“There were six singularities. Then the Universe exploded into existence and the remnants of these systems were forged into concentrated ingots: Infinity Stones.” —The Collector

Infinity Stones, Infinity Gems, Infinity Gauntlet. More like infinity questions, guys. If you haven’t been tracking the ultra-powerful artifacts since they first showed up in the Marvel comics universe in 1972’s The Power of Warlock (when they were called Soul Gems), then you may be a little foggy on the significance of the Stones, and why every single damn power player in the Cosmos wants them. There’s Loki and that Collector Guy and Ronan the Accuser (RIP) and Thanos on one end trying to leverage the gems into inter-galactic domination, and then there’s the kind Asgardians and Nova Corp and the Guardians and the Avengers trying to lock them away and preserve civility and order across the realms. If you want to know the particulars of each Stone and get a quick primer on where they’ve been and where they’re going, Marvel has kindly released this educational video this morning.

So far the gems we’ve seen play central plot roles are The Space Stone (Captain America: The First Avenger), The Reality Stone (Thor: The Dark World), The Power Stone (Guardians Of The Galaxy) and The Mind Stone (The Avengers: Age of Ultron). The two remaining gems are The Soul Stone and The Time Stone, which will be playing a central role in both parts of The Avengers: Infinity War. Now bookmark this so you can consult it periodically over the next gazillion years of Marvel movie releases.