The Infinity Gauntlet is one of the most powerful objects in both the Marvel Universe and the MCU. It was created to house and channel the power of the six Infinity Stones that were scattered across the universe. If anyone were to collect all of them, place them in the Gauntlet, and wield it, they would easily be the strongest being in the galaxy.

The Gauntlet was the focus of Avengers: Infinity War. Thanos traveled the galaxy looking for the Infinity Stones, and after gaining each one, we got to see him flex his muscles and take on the Avengers in new ways. He destroyed entire planets, turned people into ribbons, and teleported himself great distances. Of course, the movie ended with the ultimate ability of him snapping his fingers and destroying half of all life in the MCU. If you think the Gauntlet is powerful in the MCU, then prepare to be amazed at how much more powerful it was in the comics. Because the medium allows for more heroes and villains to enter the mix, the Gauntlet had to be much stronger to accommodate that. With that in mind, get ready to know the 20 craziest things the Infinity Gauntlet could do that weren't in Avengers: Infinity War.

20 IMPRISON GODS

When Thanos began hunting for the Infinity Stones in the Infinity Gauntlet comic book, he had to go up against some tough people in order to get them. After that, his actions in the universe caused gods and Celestials to step in to try and remove the Gauntlet from his hand. However, Thanos knew that he would go against the Celestials and decided to come up with a plan to stop them. He would have a hard time killing them on his own, so he had to think of a way to subdue them instantly.

Using the powers of the Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos managed to combat the gods by creating a cosmic prison that trapped them until he could release them. Thanos wasn't a god himself, so it was impressive to see such a character wield that much power. To make matters worse, Thanos also possessed the power to turn the Celestials into stone if they tried to fight him directly. Because of this, the remaining of Earth's Mightiest Heroes knew they were in for the battle of a lifetime, as the gods were no longer able to help and they suddenly became the last line of defense for the entire universe.

19 CREATE LIFE

Thanos using the Infinity Gauntlet to create his bride, Terraxia, in Marvel Comics

Thanos, in the comics, had a much different motivation than in Avengers: Infinity War. Instead of trying to bring balance to the universe, he is motivated by his love for Lady Death. He decides to impress her by gaining the Infinity Gauntlet and wiping out half of all existence in the known world. Despite this impressive feat, Death still turned her back on Thanos and rejected his attempts at ruling the universe side by side. Clearly broken up about it, Thanos decided that he had all the power in the universe and created a bride for himself.

He created a woman in his own likeness who would be loyal to him. Her name was Terraxia, and she was little more than a female Thanos. When the Avengers came to space to fight the Mad Titan, she helped him fight back and caused a lot of deaths along the way. Unfortunately, Thanos created her with one major flaw: she had to breathe. Once Nebula used the Gauntlet to set everything back to the way it was, Thanos and Terraxia were hurled to a far corner of the galaxy. Terraxia died there due to lack of oxygen and Thanos had to watch.

18 PUSH UNIVERSES

If you're a big Marvel Comic reader, then you might be familiar with a phenomenon known as a Universal Incursion. Doctor Doom was on a plan to rid every reality of its version of Molecule Man after hearing that the Beyonders would use them to wipe out all existence across the Multiverse. Unfortunately, he screwed up along the way and accidentally caused one Molecule Man to explode and destroy an entire universe. When a reality is destroyed in this way, it caused a chain that leads to an Incursion, where two realities can exist in the same plane before colliding with each other and eliminating both worlds in the process.

One reality was going for a direct hit on Earth 616 and it the Avengers who had to think of a way to stop it. This is when Captain America stepped in with some quick thinking. While some people were prepared to annihilate the universe, Cap had the Infinity Gauntlet in hand with all the stones. He lifted his hand up to the heavens and used it to push the universe away. The resulting strain was so great that all of the stones shattered upon use. It was a feat that would go down in history.

17 PROTECT ITSELF FROM ATTACKS

The Infinity Stones are some of the most powerful objects, and even they know that they are sought after by many people in the world. Because of this, they have several defense mechanisms in place that prevent them from being destroyed. Being cosmic objects that are partially alive, they are some of the most difficult objects to destroy. Sure, they can be taken out through massive use, but they can't be forcibly destroyed by an external source.

They are so well-protected that some of the smartest minds couldn't think of a way to get rid of them. After several world-altering events involving the Infinity Gauntlet, the Marvel heroes managed to find the stones and assemble the Gauntlet yet again. Reed Richards, Mr. Fantastic, had the Gauntlet in his hands and used it to try and make the Stones disappear from reality, thus ending the threat that they've posed on the universe since their inception. This didn't work and the only move they had left was to separate the Stones far away from each other. Don't expect anything like Scarlet Witch destroying the Infinity Stones to appear in the comics. Avengers: Infinity War had a last resort panic button in that way, but the comics never did.

16 FREEZE TIME

What makes the Infinity Gauntlet so strong is that it contains all six of the cosmic Infinity Stones, combining their power into a single force that can make anyone the master of the universe. While they're impressive when put together, they're still quite powerful when used apart. As a matter of fact, Red Skull in Captain America: The First Avenger, Malekith in Thor: The Dark World, and Ronan in Guardians of the Galaxy all nearly destroyed the world just by the use of one Infinity Stone.

That brings us to the Time Stone. Anyone who uses it can be the master of the fourth dimension and bend it to their will. Thanos used the Stone in Avengers: Infinity War to reverse time so that Vision could be pieced back together and he could rip the Mind Stone out of the android's head. However, the comics used it to much greater effect. There were a few times where Thanos would fight the Avengers and simply freeze time, making it impossible for anyone in the universe to move except for him. That said, he still managed to lose in the end, which says a lot about his character to say the least.

15 SUSPEND ANIMATION

Nebula burned

Avengers: Infinity War showed the Mad Titan doing some brutal things on his own and with the Infinity Gauntlet. For example, there is talk of him destroying Xandar. On top of that, he completely wrecked the Asgardian ship that Thor was using to give his people a new home. Because he is much more sadistic and doesn't have relatable motivations in the comics, he is capable of doing a lot more. One of his worst acts comes in how he treats his daughter, Nebula.

In the aforementioned MCU film, we see Thanos toying around with her body and torturing her in order to get the location of the Soul Stone. There is a purpose behind it, but he does something worse to her in the comics. As a trophy for Lady Death, he burns Nebula alive and suspends her in animation on the brink of death so that they can constantly watch her burn. Considering the fact that this kind of ability would be a bit too graphic for all audiences to witness, it makes sense that it wouldn't appear in the movie. The other difference is that Thanos used the Gauntlet to torture Nebula in the comics, and he didn't in the movie.

14 BECOME THE UNIVERSE

The Infinity Gauntlet comes with a catch despite offering limitless power. Being a device that is complete with six parts of separate intelligence, those who use the Gauntlet have to learn how to best apply it. It takes time to become a master of the Infinity Stones, but it was something that Thanos was willing to do. As he used it to take over the universe, he quickly got better at understanding how it worked. It got to the point that he had finally mastered everything it could do. Then, the unthinkable happened.

Thanos decided that the last being that stood in his way was Eternity itself. Because of this, he took the fight straight to her and fought her with the full might of the Infinity Gauntlet. He won the battle and then transcended his physical form. Having mastered all of the Infinity Stones, he was no longer a physical body. He became the universe itself and his consciousness spanned every corner of the galaxy. He had truly achieved everything he set out to do. There is a chance that this could occur in Avengers 4, but there is no telling how the Avengers will defeat Thanos in the film.

13 CORRUPT THE WEARER

The Infinity Gauntlet is easily one of the strongest objects in the universe, meaning that many people are after it. Numerous beings want to use it for their own gain. When we see the Gauntlet in Avengers: Infinity War, it's only set up as a device that can be used to achieve all of Thanos's lofty and godly goals. Never does the film deal with the idea of other people besides the Mad Titan using it. As it turns out, there are consequences for using the Infinity Gauntlet in the comics.

Because the Gauntlet is so powerful, it has a certain allure to it that could take over even the noblest of creatures. The moment all of that energy courses through their veins and they get a taste of what real power is, it's all too tempting to keep it for themselves. As a matter of fact, the power of the Gauntlet has seduced many Marvel characters. The only one who could truly resist the temptation was Captain America. Even the illustrious Silver Surfer was twisted by the Infinity Gauntlet in an alternate reality. That's why the Marvel heroes tried to destroy the Stones several times before. The Gauntlet is too dangerous for anyone.

12 BATTLE THE STRONGEST ENTITIES IN THE UNIVERSE

Thanos is a mean dude. On his own, he has the power to take on the Hulk and many other Marvel heroes at once. However, it's when he has the Infinity Gauntlet that he becomes exponentially stronger. Not only can he wipe away some of the strongest superheroes like they were just leaves falling in the wind, but he essentially becomes the most powerful being in the universe. In the movies, he can easily be put at the number one spot. In the comics, it was a bit more complicated.

The Infinity Stones were created through the power of gods and celestial beings. Their energies were left in the stones, which is what made them so powerful in the first place. Once Thanos had the Infinity Gauntlet and started destroying the universe, they decided to get involved. However, the combined powers of the Gauntlet made the Mad Titan strong enough that he could take them on. He fought several gods at once before turning to Eternity itself. He even defeated Eternity. At that point, there were no beings stronger than Thanos. It took some quick thinking in order to remove him from his cosmic throne.

11 VIRTUALLY UNBEATABLE

infinity-gauntlet

Once a device was created to harness the power of all six Infinity Stones, it was guaranteed to be unbeatable. As it was introduced in the comics, it took the efforts of all the Marvel heroes and villains at the time to battle the Mad Titan. On the MCU side, all of the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy were working together to beat Thanos. However, there was a major difference in the original comics. In Avengers: Infinity War, a team consisting of Iron Man, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Star-Lord, Drax, Gamora, and Nebula were working together to beat Thanos and get the Gauntlet off of his hand. If it weren't for Star-Lord losing his cool, they would've succeeded.

Looking at the power of the Infinity Gauntlet in the comics, the Marvel heroes never got close to beating Thanos and getting the Gauntlet off of his hand. The only reason they managed to win is because, while Thanos was busy being the universe and stretching his consciousness across all of space and time, his physical body remained in the real world with the Gauntlet still on his finger. That's when Nebula walked up and stole it, forcing Thanos to lose.

10 TELEPATHY

Telepathy is one of those abilities in superhero stories that are useful but not necessarily all powerful. Fans of the Marvel Universe, will remember that telepathy was the main power of the X-Men's founder Charles Xavier, otherwise known as Professor X. Apart from him and a few other mutants, there weren't a lot of other people that knew how to communicate telepathically. Despite Thanos's god-like strength, not even he could do the same. In the comics, though, he would gain a boost from the Infinity Gauntlet to fix this issue.

Through a combination of some of the Stones, Thanos was able to communicate with anyone across the universe. The better he got at using the Gauntlet, the easier it was for him to talk to others. In the movie, the closest he came to this power was sensing the presence of the other Infinity Stones and then using the Space Stone to teleport wherever he needed to go. Thanos wasn't a telepath with or without the Gauntlet in Avengers: Infinity War. Had he been able to communicate across planets, he might've been able to better command his army of Outriders during the battle at Wakanda. Yeah, we're definitely going there.

9 RAISE THE DEAD

Thanos and the Infinity Gems

Once all of the Infinity Stones are combined, the powers that its user can achieve are limitless. Thanos quickly understood this once he heard about them for the first time. Eventually, he unlocked the ability to use the Stones to resurrect someone who had died. He began to have control over life as well as over death. That said, despite everything he could do in bringing people back from the dead, he could never use the Gauntlet to give himself what his heart truly desired.

In Avengers: Infinity War, we see Thanos do something along those lines after Scarlet Witch kills Vision. He rewinds time a few seconds to put Vision back together, then tears the Mind Stone straight out of his head. Because this has to do with reversing time, it isn't quite the same as bringing someone back from the dead. Furthermore, Thanos was heavily hinted to already have this ability in the MCU without the Infinity Gauntlet. After he kills Loki, he says, "No resurrections this time." Maybe this is a hint that Loki had died at the end of Thor and Thanos resurrected him so that he could go to Earth and retrieve the Tesseract, or Thanos is just being the all-knowing jerk that we know him to be.

8 TIME TRAVEL

Time travel is a popular part of comic book storytelling. Because many characters are so popular, it's not very marketable to kill of a publisher's best heroes and keep them dead. They have to keep selling comics, which leads to a lot of "creative" ways of bringing them back from the dead and one of those ways is time travel. Considering that this is hinted to be a part of Avengers 4, it'll be interesting to see how it is adapted in the MCU moving on from the cataclysmic end of Infinity War.

In the comics, Thanos could achieve time travel with the help of the Infinity Gauntlet. He used it to try and defeat the Magus, the evil persona of Adam Warlock. Adam Warlock would also use the Infinity Gauntlet to travel through time. While Thanos was shown using the Time Stone to manipulate the fourth dimension in Avengers 4, he never jumped through different periods in history. If the rumors for the next Avengers movie hold true and there is time travel involved, it is possible that it could be done through the use of the Infinity Gauntlet, considering that they won't have Doctor Strange to bend the rules of reality.

7 BIRTH NEW REALITIES

The Infinity Gauntlet has nearly limitless power, but it does have one major weakness in the comics: it only works in the universe it was created in. It was for this reason that Darkseid wasn't able to use it in the Marvel and DC crossover event. It means that the one who wields the Infinity Gauntlet can essentially become a god in only that universe. Everyone else in the Multiverse is safe. However, there is a bit of a loophole when it comes to this particular drawback.

The Infinity Gauntlet, under the use of a strong user, can concentrate all of its energy to create an entirely new reality. While Thanos didn't do this in any of his comics, Doctor Doom successfully did it himself. The reason this ability didn't appear in the MCU is probably because audiences aren't quite at the point to follow something so beautifully outlandish. Furthermore, it would bring in a much larger amount of complications as well as distract from the main heroes that they've been following for over a decade. There's potential for it to happen and introduce the MCU to characters like Spider-Gwen, but we'd wager that it's extremely unlikely given the nature of it.

6 OMNIPRESENCE

There were a lot of things that Thanos could do in Avengers: Infinity War. He could turn blaster bolts into bubbles, teleport anywhere in the universe that he wanted to, and even reverse time itself. However, in his quest to obtain all of the Infinity Stones, there was one thing that made his journey a lot slower: he couldn't be everywhere at once. That's why he had his Children go after different stones on Earth. It was Proxima Midnight, Cul Obsidian, and the Outriders that were going straight for Vision while Thanos was fighting the Avengers on Titan.

In the comics, though, the same issue didn't quite exist. Once Thanos had transcended his physical form, he could essentially be everywhere at once. That said, there was another time the Infinity Gauntlet was used to be everywhere at once. There was a Christmas comic where Santa Claus found out that his reindeer were Skrulls in disguise (but of course). Because of this, he asked for the Infinity Gauntlet so that he could be everywhere at once on Christmas Eve to deliver the toys all around the world. For some reason, the Avengers abode to his request and Santa went mad with power.

5 SPLIT PERSONALITIES

Infinity Gauntlet Adam Warlock and Magus

There was one big character missing from Avengers: Infinity War in regards to its adaptation of the source material -- Adam Warlock. This character was one of the strongest superheroes in Marvel history, and he had a lot to do with the Infinity Gauntlet, so fans were wondering when (or if) he would show up, but unfortunately he never appeared in the film. He contained the Soul Stone in his forehead, which made him a powerful adversary to Thanos. After the Mad Titan was defeated, it was Adam who gained possession of the Infinity Gauntlet and was meant to protect it from the wrong hands.

However, Adam Warlock saw conflicting personalities within himself, that of good and evil. In order to compensate, he used the Gauntlet to separate these personalities from himself so that he would be a purely logic being: essentially Spock but with superpowers. However, the personalities that came out of this manifested in the form of the Magus and the Goddess: two entities that would cause the Avengers a lot of trouble in "Infinity War" and "Infinity Crusade." After he did this, there were a lot of repercussions from the Celestials for his actions. In his attempts to try and be the most effective protector, Adam Warlock caused more problems than he tried to prevent.

4 POSSESS OTHER BEINGS

Spider-Man faces some hard truths about life after death in a confrontation with Thanos.

All six of the Infinity Stones are some of the most powerful objects in the Marvel Universe. Each of them controls a different aspect of the universe --  time, reality, space, mind, and power. However, the sixth one is the Soul Stone and arguably the most interesting and dangerous of the bunch. In Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos went on a journey to achieve this stone for the Gauntlet. Unfortunately, he could only gain the Soul Stone by giving up a soul in exchange. In turn, he gained access to the Soul World, which raises a lot of questions about the MCU going forward.

That said, the comics wasted no time in showing what the Infinity Gauntlet was capable of with the use of the Soul Stone. The Soul Stone has more direct powers in that incarnation. Among being able to manipulate souls, the Infinity Gauntlet had the capability to possess the souls of other beings. This means that anyone who had the complete Infinity Gauntlet could not only take over the world from the outside, but could use a more subtle tactic by taking over the mind of another person. We doubt that this power would be shown in the MCU as the Soul Stone seems to be set up for a different purpose.

3 BECOME SENTIENT

Nemesis from the Ultraverse

The Infinity Stones are some interesting objects. Not only do they contain some of the greatest powers in the world, but they are more than just super powerful objects that everyone in the universe wants to get their hands on. In fact, they actually house a consciousness and can think for themselves. During Avengers: Age of Ultron, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner learned that the Mind Stone had a level of thought and it behaved. Those thoughts were used to create Ultron and were later pieced together but make the Vision.

However, the comics take it to an entirely new level. Each Infinity Stone, as it turns out, is a piece of consciousness that, when they come together, they can form a sentient being known as Nemesis. There isn't a lot known about Nemesis, but there are those who theorize that she was the one who created the Infinity Stones in the first place. At some point in her life, she killed herself and was split into six different pieces that would become each of the Infinity Stones. She has an immense level of power and it's crazy to think that some of the biggest problems in the Marvel Universe because of a woman who was too full of angst to keep living.

2 CREATE NEW INFINITY STONES

What you may not know about the Infinity Stones is that they are pieces of an entity known as Nemesis. However, if the six Infinity Stones come together in the Infinity Gauntlet and don't form Nemesis, then how does it work? What you may not know is that there is a seventh Infinity Stone floating around in the universe known as the Ego Gem. It doesn't have crazy powers on the same level as some of the other Stones, but it does contain the consciousness of Nemesis, and because of this, it was extremely valuable. It was even held by the Grandmaster when he made a massive wager with Loki.

When the Ego Gem is combined with the other six Infinity Stones, that's when Nemesis is created. While there are no hints of this appearing in the MCU, it is interesting to think that the Avengers could undo all of Thanos's destruction upon the discovery of a seventh Infinity Stone. It's also possible that Captain Marvel could have something to do with this stone and that's how she survived the finger snap. Being called the Ego Gem, it could also have something to do with Star-Lord's dad in the MCU for a nice tie-in.

1 DISINTEGRATE PEOPLE

Thanos is a villain who puts up a serious fight in both the comics and the movies. His strength on a regular basis is so much that even someone who contained an Infinity Stone wouldn't be able to take him on and win. He throws punches and even drops entire moons on people that have the audacity to go against him. However, he pulled the ultimate move once he gained all of the Infinity Stones in Avengers: Infinity War. After snapping his fingers, half of the Marvel heroes disintegrated in thin air.

Keep in mind that form of disintegration isn't completely what we're discussing here. In the comics, Thanos had such power with the Infinity Gauntlet that he could disintegrate people with a wave of his hand. A lot of the Marvel heroes were taken out in just a few seconds because Thanos had all of that power on his side. It's crazy to think that the Mad Titan could've completely won the day if he didn't have an innate desire to lose when all was said and done. He could've just ran down the line and disintegrated each member of the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy and gotten away with it.