Avengers: Infinity War - How Will The Soul Stone Be Introduced?

With the release of Black Panther, fans weren't just expecting a great movie - they were expecting another piece of the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe puzzle to fall into place.

Since the MCU began, we've been introduced to five Infinity Stones, powerful objects that will feature heavily in the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War. But the sixth, final Stone - the Soul Stone - is still missing, and it was widely believed that Black Panther would be the movie that introduced it.

However, it didn't - not in an obvious manner, anyway. And with Infinity War looming and no more MCU movies to come before it, we now have every available piece of information at our disposal to try and answer that all-important question... where is the Soul Stone?

Fans have been trying to find its location for years, but the only opinion that matters - Marvel's - hasn't yet materialised, making the mystery of the Soul Stone the MCU's biggest question mark to date.

So, because we're not patient enough to wait a couple of months, let's comb over the evidence and attempt to track down Avengers: Infinity War's Soul Stone.

The MCU contains six different Infinity Stones (known as Infinity Gems in the comics), and each comes with a unique powerset and distinctive colour.

So far, we've seen five out of six Infinity Stones, from the Power Stone in Guardians to the Time Stone in Doctor Strange. Studying what we know so far about these Stones could give us a couple of hints as to what to expect from the Soul Stone.

The Space Stone/Tesseract (Blue): The Space Stone was introduced early in Phase One, where it was referred to as the Tesseract, a mesmerising blue cube. Its main capability is that it can open portals and gateways to any part of the universe, and provide interdimensional travel. The Tesseract is currently in the possession of Loki, after he stole it from Odin's vault in Thor: Ragnarok.

The Mind Stone/Loki's Scepter (Yellow): The Mind Stone originally resided within Loki's scepter, where he used it to manipulate other beings and get them on his side, as seen in The Avengers, where he turned Hawkeye and Selvig into his brainwashed minions. The Stone now rests on Vision's forehead, and it's what gives him life.

The Reality Stone/Aether (Red): The MacGuffin at the centre of Thor: The Dark World, the Reality Stone - to quote Odin - "changes matter into dark matter", and can also send out shockwaves/energy blasts, as seen in the Thor versus Malekith battle. Its location is currently unknown, but we last saw it in The Collector's museum in The Dark World's post-credits scene, before said museum was destroyed in Guardians Of The Galaxy.

The Time Stone/Eye Of Agamotto (Green): Doctor Strange's saving grace, this Stone has the ability to manipulate time itself. The Stone can reverse damage to buildings, trap people in time loops, and possibly revive those who have died - though we haven't seen this capability in the movies just yet. The Time Stone was last seen in Kamar-Taj, where it was laid to rest by Doctor Strange.

The Power Stone/Orb (Purple): Featured in Guardians Of The Galaxy, the Power Stone is the most destructive of the Infinity Stones, and is able to destroy most organic matter it comes into contact with. It can also send out powerful energy blasts, and generally, it's a nuisance. The Stone is currently being safeguarded by the Nova Corps.

So what does all this tell us about the Soul Stone? Well, for starters, we can assume that it may not actually look like a stone - the Space Stone was originally a cube, and the Reality Stone was seen as a dark, viscous liquid in Thor: The Dark World, for example.

Also, every other Stone has been a central plot point in at least one prior MCU movie. The Soul Stone hasn't yet, which makes its absence even more conspicuous. Unless, of course, it has played a role in a movie, and we just didn't realise it (more on that shortly).