Avengers: Endgame - Why Captain America Was Able To Lift Thor's Hammer

Was he always worthy? Or did something change after Age of Ultron?

Avengers Endgame Captain America Mjolnir
Marvel Studios

Of all the moments that managed to blow fans' minds in Avengers: Endgame, Steve Rogers lifting Mjolnir has to be the best. Although teased in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America finally became worthy enough to wield the hammer and used it to battle Thanos and his hordes.

Hammer in hand, Cap leads the Avengers into battle and lays waste to dozens of outriders. Even Thor himself can't help but appreciate the moment, even briefly swapping hammers with the God of Thunder, who's in possession of Stormbreaker following Infinity War.

To say it was a spectacle would be putting things lightly, but the moment did raise a few questions. Namely, how was Steve finally able to wield the weapon after being unable to in Age of Ultron, could he always have wielded but simply chose not to, or was the enchantment on the hammer lifted given the threat Thor and his allies faced?

Numerous theories have emerged in the two weeks following Endgame's release, but it's worth taking a more detailed look at the build-up to the moment, the history behind it in the comics, and how it all came together on screen in Steve's last appearance as Captain America.

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Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.