‘Avengers: Infinity War’ Director Joe Russo Confirms The Soul Stone Theory

By Hoai-Tran Bui/May 4, 2018 2:30 pm EST

Major spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War follow.

Where does Thanos (Josh Brolin) end up after he makes the snap heard around the universe? It’s not exactly present day, because we see him joined by a young Gamora (Ariana Greenblatt), appearing as she did when he first plucked her out of her home planet after massacring her people. And it’s not the past, as Gamora asks Thanos if he had “done it.”

“Yes,” he wearily replies.

“And what was the cost?” she timidly asks.

“Everything,” Thanos says, tears welling in his eyes.

Thanos had just sacrificed his daughter to acquire the Soul Stone, losing the only thing he’s ever loved. So that seems like it could be the end for Gamora (Zoe Saldana), right? Maybe not, according to a popular Infinity War fan theory. The theory posits that after being thrown to her death in Vormir, Gamora may have been squirreled away to Soulworld, a pocket dimension that, in the comics, acts as a sort of purgatory for souls captured by Adam Warlock. Soulworld is contained within the Soul Stone itself. And Joe Russo may have just confirmed that we’ll see more of Soulworld in Avengers 4.

The intrepid students at Iowa City High School asked where that scene of Thanos and young Gamora took place, and Russo responded (via CBR.com):

When asked if that means that Gamora is in the Soul Stone, Russo answered, “She’s, in fact is, yes.” He continued:

“Yeah, it’s — it’s implied it’s the Soul Stone. It’s all orange around, then he’s inside the Soul Stone with the amount of power that it took to snap his fingers.”

“It was an attempt on our part, because we don’t like two-dimensional roles or three-dimensional villains. … [Thanos] said at the end ‘It cost him everything,’ and that it was the only thing he loved, which was Gamora, which is why we put him back with her at the end. I just want to reiterate with the audience that he does feel true emotion even though he is a monster.”

Avengers: Infinity War is currently playing in theaters. Avengers 4 opens in theaters on May 3, 2019.