THREE MEMORABLE CHARACTERS WHO HAVE WIELDED THOR’S HAMMER

When he was first introduced, one of the main concepts of Thor was that his hammer, Mjolnir, would work only for him. For the first two decades of Thor’s existence, that was true, but when Walter Simonson began writing and drawing Thor’s comic in 1983, things went a little haywire when a new character, Beta Ray Bill, shocked Thor by being “worthy” enough to wield Mjolnir. Since then, a few other memorable characters also have been able to lift Thor’s hammer.

1 Captain America. In Thor #390, Captain America is visiting the Avengers, but Thor is concerned about whether he can trust his old friend. At the time, Captain America was stripped of his title by the U.S. government for refusing to become an official employee of the U.S. military, so he is calling himself “the Captain.” This seems a little suspicious to Thor, but his concerns are lifted later in the issue. When Thor is incapacitated by the henchmen of one of his enemies, the Captain picks up Mjolnir and saves the day. Friendship restored; all doubts cast aside.

2 Wonder Woman. During the DC versus Marvel crossover, Thor is separated from his hammer after defeating Captain Marvel in battle. Wonder Woman picks it up and is transformed into a female version of Thor. Eventually, when matched up against Storm of the X-Men, Wonder Woman discards the hammer, as it gives her too big of an advantage. (She then loses the matchup against Storm—stupid Amazonian ethics!)

3 Superman. During the JLA/Avengers crossover, the Justice League and the Avengers are forced to team up against a powerful cosmic entity named Krona, who threatens reality itself. In the final battle against Krona and the legions of supervillains he has summoned to defend him, a small yet powerful attack force is put together featuring the most powerful members of the Avengers and the Justice League, with Captain America commanding the operation. Since he cannot fight in the battle himself, Captain America lends Superman his famous unbreakable shield. Later in the fight, with Superman close to breaking through Krona’s shields, Thor lends Superman his hammer to make the final difference. Interestingly enough, Thor later notes that Odin lifted the enchantment off of the hammer to allow Superman to lift it, so we will never know if Superman is actually worthy enough to lift Mjolnir. (Then again, considering he’s, you know, Superman, the odds are probably pretty good that he is.)