In Thor: Love and Thunder, Christian Bale delivers a truly terrifying turn as Gorr the God Butcher. But we’re not really here to talk about the tragic deity-killing villain. We’re here to breakdown Gorr the God Butcher’s literally Earth-shattering weapon—the Necrosword—and how it fits into the MCU. His blade has definitely taken on a few changes as well, so we’re going to cover all of that and more.
What Is the Necrosword in Marvel Comics?
Like most things in Thor: Love and Thunder, the Necrosword (and Gorr) first appeared in the Thor: God of Thunder series. Created by Jason Aaron and Esad Ribic, the nefarious weapon debuted in the second issue. In that story it was an all-powerful weapon that fell from the sky and allowed Gorr to murder and enslave the gods. But it wouldn’t be until years later that Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman’s Venom revealed the truth about the Necrosword’s origin. Venom #4 reimagined the weapon as All-Black. Created by the ancient deity known as Knull, All-Black is actually the original Symbiote. An eldritch god of Darkness, Knull became the first host of a Symbiote as well the first to wield the Symbiote as a weapon.
All-Black’s Symbiotic powers are now the stuff of legend. Multiple heroes and villains have since manifested Necroswords out of Symbiotes. It’s the sort of new lore that comic book readers love. But despite that, the MCU and Thor: Love and Thunder went a different route. Which actually makes a lot of sense when you consider the ramifications of introducing the Symbiote here.
How Is the Necrosword Different in the MCU?
This is technically not the first time we’ve seen a Necrosword in the MCU. In What If…?, we learn Hela’s blades from Thor: Ragnarok were called Necroswords. That confirmed a popular fan theory, but they differ vastly from what we see here. In Ragnarok they’re more of a melding of Hela’s comic book weapon, Nightsword, and Gorr’s famous blade. Hela’s Necroswords are not—as far as we know—Symbiotes. Though her shapeshifting use of them does evoke some Symbiote vibes. Either way, we can assume that like the comics in the MCU there are different versions of the weapons. The version we see in Thor: Love and Thunder is closer to Gorr’s comic book blade but also has a vital difference.
While in the comics a Necrosword is a living embodiment of the abyss, in the movie it’s more like a standard sword but possessed. We never see it take on any other shape itself, though it does use impressive shadow magic to help whoever is wielding it. The biggest change here is that the sword doesn’t seem to be a Symbiote, or have anything to do with it. Just like Gorr in the comics, the MCU villain can manifest the Black Berserkers and use the sword to create a cape. But there’s no stated Symbiote connection here. Instead, it’s all explained away by his connection to the Shadow Realm. A lot of fans thought this might be the place we got a true Symbiote crossover but alas no. That said, it would be easy for future movies to retcon this or reimagine a (rebuilt?) Necrosword as something more obviously Symbiote-connected.
What Happened to the Necrosword in Thor: Love and Thunder?
We saw Gorr retrieve the Necrosword after it called him to a strange oasis. It was there that he saw the hubris and cruelty of the gods. They had slain the former holder of the weapon who was an alien being in all black. Gorr used the sword to kill the cruel sun god who was wearing all gold and began his rampage across the universe. Those colors are key as they hark back to the series where the sword debuted. In the sixth issue, we learn Gorr claimed the blade after it fell from the sky next to the bodies of two dead gods, one in black and one in gold.
Soon, movie Gorr was corrupted by the Necrosword, becoming more and more unhinged. After kidnapping the children of Asgard to lure Thor and the Bifrost to the Shadow Realm, he was defeated by Thor Odinson and the Mighty Thor. So what happened to the Necrosword? It was shattered by the impact of both Mjlonir and Stormbreaker, but interestingly it appeared that part of the sword was consumed by the former. So could Mjolnir potentially be corrupted or taken over by the Necrosword? You never know…
Will the Necrosword Be in the MCU Again?
This is the big question, but our gut says yes. As we mentioned above, it would be very easy—just like the comics—for a future creator to look back at the Necrosword and resurrect it. The fact that we have multiple blades known as the Necrosword in the MCU also means that we could be introduced to new versions of it. At the end of Eternals, Dane Whitman found the Ebony Blade. While that’s a fearsome weapon in its own right, the version we saw rippled and moved as if it may have been not only alive but potentially housing a Symbiote. Could it be that in the MCU the Ebony Blade is another Necrosword? One more clearly connected to Knull? Only time will tell but let’s just say we don’t think Thor: Love and Thunder will be the last time we see a Necrosword.
Featured Image: Marvel Studios