In case you haven't heard by now, there were many eye-catching scenes in Avengers: Endgame
— from deaths we didn't see coming to twists that continued on until the very last frame.
One such attention-grabbing moment involved Captain America and his iconic shield.
Get ready, because we're about to dive into spoilers for Avengers: Endgame.
The sequence in question happens during the climax of the film, during which all the costumed
heroes who were dusted away rematerialize to join the fight against the Mad Titan from
the past.
Immediately, fans can recognize that this Thanos looks a little different compared to
how they're used to seeing him on the silver screen: not only is he rocking his gold armor,
but he also carries a massive dual-bladed weapon.
Past Thanos utilizes it to its full capabilities, demonstrating that it's even deadlier than
the weapons of his opponents.
When Thanos gets up close and personal with Captain America, the Mad Titan slashes away
at Cap's Vibranium shield, breaking off large chunks of it until it's about half its original
size.
Classic Thanos.
But how could Thanos break a shield previously thought to be completely indestructible?
Avengers: Endgame director Joe Russo offered up an answer, and it's an intriguing one.
Speaking with ComicBook.com, Russo hinted that Vibranium may not be as durable as people
have believed it to be, despite Black Panther once explaining that the kinetic energy-absorbing
metal is the most powerful one in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe.
"A meteorite made of vibranium, the strongest substance in the universe, struck the continent
of Africa."
The director said that Thanos' weapon is probably made of something more powerful the best weapon
for the greatest villain.
Russo 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."
So there you have it: Thanos is the greatest, and his sword is just better.
Like destiny, you can't run from the power of an awesome sword.
Joe Russo then noted that Thanos may have crafted his double-bladed sword weapon with
the help of Eitri, the famed weapons forger who created Thor's Mjolnir and helped the
god of thunder forge his battle-axe Stormbreaker in Infinity War.
As Russo put it, Thanos may have gotten in contact with Eitri, traveled to Nidavellir,
and gained access to a material even stronger than Vibranium to forge his double-edged weapon
with.
Even more interesting than that is the idea that perhaps Thanos had Eitri create the shield-breaking
weapon around the same time he forged his Infinity Gauntlet.
Russo explained:
"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."
Regardless of how and when Thanos had his double-ended sword weapon forged, what's arguably
more noteworthy is what the weapon could be made of.
Given that it's tough enough to crack Vibranium, Thanos' weapon must be comprised of another
incredibly strong metal perhaps adamantium, the other super-sturdy metal known in the
Marvel universe.
Adamantium is, as fans will recall, the metal alloy bonded to X-Men hero Wolverine's skeleton.
Taking into consideration the existence of adamantium in the Marvel universe plus Russo's
coy comment about it being "interesting" that Thanos' weapon could destroy Captain America's
shield, it's possible that it could be revealed in the future that the weapon was indeed made
with adamantium.
The substance hasn't explicitly appeared in an MCU film, even though it got a nod in a
special feature on the Blu-ray version of Iron Man 2 and a loose reference in Netflix's
Daredevil.
But it has been a staple throughout 20th Century Fox's X-Men movies.
Since Disney has absorbed Fox and bought the film rights to many Marvel Comics characters
it previously couldn't use in the MCU, now might be the perfect time to introduce adamantium
into the franchise.
Who knows?
Everything means something in the MCU, so it's probably only a matter of time before
fans discover what Thanos' shield-shattering weapon was really made of.
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