Why Avengers: Endgame Broke Thor’s Hammer Rules For Captain America

Co-writer Christopher Markus explains why Marvel decided to break the rules of Thor’s hammer for Captain America in Avengers: Endgame. Following a losing effort against Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes tried their hand to take down the Mad Titan again five years after they lost to him. There were many great moments during that final battle scene in Joe and Anthony Russo’s latest MCU film, but arguably one of the most memorable ones was when Steve Rogers successfully wielded the Mjolnir, proving that he’s worthy of it.

Mjolnir had an inscription made my Odin in Thor that read “Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.” This was long-assumed to mean that any character who lifted the hammer – be it Vision, Steve Rogers or a coat hook – would not only be able to wield the mystical weapon but also gain lightning powers. However, in Thor: Ragnarok, the specific skills of Mjolnir was walked back, as Odin revealed that the God of Thunder’s power not lies on his favorite weapon, but on himself. This is the reason why some fans were quite confused why Captain America’s time with the Mjlolnir in Avengers 4 seemingly contradicts that.

It poses some questions, Markus admitted to /Film in a recent interview, and they knew full well that it will raise some eyebrows before deciding to put that in Avengers: Endgame. He reasoned out that it was just too cool not to include in the film, accepting that they’ll just have to deal with the queries later on.

There was certainly a debate at one point because particularly in Ragnarok, it establishes that Thor can summon the lightning without the hammer. I think Odin even says, “It was never the hammer.” And yet Cap summons the lightning with the hammer. You get to those things and you’re like, “It’s too awesome not to do it! We’ll talk about it later.”

With the enduring popularity of comic book and geek content in general, more fans are paying attention to these sorts of details than ever before. And if anything, Markus’ comments move the conversation about Mjolnir forward, instead of having people continuously try to make sense of it. They included it in Endgame because they thought it would further elevate the drama of the scene, which it did. The question now is whether or not future MCU films will attempt to clarify the confusion brought about by the said scene, seeing as Thor will still be around to summon lightning in Phase 4.

As the creatives behind Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame continue to talk about the movie months after it was first released, fans are getting more inside look as to the thought process behind them. And based on Markus’ comments, it seems like there was a variation of ways they approached the projects. Perhaps next time, they can finally provide a proper explanation of how  Captain America’s ending actually worked.

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