Ordinarily, I’d start a post like this with a ‘Spoiler Alert’ disclaimer, but if you haven’t seen Avengers: Infinity War yet, it has probably already been spoiled for you. In a film filled with surprising moments, one of the most shocking was when Groot was able to lift Thor’s Stormbreaker hammer. In the comics, a few beings have been able to lift Thor’s original hammer,  Mjolnir, most notably Thor (obviously) and the Vision, both of which we actually have seen happen in the MCU (and Captain America kinda nudges it).  

Groot not only lifted the new hammer, but actually sacrificing part of himself to be its handle was an act of selflessness, but it didn’t explain how he able to actually move it.  During a Vudu viewing party the directors themselves were there answering fans questions and this issue was brought up. According to the Russos, tweeting from the official Avengers Twitter account, “Mjolnir requires worthiness, not Stormbreaker,” They went on to further clarify that the worthiness limitation Odin put on Mjolnir was only for that specific hammer, not all of Thor’s weapons.  

That small detail in Avengers: Infinity War bothered me because it was left unexplained.  After Thanos’ ‘snappening’ I’d wager Stormbreaker and Thor will play a pretty significant role in next summer’s Avengers 4.