Thanos (Josh Brolin) didn't use the Reality Stone to its full potential in Avengers: Infinity War, but there's actually a good reason for that.

Thanos (Josh Brolin) didn’t use the Reality Stone to its full potential in Avengers: Infinity War, but there was a good reason for that. The Reality Stone, identified by its red color, first appeared in Thor: The Dark World when it was referred to as the Aether. In the movie, it was sought after by Malekith (Christopher Eccleston) and the Dark Elves.

In a post-credits scene, Lady Sif (Jamie Alexander) handed it over to the Collector (Benecio del Toro), whom the Asgardians believed would be able to keep it safe. In Avengers: Infinity War, the Guardians of the Galaxy learned of its whereabouts and hurried to Knowhere to stop Thanos from getting his hands on it. Unfortunately, he beat them to it. After encountering Thanos, Gamora (Zoe Saldana) made an attempt on his life. Just when it seemed that Gamora had succeeded in mortally wounding her father, it was revealed that he had created an illusion with the Reality Stone to fool the Guardians. Thanos also used it to turn Gamora’s knife into bubbles, and to dramatically distort the bodies of Mantis (Pom Klementieff) and Drax (Dave Bautista).

Thanos made a few uses of the Reality Stone in battle, but could have done so much more with it. After all, in both Marvel Comics and the MCU it holds the power to reshape reality itself. If Thanos made full use of its capabilities, he could have unleashed even more destruction. Why he relied more on the other Stones can be at least partially explained by the comic books. After Adam Warlock took the Infinity Gauntlet and split up the Gems, he made the shocking decision to entrust the Reality Gem to Thanos in the Warlock and the Infinity Watch comic in the early 1990s. This was the comic’s biggest twist, and to the other heroes, an incredibly controversial choice.

It was revealed that Warlock picked Thanos to be the guardian of the Reality Stone because he knew better than anyone how dangerous the Gem could be if it wasn’t used carefully. Having wielding the full power of the Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos had a greater understanding of how they worked than most Marvel characters. It was reiterated that Thanos knew better than to misuse the Reality Gem in the 2018 comic, Thanos: The Infinity Conflict.

It should be noted that this may only be part of the reason for why Thanos underused the Reality Stone in Infinity War. For most of the movie, Thanos felt that he was in control of the situation. Apart from the scene in which he almost lost the Gauntlet and was stabbed by Stormbreaker in the chest, Thanos was confident he’d win. He didn’t really need the Reality Stone in his battle with the Avengers. The other Stones were more than enough for him to get what he wanted.

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