What is Thor’s New Weapon in ‘Avengers: Infinity War’?

Warning: major spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War follow. If you have yet to see the movie and don’t want spoiled, do not read below. You’ve been warned.

When Thor (Chris Hemsworth) lost his beloved Mjolnir in the events of Thor: Ragnarok, it marked a significant shift in the character development of the Asgardian king. Thanks to his sister Hela (Cate Blanchett), Thor was left without his trusty weapon in quite some time and had to battle enemies throughout the movie by digging in deep to find out what he was really made of.

Thanks to the massive marketing campaign leading up to the debut of Avengers: Infinity War, we knew Thor’s quest to find a new weapon would play a big role in the film. Now that the film has premiered, we have confirmation of what Thor’s new weapon is called. And for fans of the Asgardians mythos in Marvel comics, the hammer/axe hybrid should be quite familiar.

Enter: Stormbreaker.

Traveling to Nidavellir, Thor, Rocket (Bradley Cooper), and Groot (Vin Diesel) were soon confronted by Eitri (Peter Dinklage), who had previously crafted Mjolnir — and Thanos’ Infinity Gauntlet, albeit under duress.

Luckily for Thor, Eitri still had the mold for Stormbreaker, a weapon the dwarven leader called a weapon suited only for a king. After Thor nearly sacrificed himself powering up the forge — and Groot giving up a chunk of his arm for the weapon’s handle — the Asgardian king finally was bearer of another weapon.

But what’s Stormbreakers comic origin?

The weapon first appeared in The Mighty Thor #339 (1984) as created by fan-favorite comic creator Walter Simonson. In the comics, however, Stormbreak wasn’t Thor’s weapon of choice. Rather, Stormbreaker was to Beta Ray Bill as Mjolnir was to Thor.

After proving himself worthy of wielding Mjolnir and besting Thor in combat, the cybernetic Korbonite was granted a new weapon by Thor’s father Odin. Not wanting to rid his son of his weapon, Odin ordered the dwarves at Nidavellir to craft a new weapon — Stormbreaker — out of uru, the same fictitious metal Mjolnir was forged out of.

It’s an interesting move that Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige and company decided to use another character’s weapon — especially when there have been rumors of that character being added to the MCU — instead of reforging Mjolnir.

Avengers: Infinity War is in theaters now.

Other upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe films include Ant-Man and The Wasp on July 6th, Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, and the fourth Avengers on May 3, 2019. The sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming hits on July 5, 2019, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 lands in 2020.

What did you think of Thor’s new toy? Do you prefer Stormbreaker or Mjolnir? Let us know in the comments below!