‘Thor: Love and Thunder’: Is Thor Still Worthy Enough to Lift Mjolnir?
Thor: Love and Thunder premiered in theaters and saw the surprising return of Thor’s hammer Mjolnir. Mjolnir is nearly synonymous with the character of Thor (Chris Hemsworth). It is his weapon of choice, gifted to him by his father, and is enchanted by Odin so that only those whom are worthy may lift it. Forged by the dwarven blacksmiths and containing the God Tempest, Mjnolnir is quite the legendary, powerful artifact.
Sadly though, Thor’s treasured Mjolnir was crushed at the hands of his sister, Hela (Cate Blanchett) in Thor: Ragnarok. This led him to forge a new weapon, a battle-axe called Stormbreaker, in Avengers: Infinity War. In Avengers: Endgame, he does temporarily retrieve Mjolnir from the past, but it is subsequently returned back its timeline. Hence, Thor remains with Stormbreaker and the pieces of his Mjolnir are reverently on display in New Asgard.
That is, until Mjolnir calls to Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and pieces itself back together for her. Using Mjolnir, she transforms into the Mighty Thor. Thor is shocked to see his ex-weapon wielded by Jane, after he had thought it to be irreparable. There’s also quite of bit of relationship drama as Stormbreaker isn’t too keen to have both of Thor’s first loves around. However, with Mjolnir choosing Jane instead of Thor, there is the question of whether Thor is still worthy of the hammer or not.
Why did Mjolnir choose Jane?
The short answer is yes, Thor is still worthy of lifting Mjolnir after Thor: Love and Thunder. His worthiness comes down to the reason why Mjolnir chose Jane. In the comic books, Mjolnir does choose Jane to be Thor after Thor becomes unworthy and is unable to lift it. However, Thor: Love and Thunder took a different approach by making Mjolnir unusable beforehand. The reason that it repaired itself for Jane and not Thor, wasn’t necessarily about worthiness as much as it was about neediness and purpose.
When Thor was dating Jane, he asked Mjolnir to always protect her. It’s an oath that Mjolnir takes to heart, showing its sentient nature. Years later, when Jane is diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, Mjolnir senses Jane needs it and calls to her. Once she is in New Asgard, she awakens Mjolnir and it pieces itself back together. It is ultimately its connection to Thor and the oath he imbued in Mjolnir that gives it the power to come together once more for Jane.
Hence, worthiness wasn’t in question here, but rather love. It is Thor’s love for Jane that was strong enough to create an oath that, even after destruction, Mjolnir faithfully held onto. Thor’s love, and the power imbued in his oath, was so strong that Mjolnir could defy its death and repair itself to fulfill a promise and help Jane. Perhaps Mjolnir could’ve even repaired itself all along, but it didn’t because it was waiting specifically for Jane. Jane’s need for it was what gave it a purpose to reawaken and to be reborn.
Is Thor still worthy in Thor: Love and Thunder?
It is pretty clear that Mjolnir chose Jane, not because Thor was unworthy, but because Thor’s oath had instructed it do so. Sadly, the hammer cannot cure Jane’s cancer, and can only transform and temporarily empower her. After Jane’s passing though, we see that Thor does indeed reclaim Mjolnir. In the end, he is seen fighting side-by-side with Gorr’s (Christian Bale) and Eternity’s daughter, Love (India Rose Hemsworth). Love is now the holder of Stormbreaker, while Thor is once more wielding Mjolnir.
It seems that once Mjolnir had fulfilled its oath, it was able to return to Thor. It is very likely that, just as the hammer protected Jane, Thor will need it to protect Love as well. Mjolnir has a very clear and very powerful connection to Thor, so it makes sense it would remain with him after fulfilling his promise. Love was enough for Mjolnir to be reborn, so it must be strong enough to continue to sustain Mjolnir in its life as well.
Meanwhile, Mjolnir now also contains the Necrosword within it. We don’t really know what this means for the future, but it does add yet another layer to Mjolnir’s complexity and another element to its purpose and power. Ultimately, with Thor easily wielding the power of Mjolnir alongside Love, it is pretty clear that he is worthy. Meanwhile, the plot of Thor: Love and Thunder does seem to imply he was never not worthy of lifting it.
(featured image: Marvel)
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