One thing is certain about Thor's hammer: when Captain America took it up in Endgame, everyone went crazy. That was one of the MCU's most pivotal moments, cementing Thor and Cap's bond as one of the greatest. Despite how cool it was, nothing was revealed about Mjolnir, allowing fans to speculate to this day. On the Internet, there are many fan ideas that assist us to grasp what makes someone genuinely worthy.
These Mjolnir fan theories seek to make sense of what viewers have seen vs what we already know about Thor's main weapon. For instance, a fan's theory believes that Thor sent Mjolnir through Strange's Sanctorum on purpose, or Stormbreaker was supposed to be Thor's main weapon. Below are the 12 reasonably mysterious theories about Mjolnir - Thor's hammer.
"Mjolnir can round corners in Thor: The Dark World. In Ragnarok, Thor let it smash through the walls of the NY Sanctum because Strange kept teleporting him. A Demi-god's microaggression."
"In Thor, after Odin banishes Thor to Earth, he says: "Whosoever holds this hammer, if he is worthy, shall possess the power of Thor." This can be taken as you do not need to be worthy to lift the hammer, but you only need to be worthy to possess the power of Thor. Now, the power of Thor is not the ability to lift the hammer.
In Thor: Ragnarok, Odin says to Thor: "That hammer was to help you control your power, to focus it." This can mean that Thor's power comes from the ability to wield lightning. As Odin said, you need to be worthy to possess the power of Thor, the power of lightning, not worthy to lift the hammer.
Captain America lifting the hammer in Avengers: Endgame can be proof of this. In the comics, Thor explains that you need, "Pure of heart and noble mind to lift the hammer." When Cap wields lightning against Thanos in Endgame, the lightning wasn't coming from the hammer, it was coming from Cap. Because Cap was worthy to possess the power of Thor.
Thor: Ragnarok showed us that the power of Thor, the ability to will lightning, comes from the person, not the hammer. Going back to Odin's passage he mentions being worthy is required to possess the power of Thor. You do not need to be worthy to lift the hammer, you need to be worthy to possess the power of Thor."
"Stormbreaker was originally supposed to be Thor's main weapon. We see that Hela was Mjolnir's original user before Thor was born. My theory is that Odin had Stormbreaker's mold ready for his future son/daughter if Hela followed in Odin's footsteps in becoming a benevolent ruler."
"All objects have a mass, which has two effects: gravity and inertia. In all matters we have yet discovered, the mass is exactly the same for both effects. Mjölnir contains technology/magic which allows it to alter its inertial mass (while retaining the same gravitational mass).
If it needs to be impossible to pick up (as with everyone except Thor ... so far), it simply increases its inertial mass to, say, a hundred times the force exerted on it, so it will never move. When he pins Loki down with it, Loki doesn't get crushed into a fine paste (it only weighs 42 pounds) but he couldn't move it with any amount of strength. Thor can even hang it on a coathook.
When Thor hits someone with it, it reduces its inertial mass (to allow him to move it very quickly) and then increases it just before impact. A blow from Mjölnir could hit with the momentum of a freight train. To fly, Thor spins it (increasing its velocity enormously) before increasing the inertia at just the right point in the arc, so it suddenly has enough momentum to carry him into the air.
By reducing it, quickly moving the hammer in a new direction, and increasing it again, he could even change flightpath in midair."
"Mjolnir is actually Thor's power dampener which stores Thor's power within itself. Odin knew that his incredibly powerful son still hadn't acquired much wisdom and was brash and irresponsible. He couldn't trust his son to handle all that power responsibly. He already had failed to guide his daughter onto the right path. He had to take drastic measures.
So he tasked the dwarfs with creating a power dampener disguised as a weapon. He always intended Stormbreaker to be the true weapon for Thor. Mjolnir was merely to be his weapon during his training wheels phase. However, millennia passed and Thor remained brash and so Stormbreaker remained uncrafted.
Finally, Odin decided to teach him humility and used Mjolnir's power-draining and storing ability to strip Thor of his powers and store it in Mjolnir. This way whoever could lift the hammer would receive the strength of Thor from the hammer."
"Odin designed his enchantments over Mjolnir and Hela to become void after his death. Hela and the loss of the hammer are the last trials that prepare Thor to be King and save his people.
Without the coming of Hela, the loss of his hammer, and the destruction of his homeworld, he wouldn’t have learned the lessons he needed to save the people of Asgard and eventually defeat and help Thanos. Odin has the gift of foresight and knows the events of Ragnarok and what it means for his people and his son Thor. Odin knows that Hela will be released and that Asgard will be destroyed. We know he knows this because he leads Thor and Loki to Norway and shows them their new home.
Hela will be released. Whether it’s now or in a thousand years, she will get loose. Nothing Odin can do about that. The only thing he can control is when. The hammer was always supposed to be a stepping stone, training wheels for a god that does not understand his true power yet. This is Thor‘s fly or dies moment. [...]
In Ragnarok, Thor learns all the Kingly traits that he needs to be a good king and leader. He learns courage when he is at a disadvantage without his hammer, he learns humility when he has to ask for help. He learns honesty with his brother and learns sacrifice when he puts his people before his own life."
"If the qualities of being worthy is that you must be willing to sacrifice yourself for the greater good and must only use violence as a last resort, then Scott possesses the first quality when he sacrificed himself by shrinking between molecules in order to defeat Yellowjacket.
He also possessed the second quality since he often chooses to reason with an opponent through some charismatic matter before he uses violence. Such as when he fought Falcon in the first movie."
"As Odin says, Mjolnir is just to help Thor control his powers. Since his power is electricity/lightning, Mjolnir is a big hunk of metal that helps Thor direct lightning. Sound familiar? Yep, Mjolnir is basically a fancy lightning rod.
When Thor throws Mjolnir at Hela, she is able to stop it, not because she has power over Mjolnir, but because she is hella (sorry) strong, and she's able to match brute force with brute force. All Thor knows how to do at this point is pump more juice into Mjolnir to give it more power with the hope of pushing through Hela's resistance.
That's exactly what he does, and as we all know, if you pass enough electricity through any hunk of metal, that hunk of metal is eventually going to explode like an overripe tomato.
More evidence might be that Mjolnir explodes in a flash of electricity, but Hela never displays electricity powers at any point. She's not surprised when it explodes, because she can feel Mjolnir getting overloaded and its structural integrity failing right underneath her fingers.
That's why I claim that it is Thor's power, not Hela's, that shatters Mjolnir"
"In Age of Ultron, we see that Cap is able to move the hammer because for a moment the hammer senses all the good that he is but then it notices his one fault... Later in the movie, Scarlet Witch gives all of the Avengers nightmares and they see their worst fears. Cap's worst fear is that there will be no more fight. No more war.
THIS is the exact reason Odin took Mjolnir from Thor and placed the spell on it. "Whosoever holds this hammer, if he is worthy, shall possess the power of Thor." Remember that Thor had a strong desire for combat regardless of the consequences. He was unable to see how to resolve conflicts without violence. This seemingly makes someone unworthy.
Now back to Cap in Endgame. He has never felt such defeat like this ever before in his life. But rather than punching away and breaking 30 punching bags a day, he is counseling people through their loss.
Then in the elevator, he easily could have taken all those guys down (we have seen it before Winter Solider) but this time he realizes he doesn't need to fight when he can trick them and no one gets hurt. [...] He isn't Captain America anymore. He hasn't been since the Snap. He has just been Steve Rogers. Trying to do what's right and go back home. This makes him worthy"
"In Age of Ultron, Vision could lift Thor’s hammer. This may not be because he is worthy, but because he is technically not alive. Inanimate objects, like an elevator, can lift/move the hammer. So, it would make sense that robots can too. Using the same logic, Ultron should also be able to lift the hammer."
"In Age of Ultron, the Avengers take turns attempting to pick up Mjolnir. Only Cap manages to budge it. But I believe he didn't fully pick it up because he knew how power corrupts.
Thor says who picks it up rules Asgard. Cap believed he was telling the truth. His two friends, Thor and Stark, have both turned arrogant because they were given immense power. Cap also knew what happened to Red Skull, whose great power led him to attempt to rule the world.
So, I think Captain America didn't want to pick up Mjolnir because he wanted to stay as Steve Rogers and not get so much power, in case it corrupted him."
"Hela didn’t destroy Thor’s hammer in Ragnarok. Captain America switched Mjolnir out with a fake when he traveled back to fix the timelines.
Cap goes back to the events of Thor: Ragnarok and makes a quick switch. Perhaps at Dr. Strange's mansion, he secretly gives Thor the replica, and that's the hammer Hela shatterers. In reality, though, Cap has kept the hammer for decades, until the events of Thor 4: Love and Thunder. Cap preserves the timeline while still keeping the hammer. I believe this movie will start with old Cap giving the hammer to Thor or Jane Foster. I imagine a scene with old Captain America saying, "I think this belongs to you," as he hands the real Mjolnir back."
These Mjolnir fan theories seek to make sense of what viewers have seen vs what we already know about Thor's main weapon. For instance, a fan's theory believes that Thor sent Mjolnir through Strange's Sanctorum on purpose, or Stormbreaker was supposed to be Thor's main weapon. Below are the 12 reasonably mysterious theories about Mjolnir - Thor's hammer.
1. Thor Sent Mjolnir Through Strange's Sanctorum On Purpose
Source: Marvel Studio
"Mjolnir can round corners in Thor: The Dark World. In Ragnarok, Thor let it smash through the walls of the NY Sanctum because Strange kept teleporting him. A Demi-god's microaggression."
2. You Need To Be Worthy To Wield Thor's Power, Not Mjolnir
Source: Marvel Studio
"In Thor, after Odin banishes Thor to Earth, he says: "Whosoever holds this hammer, if he is worthy, shall possess the power of Thor." This can be taken as you do not need to be worthy to lift the hammer, but you only need to be worthy to possess the power of Thor. Now, the power of Thor is not the ability to lift the hammer.
In Thor: Ragnarok, Odin says to Thor: "That hammer was to help you control your power, to focus it." This can mean that Thor's power comes from the ability to wield lightning. As Odin said, you need to be worthy to possess the power of Thor, the power of lightning, not worthy to lift the hammer.
Captain America lifting the hammer in Avengers: Endgame can be proof of this. In the comics, Thor explains that you need, "Pure of heart and noble mind to lift the hammer." When Cap wields lightning against Thanos in Endgame, the lightning wasn't coming from the hammer, it was coming from Cap. Because Cap was worthy to possess the power of Thor.
Thor: Ragnarok showed us that the power of Thor, the ability to will lightning, comes from the person, not the hammer. Going back to Odin's passage he mentions being worthy is required to possess the power of Thor. You do not need to be worthy to lift the hammer, you need to be worthy to possess the power of Thor."
3. Stormbreaker Was Supposed To Be Thor's Main Weapon
Source: Marvel Studio
"Stormbreaker was originally supposed to be Thor's main weapon. We see that Hela was Mjolnir's original user before Thor was born. My theory is that Odin had Stormbreaker's mold ready for his future son/daughter if Hela followed in Odin's footsteps in becoming a benevolent ruler."
4. Mjolnir's Magic Allows It To Alter Its Inertial Mass
Source: Marvel Studio
"All objects have a mass, which has two effects: gravity and inertia. In all matters we have yet discovered, the mass is exactly the same for both effects. Mjölnir contains technology/magic which allows it to alter its inertial mass (while retaining the same gravitational mass).
If it needs to be impossible to pick up (as with everyone except Thor ... so far), it simply increases its inertial mass to, say, a hundred times the force exerted on it, so it will never move. When he pins Loki down with it, Loki doesn't get crushed into a fine paste (it only weighs 42 pounds) but he couldn't move it with any amount of strength. Thor can even hang it on a coathook.
When Thor hits someone with it, it reduces its inertial mass (to allow him to move it very quickly) and then increases it just before impact. A blow from Mjölnir could hit with the momentum of a freight train. To fly, Thor spins it (increasing its velocity enormously) before increasing the inertia at just the right point in the arc, so it suddenly has enough momentum to carry him into the air.
By reducing it, quickly moving the hammer in a new direction, and increasing it again, he could even change flightpath in midair."
5. Mjolnir Is Thor's Power Dampener
Source: Marvel Studio
"Mjolnir is actually Thor's power dampener which stores Thor's power within itself. Odin knew that his incredibly powerful son still hadn't acquired much wisdom and was brash and irresponsible. He couldn't trust his son to handle all that power responsibly. He already had failed to guide his daughter onto the right path. He had to take drastic measures.
So he tasked the dwarfs with creating a power dampener disguised as a weapon. He always intended Stormbreaker to be the true weapon for Thor. Mjolnir was merely to be his weapon during his training wheels phase. However, millennia passed and Thor remained brash and so Stormbreaker remained uncrafted.
Finally, Odin decided to teach him humility and used Mjolnir's power-draining and storing ability to strip Thor of his powers and store it in Mjolnir. This way whoever could lift the hammer would receive the strength of Thor from the hammer."
6. Odin's Enchantment On Mjolnir Vanished After His Death
Source: Marvel Studio
"Odin designed his enchantments over Mjolnir and Hela to become void after his death. Hela and the loss of the hammer are the last trials that prepare Thor to be King and save his people.
Without the coming of Hela, the loss of his hammer, and the destruction of his homeworld, he wouldn’t have learned the lessons he needed to save the people of Asgard and eventually defeat and help Thanos. Odin has the gift of foresight and knows the events of Ragnarok and what it means for his people and his son Thor. Odin knows that Hela will be released and that Asgard will be destroyed. We know he knows this because he leads Thor and Loki to Norway and shows them their new home.
Hela will be released. Whether it’s now or in a thousand years, she will get loose. Nothing Odin can do about that. The only thing he can control is when. The hammer was always supposed to be a stepping stone, training wheels for a god that does not understand his true power yet. This is Thor‘s fly or dies moment. [...]
In Ragnarok, Thor learns all the Kingly traits that he needs to be a good king and leader. He learns courage when he is at a disadvantage without his hammer, he learns humility when he has to ask for help. He learns honesty with his brother and learns sacrifice when he puts his people before his own life."
7. Ant-Man's Past Sacrifices Prime Him For Worthiness
Source: Marvel Studio
"If the qualities of being worthy is that you must be willing to sacrifice yourself for the greater good and must only use violence as a last resort, then Scott possesses the first quality when he sacrificed himself by shrinking between molecules in order to defeat Yellowjacket.
He also possessed the second quality since he often chooses to reason with an opponent through some charismatic matter before he uses violence. Such as when he fought Falcon in the first movie."
8. Mjolnir Is Shattered By Thor, Not Hela In 'Ragnarok'
Source: Marvel Studio
"As Odin says, Mjolnir is just to help Thor control his powers. Since his power is electricity/lightning, Mjolnir is a big hunk of metal that helps Thor direct lightning. Sound familiar? Yep, Mjolnir is basically a fancy lightning rod.
When Thor throws Mjolnir at Hela, she is able to stop it, not because she has power over Mjolnir, but because she is hella (sorry) strong, and she's able to match brute force with brute force. All Thor knows how to do at this point is pump more juice into Mjolnir to give it more power with the hope of pushing through Hela's resistance.
That's exactly what he does, and as we all know, if you pass enough electricity through any hunk of metal, that hunk of metal is eventually going to explode like an overripe tomato.
More evidence might be that Mjolnir explodes in a flash of electricity, but Hela never displays electricity powers at any point. She's not surprised when it explodes, because she can feel Mjolnir getting overloaded and its structural integrity failing right underneath her fingers.
That's why I claim that it is Thor's power, not Hela's, that shatters Mjolnir"
9. Cap Wasn't Truly Worthy Until 'Endgame'
Source: Marvel Studio
"In Age of Ultron, we see that Cap is able to move the hammer because for a moment the hammer senses all the good that he is but then it notices his one fault... Later in the movie, Scarlet Witch gives all of the Avengers nightmares and they see their worst fears. Cap's worst fear is that there will be no more fight. No more war.
THIS is the exact reason Odin took Mjolnir from Thor and placed the spell on it. "Whosoever holds this hammer, if he is worthy, shall possess the power of Thor." Remember that Thor had a strong desire for combat regardless of the consequences. He was unable to see how to resolve conflicts without violence. This seemingly makes someone unworthy.
Now back to Cap in Endgame. He has never felt such defeat like this ever before in his life. But rather than punching away and breaking 30 punching bags a day, he is counseling people through their loss.
Then in the elevator, he easily could have taken all those guys down (we have seen it before Winter Solider) but this time he realizes he doesn't need to fight when he can trick them and no one gets hurt. [...] He isn't Captain America anymore. He hasn't been since the Snap. He has just been Steve Rogers. Trying to do what's right and go back home. This makes him worthy"
10. Why Ultron Could Lift Thor's Hammer
Source: Marvel Studio
"In Age of Ultron, Vision could lift Thor’s hammer. This may not be because he is worthy, but because he is technically not alive. Inanimate objects, like an elevator, can lift/move the hammer. So, it would make sense that robots can too. Using the same logic, Ultron should also be able to lift the hammer."
11. Cap Chose Not To Move Mjolnir In 'Age Of Ultron'
Source: Marvel Studio
"In Age of Ultron, the Avengers take turns attempting to pick up Mjolnir. Only Cap manages to budge it. But I believe he didn't fully pick it up because he knew how power corrupts.
Thor says who picks it up rules Asgard. Cap believed he was telling the truth. His two friends, Thor and Stark, have both turned arrogant because they were given immense power. Cap also knew what happened to Red Skull, whose great power led him to attempt to rule the world.
So, I think Captain America didn't want to pick up Mjolnir because he wanted to stay as Steve Rogers and not get so much power, in case it corrupted him."
12. Captain America Switched Mjolnir Out With A Fake During 'Endgame'
Source: Marvel Studio
"Hela didn’t destroy Thor’s hammer in Ragnarok. Captain America switched Mjolnir out with a fake when he traveled back to fix the timelines.
Cap goes back to the events of Thor: Ragnarok and makes a quick switch. Perhaps at Dr. Strange's mansion, he secretly gives Thor the replica, and that's the hammer Hela shatterers. In reality, though, Cap has kept the hammer for decades, until the events of Thor 4: Love and Thunder. Cap preserves the timeline while still keeping the hammer. I believe this movie will start with old Cap giving the hammer to Thor or Jane Foster. I imagine a scene with old Captain America saying, "I think this belongs to you," as he hands the real Mjolnir back."