Avengers: Endgame Directors Explain How Thanos’ Blade Broke Cap’s Shield

In Avengers: Endgame, Thanos is gifted a new weapon: a giant double-edged blade. And in the grand final battle of the movie, we find out just how tough it is when it manages to break Captain America’s vibranium shield up into scrap metal. But wait, how can the Mad Titan’s sword do this when vibranium has up to now been depicted as the most powerful metal around?

The Russo brothers have been asked this question and though they didn’t have a firm answer, they suggested that Thanos’ great age could be a reason for how he’s managed to find a metal stronger. Or maybe he went to Eitri and the dwarves of Nidavellir to fashion him a mighty weapon, much like he ordered them to make him the Infinity Gauntlet?

“Clearly Thanos is a thousand-year-old character who has fought everyone in the universe and is the greatest: He’s the Genghis Khan of the universe, so he would have the greatest weapon. He knows of Eitri, he’s been to Eitri to have his glove created. Did he have them create his blade as well? Potentially. But it’s interesting that it could destroy the shield.”

Honestly, it sounds like the filmmakers haven’t come up with a proper explanation for the weapon just yet. Which is fine, of course, as not everything needs to be explained. It aids the feeling of hopelessness in the scene so sure, have Thanos destroy Cap’s shield. It’s also a neat callback to Tony Stark’s apocalyptic vision in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Plus, the fans have been doing a good job of working it out on their own. If Thanos’ blade is strong enough to break vibranium, that must mean it’s made of the only other super-strong metal in the Marvel universe: adamantium, most known as the substance which makes Wolverine’s claws so tough.

The X-Men are on their way to the MCU, thanks to the Disney-Fox merger, so a retcon down the line could explain the blade as being made of adamantium. Daredevil season 3 even featured the franchise’s first nod to the metal, while some have theorized that Thanos’ blade will be snapped up by S.H.I.E.L.D. and studied, hence how adamantium is introduced.

Tell us, do you have any interesting theories about Thanos’ blade, Avengers: Endgame fans? Join the conversation in the comments section below if you do.