Avengers: Infinity War Directors Explain How Groot Could Lift Stormbreaker

Avengers: Infinity War directors Joe and Anthony Russo have cleared up a small detail about the movie that might’ve been niggling at you since you saw it back in April.

In one triumphant scene, Thor succeeds in creating his new weapon – the souped-up hammer Stormbreaker – from the forges of Nidavellir. The only thing he’s missing is a handle, which Groot handily provides by bravely lending him one of his arms. It’s a nice bit of camaraderie between the God of Thunder and the teenage tree, but it does raise the question: how can Groot lift the weapon?

Trusty ol’ Mjolnir could only be held by someone who was worthy – that’d be Thor himself and Vision. So does this moment mean that Groot’s deemed worthy enough by Asgardian standards? A fan asked the Russos this during a Twitter Q&A they held yesterday and it turns out there’s a very simple explanation, that being that Stormbreaker doesn’t have the same requirement as Mjolnir and can actually be lifted by anyone, whether they’re worthy or not. “Mjolnir requires worthiness, not Stormbreaker,” read the directors’ brief reply.

This explanation makes sense when you think about it. Back in Thor, Odin specifically puts the “worthy” spell on Mjolnir when he banishes his son to Earth, so that he’ll have to mature before he regains his powers. Odin’s tragically dead by the time of Infinity War though, so Stormbreaker has no such spell. Still, we’d like to think that the pure-of-heart Groot is as worthy as Thor and Vision. Remember his sacrifice back in Guardians of the Galaxy?

Speaking of his sacrifice, here’s another interesting element of Groot’s connection to Stormbreaker that’s yet to clarified. Fans have theorized that the handle of the weapon could be used to regrow Groot following his death in Avengers: Infinity War – much like his regeneration at the end of GotG. The Russos were asked about this, too, but they simply said “that’s an interesting question.” Color us intrigued.