Thor’s Most Powerful MCU Villain Reveals His Sword Is the Anti-Mjolnir

Warning: contains a preview of Beta Ray Bill #5!

Surtur, the towering villain who destroyed Asgard in the MCU’s Thor: Ragnarok, just revealed that his fabled sword Twilight has become the anti-Mjolnir. The revelation comes as Beta Ray Bill – Thor’s sworn blood brother – faces the villain in the final issue of his self-titled miniseries, hoping to claim the weapon as his own.

Bill’s quest for Twilight is actually a quest to restore his more humanoid body. After a stand-off with Thor, Beta Ray Bill’s hammer Stormbreaker was shattered, destroying the enchantment that allowed him to switch between his huge, hulking battle-form and his natural appearance as an alien Korbinite. Informed that only Twilight could replace his missing Stormbreaker, Bill was sent by Odin into the depths of Muspelheim, where he discovered Surtur waiting. But the dark god is no stranger to Bill, whose muscular form was actually created – through a series of grueling experiments – to protect his people from Surtur’s wrath. Bill failed in that task, and facing down the destroyer of his people to win back his humanity is a suitably epic conclusion to the series, even before it turns out Surtur is playing for similarly high stakes.

Surtur has long been Asgard and Odin’s greatest enemy, destined to be the last foe of the Norse gods in the final battle of Ragnarok. But ever since Thor broke the cycle of Ragnarok that saw his people locked in an endless loop of butchery and rebirth, Surtur has been in flux, replaced by his daughter Sindr even in major conflagrations like the War of the Realms. Forged in a murdered planetary system, Twilight is one of Marvel’s greatest weapons, and in a preview of Beta Ray Bill #5 – from Daniel Warren Johnson, Mike Spicer and Joe Sabino – it turns out that the sword has actually been rejecting Surtur ever since his last defeat. Now, the fiery god believes he can only reclaim his weapon if he demonstrates his power by defeating Beta Ray Bill.

Of course, being “worthy” of a magical weapon is a familiar idea in Marvel’s Asgardian lore. Thor’s worth as a hero has long been measured by the enchantment of his hammer, which will only allow itself to be wielded by one who is truly worthy. But the difference between Mjolnir and Twilight is that Mjolnir’s judgement of worth is about moral fortitude and selfless heroism, where Surtur believes Twilight desires pure power. Recent issues of Thor have suggested that Mjolnir can only be wielded by a hero willing to answer threats to all of Marvel’s ten realms, having previously empowered noble individuals like Jane Foster and Beta Ray Bill himself. Mjolnir’s enchantment is heavily bound up in the resolve and purpose of the hero who wields it, but if Surtur is right, Twilight is far different – not a tool that can only be wielded for a righteous cause, but rather a prize for the most brutal warrior.

Over the course of Beta Ray Bill, Bill has reconnected with old allies and even seen the AI of his ship, Skuttlebutt, come to life as a traveling companion. It’s clear that while the ability to transform may make him happy, the bigger challenge is learning to live with what he became to save his people, and the life he’s made for himself since. While Bill deserves to defeat Surtur when the final issue hits retailers July 28, the real prize for doing so isn’t the power-hungry anti-Mjolnir Twilight, but rather the chance to put old demons to rest, accept himself as he is, and step out of Thor‘s shadow.

About The Author

Robert Wood
(399 Articles Published)

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Robert Wood is a comics editor for Screen Rant and the author of ‘The False Elephant (and 99 Other Unreasonably Short Stories).’ He received his Master’s in English Literature from Lancaster University, and now happily spends his days applying it to Daredevil and the Hulk.

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