In the first Thor film, Odin cast Thor out of Asgard to teach him humility. Odin places a charm on Mjolnir, making it so that only the worthy may lift the hammer. Thor finds himself unworthy, and so does anyone who tries to lift the hammer. However, there is an interesting pattern in the scenes where anyone tries to lift Mjolnir, not only in Thor but across the MCU.
While charming the hammer, Odin’s wordings are such: “Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor”. While Odin used ‘he’ to refer to anyone and everyone, the evidence that has been generated across the MCU might point to a different scenario altogether.
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Every woman who touched Mjolnir was able to lift it.
So far in the MCU, only two women have tried to lift Mjolnir. One was Hela and the other was Jane Foster. Both of these women have successfully picked up Mjolnir. While with Hela, this could just be a by-product of her power and Jane could be worthy, as she is in the comics, there is more evidence to suggest that women in particular are worthy, or it is at least intended by the creators.
In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Natasha categorically passes over the chance to pick up the hammer. All the men present try, while the women do not. Later in the film, it is Vision who can pick up the hammer, but his status as a ‘he’ is questionable at best, given that he is an artificial intelligence, and referred to as so for the sake of convenience. Further, there are multiple times where we have seen male characters in the MCU try to pick up the hammer and fail, but never have we seen a female character attempt and fail to lift the hammer.
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Does this mean only Thor and Captain America are truly worthy?
There are a few problems with the theory. First, it discredits Jane Foster as being worthy to lift Mjolnir, making it so that she was a part of the rule and not the exception. Next, it makes Thor look a little more stupid than he is depicted in the later versions of the story. Third, if true, it would mean that the Avengers overlooked an enormous advantage when it came to using Mjolnir. Could you imagine Captain Marvel fighting Thanos with that thing? Or Scarlet Witch? Or even the Black Widow?
When it comes to Jane Foster, what matters is that she was able to pick the hammer up. The how of it might be due to Odin’s spell, but it could also be argued that the Hammer was up for grabs anyway. Loki was surprised at not being able to pick up the hammer. Every other weapon on Asgard, including Odin’s Spear, has shifted hands but has never been subject to such a charm. If this was in fact because Mjolnir was a mighty weapon, wouldn’t it make more sense to apply it to Heimdall’s Sword?
As for why Thor could not figure it out, he simply never saw a woman attempt to lift the hammer. Every time someone has tried to lift Mjolnir, they have failed, so it was easy for Thor (and the Avengers) to assume that Thor was the only one who could lift the hammer, or even wield it in battle.
