Why Did Thanos Wait So Long to Take the Infinity Stones?

Wondering why Thanos waited five years before he went after the Infinity Stones and the Avengers? We have a theory...

[ScreenCrush]

Apparently there was about 30 minutes of Thanos deleted scenes. What do you think was in them?

[merchant]

Hooray Avengers won!
Win counter.
Avengers: 1
Thanos: 14, 000, 603

[KewlCrayon]

Thanos needed the Power stone first, and once get revealed himself he needed to act fast. The 2nd stone to get would've been the Space Stone, which would allow him to use his power stone over a distance, and allow him to teleport himself anywhere.
These two stones were vital to him acting so quickly.
The Reality stone next would've been a smart movie, since he could cloak himself in the reality.

The Soul Stone could've been collected at any point after the power and space stones, but since he had Gamorra already, it would've been logical to collect next.
Getting the Time Stone at this point should've been priority, it would allow him to manipulate time and give himself do-overs, like what happens with Vision.

The Stones work together to do different things, if you notice in the movie, when Thanos does some things like Teleport, or even grab a moon and throw it at Tony, you'll notice more than one stone glows. The Stones are needed to work together to do different things, such as projecting the power of the power stone through space (space stone) and grabbing a moon and throwing it at Tony through a space portal. This is also why he needed ALL stones to "snap" his fingers and remove half the universe.

The Soul Stone ties the stones together with Thanos' soul, so they know exactly what he wants to do, they dont just kill half the universe, they 'remove' half the universe exactly as he perceived it, in half, randomly, and not targeted races that were already "cleansed" by thanos in the past. This will, coupled with the Mind stone, worked out the logic to do this, since the Mind Stone gave him infinite knowledge to work out all the variables. The Space stone spread it universally. The Reality Stone is the reality he perceived in his mind and soul and it changed that reality to what he wished. The Power Stone powered it, and the Time Stone ensured the reality was glued to time so it became a permanent reality.

[Nightwing]

Odin's death definitely rocked the entire Universe, at least the 9 realms. With Asgard destroyed and Asgard's people on a defenseless ship, with a former Thanos lackey aka Loki, was a perfect time for Thanos to attack.

Everything else seems legit, but do not downplay Odin's death.

[ParkerTheSlayer]

Just saw Endgame... I loved it 3000 😭😭😭

[rafiz]

because he's the final boss... that's the way life works the final boss only shows up when his underlings fail.

[bonjemaatje]

SHIELD has fallen. The ancient one is dead. All Father Odin has perished. Ego was destroyed. Nova Crops are weakened. Avengers are split apart. Now was the perfect time.

[kevinb]

I used to theorize about how odin's death was a catalyst for Thanos's timing, however I think the answer is much simpler. I believe he was waiting to make a final move until he knew where all the stones were. The soul stone was the key. He was unaware of the soul stone's location until Nebula was captured. Once he knew how to get the soul stone's location, the entire plan went into full effect.

[spiderfam]

If you watched Endgame you know Thanos didn't even try in Infinity War

[smmfdftbh]

I definitely believe he waited for Odins death to go to Asgard. I'm sure Thanos knew who protected the Nine Realms, and the power he had along with Thor

[hybby]

Thanos is a master delegator. He thought that the people he delegated to were up to the task. That is the mark of a great leader: having confidence in your people. When they showed that they were unable to complete the tasks, he had to step in to show how it is done.

Take Bill Gates for example: as he was building up Microsoft, he learned how to delegate responsibilities to other people. But one time he did phone tech support and customer service after the company was well built. And he nailed it. It was one of the best calls taken throughout the company.

I, for one, am impressed with the leadership principles which the Russo Brothers showed in Infinity War.

[sebastianw.]

"I'll do it myself"

*proceeds to wait three years to search for the infinity stones*

[ricedonut]

Shield destroyed

NOVA corps weakened

Odin and Hela are dead

Ragnarok brought upon Asgard

Much more destruction caused by his puppets

Ancient one dead

Avengers seperated





Dang, Thanos picked the right moment to attack

[Yashahiro_]

He wa-..

This is the power of King Crimson. It only leaves the results

[p]

He didn't want to get his butt off his chair when he heard of ant-man

[icouldntthinkofagoodname]

"Why did thanos wait?"
"Because"
"Fair Enough"

[henrysabo]

roses are red
half of the universe is dead
I can't believe Thor didn't go for the head

[paradox]

Ego had the same plan as Thanos but times two.

[AnAverageMexican]

The real reason was because he hadn’t figured out where the soul stone was. That is until Nebula tried to assassinate him but ended up captured. She would end up revealing that Gamora had indeed found the Soul stone, allowing him to start his universal genocide. If he had started sooner without knowing its whereabouts, the whole universe may have been ready to fight against him.

[amritajones]

Hats off to the "rat" in the beginning who made everything possible. Love you 3000