Avengers: Endgame Director Reveals How Thanos’ Blade Beat Cap’s Shield

Avengers: Endgame may have exited theaters months ago, but the recent Digital and Blu-ray releases of the movie have given fresh life to the chatter surrounding it. They come with several deleted scenes, as well as commentary by the film’s creative team and one titbit revealed in the latter concerns the giant sword wielded by Thanos during the final battle.

This was the blade that was able to withstand the combined might of Captain America using the enchanted hammer Mjolnir and a stronger-than-ever Thor equipped with his ax Stormbreaker. Not only was Thanos able to use his sword to parry the attacks of both superheroes at once though, but he also used his blade to destroy Captain America’s shield, a feat that was previously considered to be virtually impossible, since the shield is made of Vibranium, the strongest metal known in the MCU.

But, on the aforementioned commentary, Endgame co-writer Stephen McFeely hinted that Vibranium may no longer be the most powerful metal around.

“You can also see that while Vibranium is the strongest substance on Earth, whatever Thanos’ straight razor there is made out of is stronger,” he said.

“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,” director Joe Russo added. “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.”

So, a couple of things are cleared up about the blade here. It being able to destroy the shield was no fluke, but rather a testament to the fact that another metal exists in the MCU that’s even stronger than Vibranium. Additionally, Eitri, the forger who was responsible for the creation of the Infinity Gauntlet, Mjolnir and Stormbreaker, was most probably also the one who created Thanos’ fearsome blade.

A number of interesting possibilities open up at this point. For one, there’s now a weapon as powerful as Mjolnir or Stormbreaker out there somewhere on Earth, and we’re willing to bet it becomes a major plot point in one of the MCU’s upcoming movies. The theory that we find most intriguing concerning the blade though is that its metal may be revealed to be Adamantium, the element that, in the comics, is used to coat the entire skeleton and claws of the mutant Logan in order to create the Weapon X assassin and future X-Men member Wolverine.

Time will tell if we’re on the right track there, but for now, Avengers: Endgame is available on Digital and Blu-ray, so feel free to dive into all the bonus features to learn even more about the film.