Captain America: The First Avenger – HYDRA weaponizes the Tesseract, which contains the Space Stone, to create weapons. Captain Steve Rogers, in his guise as Captain America, with the aid of Allied SSR troops and his Howling Commandoes strike force, defeats Johann Schmidt, AKA Red Skull. After the doomsday aircraft called “The Valkyrie” suffers an engine rupture that dislodges the Tesseract, it apparently vaporizes Schmidt and falls into the North Atlantic after burning a hole through the fuselage of the plane, which is then intentionally downed by Captain America. The Tesseract is recovered by Howard Stark during the search for the Valkyrie and Rogers’ remains, which leads to the creation of Project Pegasus.
Captain Marvel – Mar-Vell, in her human guise, leads a research team at Project Pegasus to use the Tesseract to generate enough energy to enable faster-than-light travel, in an effort to save the Skrull refugees who have taken shelter with her on her orbiting station. The Tesseract is recovered by Nick Fury and research resumes at Project Pegasus.
Iron Man 2 – Tony Stark uses his father’s research on the Tesseract to synthesize a new fuel core for his portable ARC reactor.
Thor – Dr. Erik Selvig is brought into Project Pegasus to resume research on the Tesseract.
The Avengers – Thanos loans Loki Laufeyson the Sceptre, which contains the Mind Stone. Using it, he brainwashes various SHIELD & Project Pegasus personnel to help him obtain the Tesseract. Loki uses the Tesseract to open a portal, through which Thanos’ Chitauri army can invade. The Avengers close the portal and subdue Loki, who is taken back to Asgard along with the Tesseract. The Sceptre remains on Earth.
Thor: The Dark World – Dr. Jane Foster falls through a spacial rift and encounters The Æther, the semi-fluid form of the Reality Stone. The Æther enters her body for a time before being retrieved by Malekith of the Dark Elves. After Malekith’s defeat, the Æther is extracted and delivered by Volstagg & Lady Sif to Taneleer Tivan, also known as the Collector.
Guardians of the Galaxy – Peter “Star-Lord” Quill retrieves the Orb from a temple on the dead planet Morag. He encounters Thanos’ adopted daughter Gamora and the bounty-hunting duo of Rocket & Groot, and all four are imprisoned in the Kyln. After escaping with infamous brawler Drax “the Destroyer,” they deliver the Orb to the Collector who reveals it contains the Power Stone. Kree warlord Ronan the Accuser retrieves the Orb and betrays Thanos, keeping it for himself. The Guardians use the stone to defeat Ronan, and deliver it to the Xandarian Nova Corps for safekeeping.
Doctor Strange – Disabled surgeon and journeyman sorcerer Dr. Stephen Strange uses the Eye of Agamotto, which contains the Time Stone, to discover a plot by disgraced sorcerer Kaecilius and his disciples to open a door to the Dark Dimension, home of the powerful being called Dormammu. Strange uses the amulet again to undo the destruction of the mystical sanctum in Hong Kong, and once again to hold Dormammu hostage in a time loop until he agrees not to threaten Earth again.
Avengers: Age of Ultron – Tony Stark and Dr. Bruce Banner analyze the Sceptre and discover it contains what they believe is a highly advanced computer system. Using it as a blueprint, they create Ultron, a highly-sophisticated AI system that quickly becomes self-aware, assimilating Stark’s AI companion JARVIS and taking over Stark’s fleet of security drones. Ultron uses a biomechanical cradle to construct a new body for himself from vibranium, using the Mind Stone as the “brain,” but the transfer is interrupted by the Avengers. Stark uses the cradle to upload a backup of JARVIS instead, creating a new being: Vision, who retains possession of the stone after Ultron is defeated.
Thor: Ragnarok – In a scorched-earth effort to defeat Hela, Loki takes the Crown of Surtur into Odin’s treasure chamber to place it on the Eternal Flame, awakening him and destroying Asgard. On his way, he locates the Tesseract.
Avengers: Infinity War – Thanos retrieves the Power Stone, razing the Nova Corps capital of Xandar in the process. He then attacks the Sakaaran frigate that contains the last survivors of Asgard, killing half of them along with Loki & Heimdall, and leaving Thor for dead after retrieving the Space Stone by crushing the Tesseract. Thanos then attacks the Collector’s menagerie, acquiring the Reality Stone. He sets an ambush for the Guardians of the Galaxy, and abducts Gamora, later using her as a sacrifice on the planet Vormir to obtain the Soul Stone. Thanos then confronts the Guardians of the Galaxy, Iron Man, Spider-Man and Doctor Strange on Titan, obtaining the Time Stone when Strange gives it to Thanos, apparently to save the lives of the others. Thanos then goes to Wakanda, where the remaining Avengers fled an earlier attempt by the Black Order to obtain Vision’s Mind Stone. Thanos’ forces lay siege to the kingdom’s capital before he arrives, attacking the Avengers and Wakandan army. Wanda Maximoff destroys the stone at Vision’s insistence, but Thanos uses the Time Stone to turn back the act and rips the stone from Vision’s skull, who dies as a result. Thanos then uses the power of the stones to wipe half of all life from the universe.
Avengers: Endgame – The Avengers travel to Thanos’ sanctuary world and confront him, only to find him badly injured after using the Stones again, this time to destroy them so no one could undo his actions. He is executed by an enraged Thor. Five years later, Scott Lang, the Ant-Man, emerges after his friends’ erasure left him stranded in the Quantum Realm. Lang theorizes that the Quantum Realm could be used to retrieve versions of the stones from earlier in the timeline, which later experiments by Dr. Banner & Tony Stark confirm. The Avengers go back in time and retrieve the stones, encountering a slight mishap with Loki escapes using the Tesseract creating a splinter timeline. Banner uses a gauntlet created that he, Stark & Rocket constructed using the same nanotechnology at Stark’s current Iron Man suit to undo Thanos’ genocide, returning their allies to life before a variant of Thanos’ adopted daughter Nebula brings a variant of Thanos to the current timeline. This Thanos summons his entire army to lay siege to the remnants of Avengers headquarters before Tony Stark manages to get the stones, using them to erase Thanos and his army from existence and mortally wounding himself in the process. Steve Rogers volunteers to return the variant stones to their proper places in the timeline, staying behind in the past to enjoy a life of peace with his long-lost love, Agent Peggy Carter.