Thor, the God of Thunder, is one of the most revered heroes in all of the Marvel Universe. With his mighty hammer Mjolnir, he has proven himself worthy on many occasions, and saved the galaxy several times in the process. However, there have been times where Thor has either been deemed unworthy by Mjolnir, or has been unable to wield the weapon for other reasons. Let’s count down the top 5 heroes who have ever stepped up to wield the mighty Mjolnir.
#5 Norrin Radd (The Silver Surfer)
In an alternate future universe in which King Thanos defeated most of the heroes of the Marvel Universe, Norrin Radd found himself lost in time after Thanos killed his former master, Galactus. Realizing he could not defeat Thanos himself, Radd spent millennia training himself until he was worthy of Mjolnir.
He eventually transformed himself into the Fallen One, and battled against King Thanos and his past self. Unfortunately for Radd, two Mad Titans were too much for his new powers. King Thanos ultimately impaled the Fallen One’s head onto the handle of Mjolnir.
#4 Eric Masterson (Thunderstrike)
Eric Masterson met Thor while working as an architect. After an accident at a construction site, Thor saved Masterson’s life by taking him to the hospital. Little did he know that this chance encounter with the God of Thunder would change his fate forever. Masterson became an ally of Thor until one day, his life hung in the balance once again, due to an attack by the villain Mongoose. During the battle, Masterson actually lifted Mjolnir but was struck with a deadly blast. Thor pleaded with Odin to save Masterson’s life. Odin did so by merging the two of them together.
Unfortunately, Masterson ended up sacrificing much in having his life saved, including losing his family. He eventually took on the role of Thor independently, before the Enchantress manipulated him into battle with the former Thor. Once Amora’s manipulations were revealed, Odin ordered the creation of a new weapon for Masterson. Thus, Thunderstrike was born.
#3 Beta Ray Bill
Beta Ray Bill’s journey to becoming worthy of Mjolnir was born of a misunderstanding between himself and Thor. Bill is a member of an alien race called the Korbinites, who were almost rendered entirely extinct by magic similar to that of Asgard. For this reason, Bill’s sentient ship Skuttlebutt mistook Thor for a threat. During the ensuing battle, Bill separated Thor from Mjolnir, and rendered him unconscious. He then proved himself worthy by lifting the enchanted hammer.
After he learned of Bill’s worthiness, Odin pitted him against Thor in a battle to the death in order to decide who shall wield Mjolnir. Bill ultimately won the fight, but decided that Thor was too worthy an opponent to kill. Odin then ordered the same dwarves who created Mjolnir to forge a new magical hammer called Stormbreaker so that Bill could use it to defend his people.
#2 Ororo Munroe (Storm)
Ororo Munroe, known as the X-Men’s Storm, is one of the most noble mutants in the team’s history. Storm has led the X-Men with honor on many occasions. Perhaps seeing her worthiness is what led Loki to create Stormcaster, a magical hammer similar to Mjolnir, which Loki presented to Storm many years ago. Storm eventually gave up the hammer after learning of Loki’s manipulation.
However, she possessed the hammer many years later during the Siege of Asgard. It was during this battle that Storm truly proved her worthiness after she held Mjolnir just long enough to destroy Stormcaster once and for all, proving that Storm is one of the few worthy.
#1 Steve Rogers (Captain America)
Perhaps nobody can as closely match Thor’s worthiness of Mjolnir than Steve Rogers. In fact, Rogers has lifted Mjolnir on three separate occasions.
The most impressive thing about the first time he accomplished the feat was that, at the time, he was deemed unworthy by the US government to wear the Captain America costume or wield the shield. In typical Steve Rogers fashion, he only held the hammer long enough to fight off a group of villains that had incapacitated Thor, immediately handing Mjolnir back to him.
Rogers would again wield Mjolnir, albeit in the pages of “What If…? Age of Apocalypse.” After Nathan Summers took over the mantle of Apocalypse in an attempt to undo the damage done by changing history, Rogers responded, “the world doesn’t need another tyrant” before destroying him with Mjolnir.
The final occurrence of Steve Rogers wielding Mjolnir was during the Fear Itself storyline. After Thor fell in battle, Steve found Mjolnir. He lifted the hammer and rallied the Avengers to battle against the Serpent.
