It’s Theory Day again! (By the way, if you have any theories you want me to discuss, tell me because I am running out of them). Also, as always, this post will contain spoilers from Avengers: Endgame, so if you haven’t seen that, then don’t read this!

In the final battle scene at the end of Avengers: Endgame, Thanos has Thor on the ground, ready to stab and kill him. Captain America, in his desperation, somehow summons Thor’s hammer, thus claiming the Thunder god’s power for himself. This act of bravery helps Captain America pummel Thanos, briefly taking the mad Titan’s attention off of Thor.

This action, while seeming to be so simple, was probably, to me, the highlight of the entire movie. After all, the only glimpse we saw of this ability was when he budged the hammer during Avengers: Age of Ultron. 

After all, the Avengers try to lift Mjolnir, Cap walks over and yanks on it, managing to both slightly budge the hammer and wipe the smug grin off of Thor’s face. This scene hinted at the possibility of Cap’s ability to lift Mjolnir but didn’t give us any real indication. Now, after watching Avengers: Endgame, we fans feel intensely satisfied in the scene. Well, most of us, that is. Some annoying fans started asking How? There are two theories, both found here.

The first theory says that Captain America while being the most worthy of all the Avengers (except Thor), still wasn’t quite worthy enough. However, after confessing to Tony Stark that Bucky killed Stark’s parents, Cap would have finally cleansed his soul enough to prove himself worthy to the hammer. This act of confession would have “bumped him up a notch” on the “worthiness scale”, allowing him to finally lift Mjolnir during that pivotal moment in Endgame. 

The other theory sounds a little better to me. This one states that Captain America was worth the entire time, but during the lifting competition of Avengers: Age of Ultron, Cap, being the nice guy he is, saw Thor’s face and knew that the god of Thunder would be absolutely crushed if someone else could lift his hammer. So, even though Cap had felt the hammer and knew he was able to lift it, he decided to let Thor keep what shred of dignity he still had, and instead decided to barely budge it. This wiped the arrogant smile off Thor’s face but still allowed him to keep his claim to the throne of Asgard. After all, that’s what the stakes were: anyone who could lift the hammer would be worthy of the throne.

Personally, I prefer the second theory, for it certainly highlights Captain America’s selflessness and humility in choosing not to show off. However, because there is no confirmation to either theory, I leave it up to you. Which theory do you believe is correct?

As always, thank you so much for reading! Your views are what keep bloggers like me going. May God bless you, and I hope you have a wonderful day.