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Mjolnir and Stormbreaker

Mjölnir (commonly written without diacritics as Mjolnir) and Stormbreaker, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), are sentient enchanted weapons of choice used by Thor. Both are melee weapons and were created out of Uru metal forged with the heat of a dying star in the Dwarven kingdom of Nidavellir, with the assistance of the dwarf king and master weapon-maker Eitri. Mjolnir is a hammer, and was enchanted by Thor's father, Odin, so that only those the hammer deemed "worthy" are capable of wielding or even lifting it. Stormbreaker is an axe, and although it does not have such a worthiness enchantment, its power is such that a mere mortal attempting to wield it would be driven mad.

This article is about the MCU versions of Mjolnir and Stormbreaker. For the Marvel Comics versions, see Mjolnir (comics) and Stormbreaker (comics).

Mjolnir and Stormbreaker

Justin Theroux

Mjolnir first appeared in the post-credits scene in Iron Man 2 (2010), and has appeared thereafter in every film featuring Thor except for one, those being Thor (2011), The Avengers (2012), Thor: The Dark World (2013), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Doctor Strange (2016), Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Avengers: Endgame (2019), and Thor: Love and Thunder (2022). Stormbreaker first appears in Avengers: Infinity War (2018)—also the only MCU film in which Thor does not wield Mjolnir at all—and appears again in Avengers: Endgame, and Thor: Love and Thunder. Conversely, the post-credit scene in Iron Man 2 and a scene from the second episode of the Disney+ TV series What If...? are the only MCU media in which Mjolnir appears while Thor does not.

Film design[edit]

Visual Development Supervisor Charlie Wen was tasked with designing Thor's appearance for the films, and focused on mixing elements from the comic books with Norse mythology, "trying to maintain the Norse side of things" as much as possible.[4] The first design element that Wen attempted was Mjolnir, for which Wen created a number of possible alternatives, incorporating designs including "the traditional Thor hammer with the short handle as well as the Ultimates versions", from which the one director Kenneth Branagh chose "was the most traditional one".[4] In a 2018 interview with Jimmy Kimmel, Thor actor Chris Hemsworth revealed that he has kept a number of the prop hammers created for the film.[5]


The concept artist tasked with designing the MCU version of Stormbreaker, Ryan Meinerding, decided to deviate substantially from the design of Stormbreaker used in the comics, feeling that "the original Stormbreaker looked a bit too much like the original Mjolnir".[6] Consequently, Stormbreaker "more closely resembles the Mjolnir from the Ultimate Marvel run than the original Stormbreaker hammer bestowed upon Thor's rival turned ally Beta Ray Bill".[6] Meinerding intentionally made Stormbreaker comparatively oversized and overpowered, to convey that the wielder of the weapon must also be someone incredibly powerful.[6]

Powers and characteristics[edit]

Both weapons can be summoned by Thor, and will return to his hand after being thrown. Both weapons also enable Thor to fly, and to channel his power to summon lightning. Stormbreaker has the additional power to summon the Bifröst, allowing Thor to teleport anywhere in the Nine Realms.According to marvel's infinity war the stormbreaker also has the power to "even defend the powers of infinity stones". Screen Rant has identified Stormbreaker as the more powerful of the two, based on this ability, as well as it being a much larger and edged weapon.[7] Both weapons also appear to have a degree of sentience, with Stormbreaker apparently being envious of Thor's affection for Mjolnir,[8] a characteristic director Taika Waititi attributed to the handle being made from the arm of the adolescent Groot, and carrying over some of that character's moodiness at that age.[9]

Promotion and merchandise[edit]

Mjolnir also appears in a June 2014 poster advertising the upcoming film, Ant-Man, with the protagonist in his miniaturized form standing on the hammer, though it does not appear in the film itself.[10]

Alternate versions[edit]

A broken, alternate version of Mjolnir owned by Throg appears in the fifth episode of Loki in the Void.[15] In the same episode, the Loki variant described as Boastful Loki "wields a hammer that looks an awful lot" like Mjolnir.[16]


Another alternate version of Mjolnir appears in the second episode of What If...? as part of the Collector's collection on Knowhere.[17] In the third episode, the hammer appears in the desert as it had in the film, Thor.[18] In the seventh episode, another version is used by Thor to fight against Captain Marvel. For unexplained reasons, Thor remains the only one able to lift the hammer in this universe despite Odin never being shown enchanting it with the "worthy" spell.[19] When Thor's mother, Frigga, arrives to check on him, and he pretends to have been studying Earth culture the entire time, his ruse is revealed when he summons Mjolnir, which is covered with paint, party beads, and a pair of underwear. In the ninth episode, Thor uses Mjolnir to battle a variant of Ultron with the Infinity Stones.


In the second episode of the second season of What If…?, Thor is fighting with Mjolnir alongside a team formed by Howard Stark and Peggy Carter in 1988 against Peter Quill and his father, Ego. In seventh episode, Mjolnir was wielded by Hela until Odin destroyed the hammer. In the ninth episode, it is revealed that Strange Supreme has been collecting heroes and villains from various universes to feed to a magical forge, including multiple of versions of Thor. As Strange attempts to send one version of Thor into the forge, that version throws Mjolnir to Captain Carter and Kahhori, the latter of whom wields it, along with the Ten Rings bequeathed to her by an alternate version Xu Wenwu, in the fight against Strange.[20]


The MCU TV series Hawkeye features a fictional in-universe performance of Rogers: The Musical, a Broadway musical featuring an actor playing Thor wielding a prop Mjolnir.[21][22]