have hidden the final Infinity Stone in plain sight, setting the stage for Infinity War without fans even noticing. You would think that such a task would be impossible to achieve, as fans of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe search for the Soul Stone in every possible place (along with Thanos, the Mad Titan). The final piece of the puzzle for Marvel’s Phase 3 showdown was expected by many to be revealed in Black Panther. But the record-breaking blockbuster told its own story, instead of worrying about setting up Infinity War… right?
The story of T’Challa and Wakanda’s introduction to the world still made time for some MCU nods, most notably showing Bucky’s return after his Civil War antics. But hopes that the movie’s villain would be seeking the Soul Stone, or that its location would be revealed in an end-credits stinger went unfulfilled. In fact, even the director Ryan Coogler offered an explanation for why disappointed fans didn’t get to see an Infinity Stone worked into Black Panther’s fiction. But just because the characters don’t KNOW it’s an Infinity Stone, that doesn’t mean fans can’t spot the evidence.
Make no mistake: Marvel’s Black Panther movie can be enjoyed on its own, with no connection to the larger MCU at all. But with so many Black Panther characters returning for Infinity War and the nation of Wakanda playing a pivotal role, taking their history, technology, and spirituality at face value seems foolish. Especially when the final, missing Soul Stone would explain an awful lot about Wakanda and its Black Panther mythology.
You can bet Thanos is doing some detective work, so MCU fans should, as well.
This Page: The Infinity Gauntlet’s Missing Soul Stone Explained
The Soul Stone: The Missing Piece of Infinity War’s Puzzle
As the first of the Infinity Stones to enter Marvel mythology (originally all referred to as other “Soul Gems”), the rules and power of the Soul Stone changed in the early years. But eventually the mythology solidified, making the Soul Stone one of the most unsettling, and supernaturally powerful of the group. Why? Because the Soul Stone isn’t merely a weapon to be used by Thanos, or any other cosmic conqueror… it has a mind of its own. Literally.
The Infinity Stones of Marvel’s movie universe have mainly been portrayed as items of immense power, not sentient forces working to feed their varied appetites. That’s how the comics started, too, until the Soul Stone’s first owner (Adam Warlock) discovered a being behind the object’s power. Those MCU fans with flawless memory will recognize the hints of such sentience in the movies: Loki’s Scepter (the Mind Stone in disguise) working to sow resentment among the Avengers. And later, when it changed color and spawned an artificial intelligence of sorts, named Ultron. Then there was the Power Stone, apparently choosing Jane Foster as its host in the form of Thor: The Dark World’s Aether.
As the name might imply, the Soul Stone craves souls, as Adam Warlock soon learned - a dark hunger that shaped his future from that point forward. But what makes the Soul Stone so dangerous, and what provides a clue as to its place in the MCU, is what it’s willing to give in exchange for a soul. In short: Paradise.
The other powers granted to the wielder of the Soul Stone are direct enough: the gift of superhuman protection and power, and the ability to evolve or de-evolve life forms (and spare one’s soul by feeding it the souls of others). But it’s that promise of the Soul Stone beyond the grave that’s most important to our theory. Because it doesn’t take much to see that same power as the source of Black Panther’s greatness - and that of his native Wakanda.
The hero and his people may have the Soul Stone to thank. The Soul Stone delivered to Earth in the form of vibranium meteorite, that is.
Wakanda Has The Soul Stone - And Black Panther Showed It
We should say again that this is speculation and deduction on our part, based on the Marvel Comics mythology of the Infinity Stones and what’s shown in Black Panther. Fans who wish to take the film as it’s presented, and see no evidence of a Soul Stone (since none is called out explicitly) can do just that. But for those who can’t help but wonder if the mythology and world of Wakanda reveals a role for the Soul Stone, the clues can be hard to ignore. Especially since the main source of Wakanda’s power and technology are offered with no explanation or scientific reasoning whatsoever.
That’s not rare in the superhero genre, but Black Panther sets a new standard. As audiences learn in Black Panther’s opening history sequence, everything tied to Wakanda - its people, its hero, its technology, its religion, and its famous export - began by almost total cosmic coincidence:
And just like that, the glowing chunk of magic metal marked the Earth. Presumably, the “plant life” affected refers to the famous heart-shaped herb that grants the powers of the Black Panther to those who consume it (in some versions of the story, only doing so for those of royal blood). It’s a strong start for an epic story, but the details stop there. The connection between the herb’s powers and the vibranium is called into question by the traditional belief that the goddess Bast is the true source.
“Millions of years ago, a meteorite made of vibranium - the strongest substance in the universe - struck the continent of Africa, affecting the plant life around it.”
The same goddess the Black Panthers seem to connect to their version of the afterlife.
Exactly how a metal, even the “strongest” imaginable guided the Wakandans to nearly impossible technological advancements and medical breakthroughs is just as unclear. The substance was introduced in Captain America as a metal able to absorb kinetic energy - a simple enough, plausible quality that continues into T’Challa’s new Black Panther suit as well. But Age of Ultron got the ball rolling to deem vibranium a metal that is, for all intents and purposes, capable of anything the writers need. And that is where the door is opened for a more unexplainable, magical, even cosmic origin for vibranium.
None of this speculation is to dismiss the role played by the panther goddess Bast, a key part of Black Panther mythology. And perhaps it will remain one of the few certified deity figures in the MCU, even able to reconnect the souls of loved ones to their living relatives. But it’s worth entertaining the thought that the Soul Stone may be an even simpler explanation for the mysteries of vibranium, and the all-important heart-shaped herb. A plant likely “affected” by the meteorite, able to heighten or weaken a human’s power… and connect them to a paradise where souls may find rest.
It’s hard for any Marvel Comics fan to view the sequences of T’Challa visiting his father’s soul the same way, after remembering that the final Infinity Stone unaccounted for absorbs souls into its custom-made paradise. Skeptics will point to the hero’s own comics, and explain that this supernatural realm is Djalia, a physical manifestation of Wakanda’s collective memory. That’s the most direct parallel from the modern Black Panther comics… but there’s no reason it can’t be BOTH.
Black Panther’s Afterlife is Inside The Soul Stone?
The visual similarities between the Panther afterlife and the Soulworld existing within the Soul Stone may be pure coincidence. After all, Ryan Coogler may have had no intention of “explaining” this afterlife at all beyond exactly what it seems to be. And since we’re fans as fond of the late King T’Chaka as any other, the idea of Wakandans misunderstanding the Soul Stone’s hunger for souls as a ’true’ afterlife is an unwelcome one. But nobody said that the movie version of the Soul Infinity Stone needs to be as dark or sinister as the comic book version.
Taking all the evidence and unanswerable questions, the case for the Soul Stone being buried beneath Wakanda seems persuasive. The vibranium metal seems to possess magical abilities, able to merge with organic tissue in a miraculous way. The plants grown near the meteorite are able to, in some sense, ’evolve’ normal humans into superhuman specimens. Not to mention grant those who ingest the plant access to a world for souls. And before any fans point out that the Soul Stone is white/orange, WE will point out that the Mind Stone changed colors (and vibranium leads to purple, blue, and orange energy in Black Panther alone).
What started as a magic metal is seeming more and more to have ties to the cosmic. Or should we say infinite? That truth of the Soul Stone may not be exposed in Black Panther, nor does it need to be for the movie to work. But as Thanos and the Infinity War approaches, the questions of the Marvel movie universe may all be answered.
For Black Panther… it may not be the answer he was hoping for.
MORE: 28 Easter Eggs You Missed in Black Panther
