Everyone and their aunt picking up Thor's hammer

[Iron Maiden]

I'm not a fan of all of the Thors, but I also realize that someone other than Odinson has to be able to lift it at some point. Otherwise,"worthiness" becomes little more than exclusionary privilege. Odin's spell was never meant to be that narrowly defined.

But yes, I do shake my head when I think of everyone who has lifted Mjolnir, especially in more recent years. Isn't Magneto, Red Hulk, Doom and Conan also on that list? Or maybe those were What Ifs?

Doom couldn't do it, although it was teased on a cover. Without it being a What If issue, IIRC the only times he had the opportunity were in Stan Lee's Thor and JMS's Thor. With Stan's story, Don Blake was still under the 60 second rule and it had expired. Doom could not lift the hammer but was able to seal it off so that Don Blake couldn't get to it.





In JMS's Fantastic Four, it was Mjolnir's wake as it hurtled through multiple dimensions that gave Doom a chance to escape from Hell. He thought that since it wasn't in Thor's possession that he would be able to get around the spell but he couldn't

[JudicatorPrime]

... for decades in the comics like in the myth no one but the real Thor could lift it ...

In the 1960s certainly no one but Thor could lift it. But in the 70s and after, Mjolnir had a fair number of other wielders. The earliest that I can remember was Red Norvell, who didn't want just Mjolnir, but also Sif. Red also used some of Thor's other paraphernalia, iirc.

It's a fairly common plot device for the hero's powers or likeness to be borrowed at some point or another. While in the myths Odin certainly never intended the hammer for anyone else -- the Asgardians had too many enemies to trust a weapon like that to anyone not of Od's blood -- Marvel folks took liberties with the myth and made the enchantment a two-for -- you get both Mjolnir and the powers of Thor.

The enchantment is the clearest form of foreshadowing that you'll ever find. It sets the table for two predictable outcomes. The first is that someone other than Thor could prove themselves worthy. The second is that Thor could also prove himself unworthy of Mjolnir. We've seen a number of stories on both of those fronts over the years.

It's too bad that you're not a fan of Beta Ray Bill. You're not alone; I've had similar discussions with several friends. In myths as you know, the gods all have different guises and different aspects. I always saw Bill as just another aspect of The God of Thunder. The only shocking thing to me was that Simonson went with an almost therianthrophic representation of Thor, like how worshippers of Egyptian deities would often depict their gods. Only instead of a bear or a hawk -- both of which were not uncommon pets for Vikings going waaaay back -- Simonson went with a horse. I'll admit that when I first saw him I wasn't the biggest fan of Bill's appearance, but in terms of a creator doing the unexpected, I was definitely blown away. That Bill was a noble warrior who returned Thor's hammer and ultimately gained one of his own was a nice touch. Love him or hate him, you have to admit that Stormbreaker is a pretty awesome-looking hammer.

[DrNewGod]

In the 1960s certainly no one but Thor could lift it. But in the 70s and after, Mjolnir had a fair number of other wielders. The earliest that I can remember was Red Norvell, who didn't want just Mjolnir, but also Sif. Red also used some of Thor's other paraphernalia, iirc.

It's a fairly common plot device for the hero's powers or likeness to be borrowed at some point or another. While in the myths Odin certainly never intended the hammer for anyone else -- the Asgardians had too many enemies to trust a weapon like that to anyone not of Od's blood -- Marvel folks took liberties with the myth and made the enchantment a two-for -- you get both Mjolnir and the powers of Thor.

The enchantment is the clearest form of foreshadowing that you'll ever find. It sets the table for two predictable outcomes. The first is that someone other than Thor could prove themselves worthy. The second is that Thor could also prove himself unworthy of Mjolnir. We've seen a number of stories on both of those fronts over the years.

It's too bad that you're not a fan of Beta Ray Bill. You're not alone; I've had similar discussions with several friends. In myths as you know, the gods all have different guises and different aspects. I always saw Bill as just another aspect of The God of Thunder. The only shocking thing to me was that Simonson went with an almost therianthrophic representation of Thor, like how worshippers of Egyptian deities would often depict their gods. Only instead of a bear or a hawk -- both of which were not uncommon pets for Vikings going waaaay back -- Simonson went with a horse. I'll admit that when I first saw him I wasn't the biggest fan of Bill's appearance, but in terms of a creator doing the unexpected, I was definitely blown away. That Bill was a noble warrior who returned Thor's hammer and ultimately gained one of his own was a nice touch. Love him or hate him, you have to admit that Stormbreaker is a pretty awesome-looking hammer.

Wasn't Red given a slice of Thor by Odin to provide an expendable Thor in hopes of derailing Ragnarok?

To the OP: yeah it's a terribly overdone idea. It makes me think a lot of writers don't actually like Thor or can't be bothered to develop a novel challenge for him.

[Thor-El]

In the 1960s certainly no one but Thor could lift it. But in the 70s and after, Mjolnir had a fair number of other wielders. The earliest that I can remember was Red Norvell, who didn't want just Mjolnir, but also Sif. Red also used some of Thor's other paraphernalia, iirc.

It's a fairly common plot device for the hero's powers or likeness to be borrowed at some point or another. While in the myths Odin certainly never intended the hammer for anyone else -- the Asgardians had too many enemies to trust a weapon like that to anyone not of Od's blood -- Marvel folks took liberties with the myth and made the enchantment a two-for -- you get both Mjolnir and the powers of Thor.

The enchantment is the clearest form of foreshadowing that you'll ever find. It sets the table for two predictable outcomes. The first is that someone other than Thor could prove themselves worthy. The second is that Thor could also prove himself unworthy of Mjolnir. We've seen a number of stories on both of those fronts over the years.

It's too bad that you're not a fan of Beta Ray Bill. You're not alone; I've had similar discussions with several friends. In myths as you know, the gods all have different guises and different aspects. I always saw Bill as just another aspect of The God of Thunder. The only shocking thing to me was that Simonson went with an almost therianthrophic representation of Thor, like how worshippers of Egyptian deities would often depict their gods. Only instead of a bear or a hawk -- both of which were not uncommon pets for Vikings going waaaay back -- Simonson went with a horse. I'll admit that when I first saw him I wasn't the biggest fan of Bill's appearance, but in terms of a creator doing the unexpected, I was definitely blown away. That Bill was a noble warrior who returned Thor's hammer and ultimately gained one of his own was a nice touch. Love him or hate him, you have to admit that Stormbreaker is a pretty awesome-looking hammer.

I really don't count Red Norvell, its not the same when you trick the enchantment for a couple issues like Loki also did way before when he swapped bodies with Thor and sent Thor in his body to Mephisto's realm, then Loki in Thor's body wielded Mjolnir tool. That is expected and its part of building interesting stories.

But what I am most against, and the worst was in the MCU, when you sideline the original Thor and give the hammer to another established major hero so he can lead the battle with it while Thor takes a second place. I'm sure Superman fans wouldn't appreciate if the writers have Superman give half his powers to Batman in a major event in battle so Batman can be the one to have the best shots at Darkseid instead of him. Although Thor's case was worst, Captain America casually took the hammer and saved Thor wielding the hammer as if he had years of experience simply because he is that good. The Russos spit on Thor twice.

I dislike what Simonson did because it opened the possibility of having a Thor duplicate from another race in this case, as heroic and powerful and noble as the original one and able to wield Mjolnir to boot. It paved the way for the ultimate Thor rape that happened in the MCU with Captain America almost making Thor obsolete.

Stormbreaker from the MCU looks pretty cool, the one in the comics is ok but it still IMO diminishes Mjolnir uniqueness.

[PCN24454]

Funny enough, the reason why its uniqueness likely diminished was because it was said that Thor was mighty even without it. If that’s the case, then what does he need the hammer for?

[Thor-El]

Funny enough, the reason why its uniqueness likely diminished was because it was said that Thor was mighty even without it. If that’s the case, then what does he need the hammer for?

That is great for Thor but then you pass the hammer to another character and start showing that character more effective in battle than him so WTF??!! And that happened in the comics with Jane Foster and the MCU with Captain America. And I love the character of Jane Foster and am a fan of Natalie Portman but I'm dreading more damage to Thor when he passes the hammer a second time in Love & Thunder.

[DrNewGod]

...I'm sure Superman fans wouldn't appreciate if the writers have Superman give half his powers to Batman in a major event in battle so Batman can be the one to have the best shots at Darkseid...

Actually used to happen a fair amount back in the 1950s World Finest stories. Just that the villains and action scenes were a bit less epic.

[Zero Hunter]

Poor Thor has become the kicking boy of the Marvel U for so long now. Probably ever since his "death" all those years ago. The only time he really seemed like the Thor of old was when he kicked Iron Man's ass for cloning him creating that Ragnorak monster. Ever since he just keeps getting **** on. It is like Marvel likes the idea of "Thor" but just hate Thor himself and use ever reason they can think of to sideline him.

[Intothevoid]

No you are not the only one that's tired of that trope, i dislike the idea that anyone outside of Thor and MAYBE a handful of individuals under only the right circumstances could wield the hammer. I also hate the idea that you can "trick" the enchantment, you shouldn't be able to trick it, especially not in such dumb and obvious ways, like recently Carol fused with some of Thor's DNA and she was able to wield Mljonir briefly, that's stupid, the enchantment should be able to recognize that there is some trickery here and stay stuck to the ground.

Seriously the hammer and the enchantments rules are about as consistent as a cafe's working hours during a corona virus pandemic.

[shooshoomanjoe]

Wait a second!

Aunt May would be a great wielder of Mjolnir!

What makes a person worthy again? Someone who is pure? If so, May should be able to life the hammer.

[Snoop Dogg]

What makes a person worthy again? Someone who is pure? If so, May should be able to life the hammer.

you have to be willing to fight, it's about being willing to sacrifice in order to fight justly

[Ichijinijisanji]

No you are not the only one that's tired of that trope, i dislike the idea that anyone outside of Thor and MAYBE a handful of individuals under only the right circumstances could wield the hammer. I also hate the idea that you can "trick" the enchantment, you shouldn't be able to trick it, especially not in such dumb and obvious ways, like recently Carol fused with some of Thor's DNA and she was able to wield Mljonir briefly, that's stupid, the enchantment should be able to recognize that there is some trickery here and stay stuck to the ground.

Seriously the hammer and the enchantments rules are about as consistent as a cafe's working hours during a corona virus pandemic.

it wasn't just the dna, it was the essence of the thor, somehow the machine was able to tap into that, and give the person the minds and souls of the original
this isn't all that different from how red norvell did it, were thors essence was in some of his personal effects because odin made him wake through some magical flames

What makes a person worthy again? Someone who is pure? If so, May should be able to life the hammer.

willingness to fight for just causes, some level of humility, having a noble soul, not being a deceptive person, willingness to kill

[H-E-D]

Wait a second!

Aunt May would be a great wielder of Mjolnir!

I support this.

[Intothevoid]

it wasn't just the dna, it was the essence of the thor, somehow the machine was able to tap into that, and give the person the minds and souls of the original
this isn't all that different from how red norvell did it, were thors essence was in some of his personal effects because odin made him wake through some magical flames

That's still doesn't make it any better, it kinda makes it worse that they can just take away Thors essence like that via some machine and give it to someone else, in fact the whole idea of cloning other Avengers was so dumb in the first place.

And again i don't think the enchantment on the hammer should be this easily tricked, especially now that the hammer is pretty much sentient, you can't have someone like Hitler pick it up just because he injected himself with Thors essence, it's really, really dumb.

[Alpha to Omega]

There is even an article.

https://www.ranker.com/list/who-has-...onathan-kantor

27 people have wielded the hammer. Although there was also the Thor corp comic during Secret Wars (?) that had a few more.

While I think far too many people have wielded the hammer, that list isn't a very good argument since the vast majority of examples are either out of continuity (Wonder Woman, Superman), alternate realities (Surfer, Magneto, Valkyrie, Spider-Man 2099, Dargo) or characters not actually wielding the hammer but getting around the enchantment through it being neutralized (Hulk), loopholes (Air-Walker, Awesome Android, Storm, Red Hulk) or just overpowering the enchantment (Zeus). And some of the examples are people who never wielded the actual Mjolnir in the first place (Volstagg, Deadpool, Ragnarok).