How did Captain America raise Thor's hammer in Avengers: Endgame?

By Joshua Yehl

Warning: This story contains full information about Avengers: Endgame! To learn more about Avengers 4, be sure to read our end-explained breakdown, if there is a scene after credits and a recap of people who live and die in Avengers: Endgame.

Captain America was able to move the mighty Mjolnir only in Avengers: Age of Ultron, but in Endgame he was able to lift Thor's hammer and use it to bring the fight and thunder to Thanos. So, what has changed, letting Cape lift the hammer?

The rule of Mjolnir

As we saw in Thor's first film, Odin enchanted the hammer so that it could only be used by brave men. In comics, this rule was essentially the same, and a small selection of Marvel characters, apart from Thor, was able to raise it on rare occasions, including Steve Rogers, who had done it twice.

Once, while Steve was working as a captain, he just picked up the hammer to bail out the bad guys and return it to Thor.

The other time was more related to what we see in the film and took place during the finale of the event Fear Itself. After Thor's exit, Cape raised the hammer high and shouted his rallying cry: "Avengers assemble!" Before using it to sow chaos on the battlefield.

In Age of Ultron, there was a hint of Cape worth, but something prevented him from lifting it completely.

The dirty little secret of Cape Town

The fan theory that explains all this is based on what we discovered in The Winter Soldier and Civil War. In TWS, Cap learned through Zola's Hydra slideshow that Bucky was the one who killed Tony Stark's parents. Then, when this information was revealed at the end of CW, Cape confessed to Tony that he knew it but did not tell him. Keeping this toxic information secret is what makes Cape Unworthy to lift the hammer in Age of Ultron, at least according to theory. But Cap having confessed his error in CW, it allowed him to regain its moral purity and make him worthy to raise Mjolnir Endgame.

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Joshua is the main feature editor at IGN. If Pokemon, Green Lantern or Game of Thrones are frequently used words in your vocabulary, you will want to follow it Twitter @JoshuaYehl and IGN.