Obvious Avengers: Infinity War spoilers are ahead, so proceed with caution.
Avengers: Infinity War has brought many old heroes together and some new ones to help. Peter Dinklage‘s character Eitri has a small but long secret role which proved vital for Thor‘s arc. Before getting to his role in the film, let’s talk about his comic counterpart to understand, courtesy of ScreenRant on the information shared from their original post.
Eitri is taken from Norse mythology, much like many characters in the Asgardian stories. Eitri is teamed with his brother Brokk and responcible for forging some of the most significant and powerful weapons to Asgard with the likes of the Gullinbursti (a biologically living boar made of gold), the Draupnir (a copy-creating ring) and of course, the Mjollnir hammer that can’t be seen without its master Thor himself. Hailing from Nidavellir, he is positioned as the leader of his dwarf people.
With that said, not much else is really added to the character’s story or origins. He’s merely popped up from time here and there but nothing vital outside of the creator of the iconic hammer. This allowed Avengers: Infinity War to really tinker with him however they pleased.
In the Infinity War film, it turns out the Infinity Gauntlet used by Thanos was also made by Eitri, which makes him somewhat responsible for the wielding of the stones for Thanos. This gives Eitri all the more incentive to really make the new weapon for the God of Thunder. The Stormbreaker axe is actually the name of another weapon for the Marvel character Beta Ray Bill (which could very well tie him in to a new film through this) in the comics, but the film uses this as means for Thor to go after Thanos.
His size is also a major creative difference. While dwarfish proportions are made with the physique of Dinklage, he is clearly a giant, towering higher than many characters and twice the size of Thor. When we do meet him, we see his hands have been deformed to metal, taking away his crafting abilities and his life spared as the only one of his kind from Thanos and his trail of massacre. Reasonably so, he is pent with many mixed emotions when Thor and co. arrive in need of his help. And the rest is history with the events of the film.
Eitri’s role was a support and with his purpose made much like the comics, chances are his arc is complete for the Infinity War story and its sequel. However, there is no evidence he was wiped out from the Gauntlet, and a story even afterwards could be made with another film such as a sequel to Thor or Guardians of the Galaxy. And as mentioned before, if this can tie Beta Ray or even find new means for Thor to bring his hammer back, you know exactly who is capable of doing so.
Infinity War is currently playing in theaters. But of course you knew that if reading this article, so go watch it again.