The Infinity Saga was driven largely by a single MacGuffin, with Thanos’ years-long quest to gather up all of the stones required to power up a gauntlet with the devastating ability to erase half of all living creatures from existence with a click of his fingers, but it appears as though the Marvel Cinematic Universe‘s latest stage of storytelling is expanding the scope.
The post-credits scene of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings established that the titular artifact sported by Simu Liu’s hero was of huge importance and mysterious origins, while much the same was nodded towards in Ms. Marvel thanks to Kamala Khan’s bangle and its multi-dimensional capabilities that made it such a hot commodity for the ClanDestines.
Disney Plus special Werewolf by Night has just introduced a third via the Bloodstone, which has the ability to control supernatural beasts, creatures, and monsters. In an interview with The Direct, producer Brian Gay teased that the glowing red gem is poised to impact the MCU’s short and long-term future in a number of ways.
“One thing is its sort of supernatural powers, right? The Infinity Stones specifically were about the specific style and type of power that they had. And for the Bloodstone, we lean into the comic lore and basically, it has a specific ability to control the supernatural creatures.” That’s why it’s so important to the monster hunters is because with them, I mean, this is the biggest baddest weapon of all, right? It can take down any number of mermaids or vampires or whatnot. But it’s the only one in existence, which lends it to why it’s so important.”
Overloading on MacGuffins can be a dangerous game, but with the Multiverse Saga now in full swing and the MCU expanding into the territory of mutants and things that go bump in the night, you get the distinct impression that the Bloodstone is going to make its presence felt on a regular basis as things continue to gather steam right through to the Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars double-header.