The Avengers’ resident Thunder God Thor is virtually unstoppable when armed with his enchanted hammer Mjolnir, but the X-Men’’ longtime foe Juggernaut is said to be completely unstoppable, particularly when wearing his enchanted armor and helmet, which also renders him invulnerable to psychic attack. Many fans have speculated over which would break first, but the Marvel story in which one shattered the other also offers up a bizarre twist ending.
In this story, readers got a chance to see how well Asgardian craftsmanship stood up to Cyttorak’s armor when a new generation’s version of Thor and Juggernaut came to blows. The battle took place in the pages of Avengers Next #2, a miniseries set in the MC2 Universe. In this alternate future, many classic Marvel heroes and villains have retired to make way for a new generation of successors. Some of these new superbeings chose to follow in the heroic footsteps of their parents, like Mayday Parker, the daughter of Spider-Man, who took on the mantle of Spider-Girl. Others decided to break the mold, like Zane Yama, the son of the Juggernaut, who decided to use the super-strength he’d inherited from his father to become a member of the Avengers.
In addition to gaining the ability to transform into a 1000-pound powerhouse like his dad, Zane also inherited his father’s original helmet which he spray-painted a glossy silver to become the armored superhero “J2.” The helmet proved useful when he fought mind-controlling villains, but also provided J2 with a bonus benefit when the Asgardian princess Thena arrived at the Avengers headquarters. The daughter of Thor, Thena possessed her father’s incredible strength and weather-controlling abilities, as well as his skill with a battle hammer. Unfortunately, she also showed she had Thor’s trademark temper when she got into a classic misunderstanding with some Avengers and quickly engaged them in a fight. Hoping to stop the battle from escalating, J2 put himself in between the combatants, but this only enraged the Asgardian warrior, who swung her hammer at J2’s head… only for it to shatter like glass against the Juggernaut’s helmet.
Shocked that his helmet was that powerful, J2 immediately began screaming to everyone, “I just broke the hammer of Thor!” – making Thena angrily point out that her hammer was not actually Mjolnir but a treasured gift from her father (making it a hammer of Thor.) Furious, she moved to re-engage J2 in battle, but fortunately the rest of the Avengers managed to calm her down and offer her a replacement hammer made of titanium. Ironically, J2 later developed a huge crush on Thena and decided to let her punch him a few times in a friendly sparring match where he assured her that her blows almost hurt.
It’s a hilarious moment that either says a lot about Cyttorak armor or Thor’s cheapness (did he pick up some second-hand hammer at an Asgardian thrift store while birthday shopping for his daughter?) Considering that both Mjolnir and Juggernaut’s armor are ancient artifacts that have withstood battle damage for hundreds of years, Thena’s hammer was clearly a substandard piece of Asgardian craftsmanship and may have not even been made of uru metal. Awkwardly, later stories of Thor’s potential offspring see him pass down Mjolnir, suggesting that perhaps Thena wasn’t ready for the real thing.
