MCU: Is there a twist to Stormbreaker? (Infinity War Spoilers!!!)

Many who have talked to/argued with me here know, that I am a big fan of Marvel's Thor. And while I really like how powerful Thor and his new battle-axe Stormbreaker are in Infinity War, there is one thing I'm wondering about: Is there some sort of twist to the new weapon's abilities? Thor and Stormbreaker are massively powerful, yes, but the weapon flying through a beam of the completely assembled Infinity Gauntlet, straightly overpowering it, seems outrageous, even if we take into consideration, that the MCU version of the stones and gauntlet is far weaker than the comic book counterpart.

Could it be that Etri, who also forged the MCU-Infinity Gauntlet, purposefully designed a weapon to counter the effects of the stones and/or the gauntlet? To make it somehow immune to time- and matter-manipulation. I know, Etri couldn't do much in the state he was in during Infinity War, because of his hands, but he could have secretely taken some precautions while he was forging the gauntlet for Thanos. If it's something like this, there could also be a (more or less subtle) wordplay behind the name "Stormbreaker". Like: The stones/gauntlet are a (nigh-)unstoppable storm, and then we have the Stormbreaker. (I'm sorry, right now that sounds pretty good in my head, but I've just watched Infinity War and I'm pretty tired. It's 1 a.m. were I live and I didn't get much sleep in the last few days.)

Something like this or was Thanos just taken off-guard, because he had just assembled the full gauntlet and was still trying to control the immense power?

What do you think?

Oh, btw: Stormbreaker being some sort of anti-god-weapon would also go well with it being partially inspired by Jarnbjorn. Just sayin'.

I hope there was some mumbo-jumbo crap like this honestly, Otherwise the gauntlet is horribly nerfed.

No. It was just so that they could have the suspenseful moment at the end of a dying Thanos with the complete infinity gauntlet. It was a plot device with no in-universe explanation.

@aka_aka_aka_ak: The hammer/scene being a plot device doesn't automatically mean that there is no in-universe explanation.

i believe the mold was made before the events of infinity war, it is not specfically made to counter the gauntlet

as eitiri explained:

"This is a kings weapon, meant to be the greatest of asgard and in theory it can summon the bifrost."

@titing2101: Even if the mold was made before that, Etri could have still added some sort of extras or enchantments or whatever.

@janjukbma: i doubt eitri could put enchantment.

As of now there is that we know that it is strong enough to withstand 6 gems

No it doesn't, you're right. But given the history of the MCU I think it's safe to assume that there will be a lot left unexplained. There's no way they'll have time to investigate this.

@titing2101: Nidavellir was known across all the galaxy for making the finest weapons possible. I think Eitri being able to enchant stuff isn't to far fetched. But of course we cannot know for sure right now.

@aka_aka_aka_ak: You're probably right. I wouldn't take a lot of time to give some background information on Stormbreaker, though. A brief conversation with Eitri or a short explanation by Thor could very well be enough.

I don't think Thanos was using all 6 stones when Stormbreaker overpowered it. The gauntlet would have been destroyed if he had(like it did when he did use all 6 gems at same time).

fair point. SB could summon the bifrost and Heimdall called the bifrost via Dark magic

@janjukbma: it wasn't actually known, people thought it was a myth

No it was probably just a plot device besides Thanos probably wasn't even using the force of all the stones as if he did it would have destroyed it as it did when he used all the stones to wipe our half the universe

I think the gauntlet can house all the stones but isnt strong enough to focus all of their combined power at once

Why is Groota arm so durable?

@rbt:Fair point, but honestly, that's just an assumption. I think the fact that he got the sixth stone right before clashing with Thor implied that he was now wielding the full power of the stones. And IIRC the beam Thanos was firing at Thor was rainbow-colored so I assumed that he was using all the stones. Moreover I don't think the gauntlet would necessarily end up destroyed or heavily damaged just because the wielder uses all the stones. Firing a beam is something entirely different to wiping out half the life in the universe.

@DammeFavour: Fair enought but that doesn't change the fact that it actually did/does produce insanely powerful weapons.

@marvelanddcfan24: What I said above.

@hyiena: Good question. Magic, I guess?

@janjukbma:

Fair point, but honestly, that's just an assumption. I think the fact that he got the sixth stone right before clashing with Thor implied that he was now wielding the full power of the stones. And IIRC the beam Thanos was firing at Thor was rainbow-colored so I assumed that he was using all the stones. Moreover I don't think the gauntlet would necessarily end up destroyed or heavily damaged just because the wielder uses all the stones. Firing a beam is something entirely different to wiping out half the life in the universe.

Well, then the feat becomes unusable. How much power did Thanos put in the beam if not all(since the gauntlet did not get destroyed)?

I guess the way it is forged anyone can hold Stormbreaker? Opening the door for Jane Foster?

probably some magic.

@rbt: Fair enough. Can't really argue with that.

@druzzie: I hope not and seriously doubt that. But what has that to do with the topic?

Even if we assume Thanos wasn't using all the stones he was still using the Power Stone which busted a moon.....

Ah, here is the thread. Many of you seem to suggest that stormbreaker wasn't constructed to withstand or resist the direct power of the Infinity Stones. I feel the creator of the thread is correct. While there was very little information to explain it (as most people wouldn't be looking into it that much), you can imply that this is how it was created.

The script has Thor travel to Etri's forge to find a weapon that would be able to kill Thanos (he knows that Thanos has the Infinity Stones). Etri's entire world was decimated by Thanos after Etri built the gauntlet for him. Thanos also destroyed his hands. Leaving Etri alone on his world. He was angered that Thor wasn't there to help protect the Dwarves. When Thor helps inspire Etri about taking down Thanos, Thor tells him that he has every weapon he'd ever built inside his head. This is important for two reasons, it tells us that Etri would remember how he built the Infinity Gauntlet, as well as stormbreaker and how it was originally intended for Asguardian Kings. It's very likely that some new design, enchantment, or perhaps the metal itself acts as some sort of resister for the direct powers of the stones. With everyone present knowing about Thanos and the Infinity Stones, they constructed a weapon capable of killing him. Instead of just assuming it's power was some random plot device, wouldn't it make more sense that Etri would craft a weapon capable of killing Thanos by designing something that could resist the stones directly in the same way the gauntlet he built could?

Otherwise, if it's somehow more powerful, we're left with the following questions.

1. Why would it have been necessary for Etri to construct the Gauntlet? They could have just had Thanos destroy Etri's people so that they don't build a weapon with more power than the Gauntlet, like Stormbreaker. You'd have the same emotional drive from the characters. With the location being known for it's weapons, Thanos could have logically visited the location at some time in the best.

2. Why would the MCU contradict it's statements about the most powerful items in reality being the Infinity Stones?

3. Why would you introduce the idea of someone who can literally build any random item that can overpower the Infinity Gauntlet itself? Etri could potentially create tons of items that would be capable of this feat. That would be a huge plot hole if he could, with no explaination, create items that are more powerful than the Infinity Gauntlet.

While there wasn't much in-universe explaination for it (maybe they cut the scene) all the audience had to know was that the item can kill Thanos.

Implying that Stormbreaker has the powers to resist the Infinity Stones in the same way the Gauntlet does is a very logical conclusion to come to when you look at all the pieces.

So which gem was he using?

If it was the Power gem, then it makes no sense because the Power gem is supposed to be all the power in the universe.
If it was any other gem, then what even was the blast? For instance if it was the time gem, then did Thanos fire a beam of... time? Well what does that mean?

@bobandjim1260: Glad you found the thread, you make some very good points. The only part I'm not really sure about is 2. Why would the MCU contradict it's statements about the most powerful items in reality being the Infinity Stones? In the first Thor movie Mjolnir was described by Odin as the most powerful weapon in existence and now we have several items in the MCU that vastly outclass Mjolnir.

@janjukbma: Thor, the Collector and various other individuals have called the Infinity Stones the most powerful items in the Universe. I think your discussion thread is a very good topic. When the directors cut of Infinity War and the Script is released we'll be able to delve deeper into the scenes.

Could have been a combination of a few stones. And Thanos didn't always use stones to their highest potential. He used power gem to bust a moon, but he also used it to just knock out Peter. Even if he was using all the gems, its impossible to say how much power he put into the beam. He certainly did not put all the power into it, otherwise gauntlet would have been fried.

Well, if i was Thanos, i'd just use the Reality Stone to turn the Stormbreaker into bubbles. Is there anything that can stop this?

Can't we all wait for Avengers 4 to see Thanks turn Stormbreaker axe into bubbles?

Yeah I'm on your side. I'm really not into the idea that Stormbreaker is stronger than the Infinity Gauntlet. I'd count it up to Thanos frequently getting caught off guard by the heroes and taking hits that he probably could have stopped if he were really trying. Saying Stormbreaker overpowered the Infinity Gauntlet is like saying Spider-Man overpowered Thanos.

There is no reason to think Thanos would not his full power to stop an axe coming at him. That is a life or death scenario, he definitely used the full power guantlet. Using all the stones at once isn't what damages the gauntlet, using them to kill trillions of people all across the universe is what did it.

@janjukbma: I thought thanos had caught his axe and was surely joking when he stood there, and was going to slam Thor when he got close. Literally still awestruck at the fact thanos could do whatever he wanted with the IG, turning weapons into damn bubbles, yet stormbreaker is somehow more powerful than the infinity gauntlet

THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS !!

Thanos never used the stones in unison until he snapped his finger, he never actually used more than one stone at a time in the entire movie except for when he threw the moon in which he used the power and space stone, some users still don't understand that all the physical powers portrayed were all Thanos', they didn't amp his physicals, more like the gems are devices that allow him to do stuff, everything to do with physicals like strength and durability were all him, not the stones.

@thor_parker82: true, except it likely did use all the stones. The science advisor for Marvel commented on it. https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.businessinsider.com/avengers-infinity-war-thor-new-weapon-stormbreaker-physics-2018-5

The takeaway here is that Stormbreaker/Dwarven devices channel energy. Stormbreaker likely channeled the Energy of the Infinity Stones. Also, stormbreaker piercing Thanos is understandable. He wasn't wearing any armor and the weapon had been created with the ability to pierce someone like Thanos. Add an amped Thor to the equation and you get the outcome.

He was in a life or death struggle against Strange and Ironman too, but instead of using the gems to just turn everyone into confetti like he did with Mantis and Drax he chose to toss a Moon at them and get into a fist fight. He wasn't that efficient with the Infinite Stones' powers. Dr. Strange was able to match him in reality manipulation without using any stones at all.

He also had the time gem at this point and there's no reason he couldn't have just frozen time to stop it. Instead he shot some kind of energy beam. Thanos just wasn't that good at reality warping.

I believe it's reasonable to think Thanos just severely underestimated the power of Thor's new axe.