Thor: 10 Legendary Mjolnir Facts

Despite what some factions of the internet might lead people to believe, maleness is not a requirement to wield the power of Mjolnir and potentially become Thor. 20 people have been able to use Mjolnir over the years, three of those have been women, and one, Beta Ray Bill, was an extra-terrestrial. The only requirement for any of these people was to be “worthy”.

In the '60s, the inscription on the hammer read ”Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall have the power of Thor.” This was because Odin had transformed Thor into the lame human doctor Donald Blake and he had transformed Mjolnir into a wooden cane in a Norwegian cave within which Blake was trapped. Odin always intended for his son to find Mjolnir and become Thor again. It was also worded this way because it was the 1960s and hammer-wielding female superheroes were extremely rare.

In 2014, an unknown female picked up Mjolnir after Nick Fury whispered something in Thor’s ear and he believed himself no longer worthy. He called himself Odinson, and the woman took on the name, powers, and persona of Thor and became a member of a new Avengers team which blended experienced and young heroes. Of course, it was revealed that the woman was Jane Foster and she was battling cancer, and her time as Thor was compromising her health.