Why is the Snap actually a thing ?

So I’ve just watched the infinity saga again bc I was really bored. And this question kinda just came to mind.

What actually ties the infinity stones to erasing half the galaxy’s population??

I just feel like it’s quite random that you have these powerful space stones that are all really cool and unique but for some reason when you put them all together you can somehow just erase generations.

Is there any explanation for this? Bc I would think unlocking some cosmic energy or consuming the stones and becoming some celestial god seems like a better result then randomly being able to snap your fingers and dust everyone

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Commentaires

RealGianath2026-01-03 08:58

It doesn’t just erase them. It saves everyone into a storage system of some kind in case somebody wants to bring them all back later. It’s pretty much a wish-granting device.

PkmnTrnrJ2026-01-03 08:59

The idea is that the gathered energy of the stones and harnessing them in the gauntlet grants you one “wish” by snapping your fingers.

Thanos wanted to erase half of all life. He could have wished for anything else.

The stones and life erasure aren’t linked really, it’s just what Thanos wanted to do with the power.

Stevenwave2026-01-03 10:48

I never got the sense it only grants one wish. It's just how they were used. Thanos only wanted one thing and made it a doozy. The Avengers only wanted one thing and that was to undo that.

Sharikacat2026-01-05 10:54

The "snap" part is entirely irrelevant to how the MCU stones needed to be used. Per the rules established during Endgame, Thanos only would have needed to make a fist to use the gauntlet. They only kept the snap because that's what was done in the comics, and it emphasized just how quickly the end could come. That entire battle of Wakanda, all of those soldiers and beasts fighting and dying - that battle (as well as half of the universe) ends as quickly as it takes to snap your fingers.

Thanos probably could have kept the stones and the glove intact and used them in much smaller ways without any real problem. With a full glove, he uses the Space Stone to exit Wakanda. The cause for the burst of energy was for Thanos using the stones to effect everything in the universe all at once.

MrPresident20202026-01-03 09:01

The stones grant their user the power to do pretty much whatever they want. Thanos wanted to erase half of all life so that's what he did.

In the comics the user is amped up by the stones as well but in the movies the power is too much for mortal beings to handle for more than a few seconds. Even with the Gauntlet specifically forged to contain all six stones, Thanos is only able to use them together twice. Hulk's arm was almost permanently ruined by his use of them, and obviously it killed Tony.

But anyway, altogether with absolute control over Time, Reality, Space, Mind, Soul, and Power, anything is possible and Thanos did what he set out to do.

milkafiu2026-01-03 09:02

https://www.reddit.com/r/marvelstudios/s/9ttxCQCVZ1

PeterTingle6162026-01-03 09:02

they give you unlimited power more or less. Snapping his fingers to kill 50% of life is just what Thanos chose to do with that power. He then destroyed the stones because their power would be too tempting for others and, in his mind, he’d already done the only thing worth doing with such power.

Rodyvt2026-01-03 09:06

Each stone has its own unique power, and since they are all connected, when you put them together you become an omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient being. They actually mentioned it in one of the movies (I don’t remember which one, it’s been a long time I haven’t watched Marvel)

And their purpose is not to only snap half of the population, it can concede pretty much anything you wish (with some exceptions ofc). In Endgame, actually 2014 Thanos says that since the first snap didn’t worked out, he was going to use the stone to completely erase the universe and create a new one, thus confirming the fact that you can do anything with them, as long as you have enough strength to hold them and survive the snap

ChanceHorror67252026-01-03 09:08

Wielding the infinity gauntlet with all 6 infinity stones makes you more or less an extremely powerful God-like being. You could reshape galaxies, build planets, mind control or influence entire species, just whatever you could imagine. Thanos was a political extremist who's goal was to kill worlds to help them deal with overpopulation, and he figured the best way to go about doing that was to gain god-like powers.

With the infinity gauntlet, you could do other things with it too, of course, but Thanos didn't care about that

No_Imagination_24902026-01-03 09:20

The Infinity Gauntlet don't just grant someone the ability to erase half of the population, it grants omnipotence ie the wearer can do anything they want. Thanos had dedicated his life to killing 50 per cent of all living things, and he'd gone from planet to planet doing just that for years. But the Infinity Stones gave him a short-cut to achieving his ultimate aim.

david13an2026-01-03 09:22

You do essentially become a celestial god... each stone controls a different aspect of the universe. When you put them together you can do *anything*, since you control *every* aspect of the universe.

Erasing 50% is just what Thanos wanted to do, it's not the only thing they can do.

Ched_Flermsky2026-01-03 09:28

I mean, when your plan involves killing a truly absurd number of people, your plan was never *about* anything other than killing a truly absurd number of people. Wrap it up in whatever highfalutin bullshit you want, he just wanted to possess that power.

MiddlePop49532026-01-03 09:58

Ngl I think the MCU goofed up changed Thanos' motivations for the movies because of questions like this. Like, sure, it was crazy, but at least it was fleshed out in a logical way.

jmoney7772026-01-03 14:24

It's not that the stones are designed to erase half the universe, it's that the stones when gathered allows the user to do whatever they want.