The Infinity Gauntlet

About

The Infinity Gauntlet is a golden glove found in Marvel Comics and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Gauntlet houses six multi-colored gems--known as "Infinity Gems" or "Infinity Stones"-- that give the character the power to do anything they please. The Infinity Gauntlet is most prominently associated with the character Thanos, particularly in the film Avengers: Infinity War. Online, people use the Gauntlet in photoshop and cosplay memes about fashion and power.

Origin

The Infinity Gauntlet was introduced in the comic book Silver Surfer (Volume 3, Issue 44) in December 1990 (cover below).^[1] In the comic book, the character Mistress Death instructs Thanos to kill half of the living beings in the universe. To do so, he must collect the Infinity Gems (Space, Time, Reality, Mind, Soul, or Power), which control each facet of the universe, respectively, and place them in the Infinity Gauntlet.^[2]

Spread

Photoshop Memes

The Infinity Gauntlet has been used in a series of photoshop, placing the gloves on people in power, such as presidents, pop stars and celebrities.

On May 22nd, 2015, Twitter^[3] user @WorkerSpice tweeted a picture of President Barack Obama with the Gauntlet superimposed on his hand. They added the caption, "ISIS may have the Dragon Balls… but they don't have the Infinity Gauntlet!" @POTUS" The post (shown below, left) received more than 50 retweets and 95 likes in three years.

Other uses of the Infinity Gauntlet have included former presidential candidate Jeb Bush (below, center) and Michael Jackson (below, right).

Cosplay Parodies

Online, people have shared DIY parodies of the Infinity Gauntlet made with household items. Following the release of the 2018 Avengers: Infinity War, these types of parodies grew in popularity. On April 29th, 2018, Twitter^[4] @MrFord213 tweeted an image of an "affordable" Infinity Gauntlet made with yellow rubber gloves. The post (shown below) received more than 80 retweets and 200 likes in two weeks.

Over the next few weeks, these parodies grew in prominence. On May 7th, Twitter^[5] user @NateDingeman tweeted a picture of a yellow glove with a brownie on the knuckles. The post (shown below, left) received more than 79,000 retweets and 295,000 likes in four days. Others posted images of hands with colorful rings on the fingers and household items with gems on the finger (examples below, center and right).

On May 10th, Twitter^[6] published a Moments page about the DIY parodies.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References