Warning! There are spoilers ahead for the movie “Thor: Love and Thunder”.
Jane Foster owns Mjolnir in Thor: Love and Thunder, but the question remains whether she is really worthy of this weapon, or Thor lied. Marvel Studios continues the narrative of Thor in the MCU after the “Infinity Saga” in this fourth installment of the Avengers series of the same name. However, in Thor: Love and Thunder, he shares the image of the Thunder God with his ex-girlfriend Jane, who returns to the franchise for the first time after the events of his first sequel, Thor: The Kingdom of Darkness.
With Natalie Portman reprising the role, Jane Foster reappears in the MCU in the movie “Thor: Love and Thunder” after several years of absence. In the previous installment of the series, “Thor: Ragnarok”, it was revealed that Jane and Thor broke up, although it was not revealed why they broke up. “Thor: Love and Thunder” finally offers an explanation of what went wrong between the couple and reunites the characters. However, instead of just being a love interest, this time Jane has the Mighty Thor’s own superhero persona after seemingly becoming worthy of Mjolnir.
In the role of the Mighty Thor, Jane Foster owns Mjolnir, who recovers after contact with her. Previously, the hammer was destroyed by Hela (Cate Blanchett) in the movie “Thor: Ragnarok”. However, “Thor: Love and Thunder” doesn’t go into details about exactly how he rebuilt himself or why he chose his last owner, leaving room for doubt about Jane’s true worth.
How Mjolnir chooses Jane Foster in the movie “Thor: Love and Thunder”
Inspired by Jason Aaron’s comic book The Mighty Thor, Thor: Love and Thunder shows Jane battling cancer. In these difficult times, Mjolnir calls out to her, as a result of which she visits New Asgard, where the fragments of the broken hammer are stored. Jane’s proximity apparently awakens Mjolnir. This is not explicitly stated, but the hammer feels Jane’s despair and suffering. After all, she spent a significant amount of time with him when she was dating Thor. Mjolnir reaches out and gives her a new sense of purpose.
By the time Gorr, the Butcher God, attacks Asgard, she is already the Mighty Thor. “Thor: Love and Thunder” doesn’t show her heroic transformation, but judging from Valkyrie’s comments, it looks like Jane had been acting as the Mighty Thor for some time before her reunion with Thor. Most likely, the Asgardians gave her guidance when she was navigating her new role as a superhero.
Thor: Love & Thunder Complicates What It Means to be Worthy of Mjolnir
Part of establishing what really led to Thor and Jane’s breakup in the MCU shows how their relationship slowly deteriorated. Memories of Thor: Love and Thunder show that the couple was happy. At some point, Thor asked Mjolnir to always protect Jane, and the hammer somehow reacted when its emblem lit up, as if concluding a contract with its original owner. This is probably what motivates Mjolnir to turn to Jane while she is fighting cancer. The Hammer may have sensed her suffering, and giving her the powers of Thor is a way to help her in a difficult moment. Although it couldn’t cure her cancer, turning her into the Mighty Thor gives her more options than one.
This, however, complicates the rules of ownership of Mjolnir based on someone’s moral status. Thor had to go through the events of the original Thor movie to be able to pick up his weapon again after Odin (Anthony Hopkins) deemed him unworthy. It was only after he learned humility and true heroism during his first foray into Earth that he was able to wield the hammer again. However, in Thor: Love and Thunder, it seems that the Mighty Thor’s ability to wield Mjolnir is related to his oath to Thor, primarily because he offers limited details on how Jane can pick it up.
Was Jane Foster really worthy of Mjolnir in “Love and Thunder”?
Being an honest citizen who made a great contribution to the development of science, not to mention the fact that she had a strong moral compass, Jane Foster had all the signs of a person who deserved to wield the power of Thor. It’s also worth noting that she was an integral part of some of Thor’s earliest adventures in the MCU, proving that she was a vessel of goodness in the world even when she didn’t have her own superpowers.
In any case, even if the hammer only called out to her because of her original oath to the Asgardian prince, Jane proved time and time again in Thor: Love and Thunder that she was worthy of Mjolnir, as she made a commitment to stop Gorr, the butcher god. After all, she didn’t hesitate to sacrifice her own life if it meant she could do anything to bring the abducted Asgardian children home and put an end to the villain’s nefarious plans.
