The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s expertise in making us care about things that are either insignificant (remember brave ANT-hony?) or are inanimate objects is truly impressive. We all gasped in despair as Thanos brought his blows down to destroy Captain America’s shield in Avengers: Endgame, but there was the destruction of another weapon that made us sadder.
Mjolnir was featured in every Thor appearance barring Avengers: Infinity War, and the worthiness enchantment made us fonder of the hammer, as it carried significant meaning with it. The hammer became iconic in tandem with Thor, who used it in almost all of his victories. Over the course of the series, some other characters have used the hammer as well. Here are 10 of the best uses of Mjolnir in the MCU.
To vanquish the Destroyer
The entire plot of Thor had the titular hero work his way toward becoming worthy of wielding his hammer. We were shown a brash, arrogant God of Thunder who was unfit to lead Asgard and raise Mjolnir proudly.
This made Mjolnir’s use all the more sweeter when the hammer regenerated Thor, allowing him to rise and fight the Destroyer, who was touted as Asgard’s greatest weapon, and Thor’s destruction of it cemented him as the humble God that Odin wanted as his son. At the time, we hadn’t had many MCU heartwarming moments, and Mjolnir providing life to a dying Thor was a complete emotional package.
To destroy the Bifrost Bridge
Even though Thor did vanquish the Destroyer, he still hadn’t put an end to Loki’s schemes. It was the final battle that showed us Mjolnir’s full capabilities. Thor firstly placed Mjolnir on Loki, thereby taking him out for a portion of the fight since the God of Mischief couldn’t lift it off himself. He would then do what Asgardians though was impossible: destroy the rainbow bridge.
This bridge was what granted them access to the Bifrost, and it was the stuff of Asgardian legend. Thor’s incredible feat of destroying it with Mjolnir not only made for a cool moment, it also ensured Loki’s barbaric planned slaughter of the Frost Giants wouldn’t come about.
To kill the Frost Giants
Of course, it was Thor himself who had brought all the events of the first film about when he was the one doing the killing. He would lay waste to the Frost Giants as an act of revenge, and here we saw an amazing display of his powers.
Mjolnir enabled Thor to completely decimate the Jotuns. He made short work of every single one of them, throwing the hammer around for one-shot hits. The most awe-inspiring piece of work he did, though, was when Thor used Mjolnir to fly and propel himself straight through Jotunheim’s gargantuan beast.
To Take Out Quicksilver
It’s clear why Quicksilver was killed off upon first appearance, because he would’ve been unstoppable given some time to hone his skills. He was pretty fast for the heroes even in Avengers: Age of Ultron, where he was breezing through everyone before Thor pulled a trick out of his hat.
He threw Mjolnir straight in mid-air and, being unsuspecting of the enchantment attached to it, Quicksilver made to grab it to, only to be dragged to the ground. This enabled Thor and company to take him out of the battle at least, otherwise there’s no telling how quickly there heroes might have lost.
To interrogate Loki
Loki masqueraded as Odin for four years before Thor became knowledgeable of his treachery and arrived to expose him. He did so in spectacular fashion by interrogating him using Mjolnir. Thor would fling Mjolnir far into the mountains of Asgard and use Loki (in Odin disguise) as its intended target.
Loki knew he would go splat if he didn’t yield, and his deception was shown to everyone. Thor would again use Mjolnir, this time to pin Loki into submission. The execution of the scene was marvelous, as it showed us the control Thor had over Mjolnir now being perfected. Loki would most likely have taken much longer to unmask, and his fear of Mjolnir was what did the trick.
To conceal Thor
Thor was vastly powerful but he never displayed any magical abilities, even though his mother and brother were very well-known sorcerers. In Thor: Ragnarok, we saw him using Mjolnir as a source for magic for the first time when he used it to conceal his godly appearance.
It was confirmed that Mjolnir was responsible for this concealment, as the hammer itself was disguised as a simple umbrella. Thor then used Mjolnir to return to his usual attire when facing Hela. This was the right way of showing the extra capabilities of Mjolnir, which had been branded as being simply used for combat. This concealment enchantment showed us that there were more properties to being worthy than just being a warrior.
To Fight the Hulk
Up until this fight, everyone had underestimated Thor’s powers, and were convinced the Hulk was far stronger than him. The first battle between the strongest Avengers took place on the Helicarrier, with Thor showing us why he was a God.
The best moment of the fight came when he flung Mjolnor at Hulk, who was lifted off his feet and befuddled due to his inability to lift the hammer. Hulk would create dents on the ground with the extreme force he applied on Mjolnir, but was still unable to raise it. Thor would then use the hammer to put Hulk in a stranglehold, and it was a pity the fight was interrupted soon after.
To trash Doctor Strange’s Lair
We just had to see Thor one-up Doctor Strange during Ragnarok, since the Master of the Mystic Arts had Thor looking like a fool with his amazing displays of magic. So, it was very pleasing to see Thor summon Mjolnir deep from within the sanctum, inadvertently trashing Doctor Strange’s lair in the process.
What made this one of the best uses of Mjolnir was by the scene leaving it out there that, despite all his powers, Doctor Strange himself couldn’t summon the hammer. Plus, it was worth seeing the bemusement on Strange’s face when he realized he had quite a mess to clean up.
To Conquer The Nine Realms
We never said this was supposed to be a list exclusively for good guys, and one of the greatest uses of Mjolnir most certainly was by Hela when she conquered the nine realms with it. Hela was the original owner of the hammer, unleashing its bloody potential by slaughtering millions.
Arguably, Hela’s use of Mjolnir fat outstrips anything Thor ever did, since she kept the hammer with her for Milennia and conquered numerous lands. Before Odin wiped Hela from history, there’s no doubt Mjolnir was the most feared weapon in all of the nine realms. Just imagine all the stuff we didn’t see onscreen that Hela did with the hammer in-universe.
To fight Thanos
As the euphoria around Avengers: Endgame is still very fresh, people are now associating Mjolnir with Captain America rather than Thor. His use of Mjolnir against Thanos – saving Thor’s life – goes down as the top moment fans had in their wish lists that Marvel has made canon.
It didn’t stop Thanos, but Captain America wielding Mjolnir did prove vital in rallying all the resistance against the Mad Titan in the Battle of Earth, and even saved Spider-Man’s life. It was a dream come true to see the hammer granting Thor’s powers to Captain America, as he brought down lightning-based attacks that had the fans jumping in their seats.
