In Avengers: Infinity War, Earth's Mightiest Heroes gave it their all against Thanos but ultimately came up short. How can they possibly expect to defeat the Mad Titan in Avengers 4? One of the film's co-writers just revealed how the Avengers might make Thanos vulnerable before their next showdown—and, as you may have guessed, the Infinity Stones play a crucial role.

"They've been misused by people who didn't understand their true power," said Avengers 4 co-writer Christopher Markus. "And now that the real master of them, Thanos, has shown up we can see what they actually do."

Individually, the Infinity Stones hold immense power. Collectively, well, the end of Avengers: Infinity War showed what they can do. With all that power, how can the Avengers compete? By taking an Infinity Stone away.

"You have to build in a lot of bumps in the road or maybe keep one stone away from him for long enough in order for the thing to have any dramatic structure at all," Markus said.

There has been endless speculation that the Avengers will travel back in time to acquire the Infinity Stones before Thanos does. The Avengers may even use them in their own Infinity Gauntlet.

If they succeed, they may have a fighting chance to defeat Thanos and undo the damage from Avengers: Infinity War. But that's a big "if."

Even without all of the Infinity Stones, Thanos was incredibly powerful, taking down an entire team of Avengers during the battle on Titan. That could indicate it's not simply a matter of which Infinity Stone the Avengers steal from Thanos, but which one.

Avengers 4 hits theaters on May 3, 2019.