Fantastic Four's Thing Proves Worthy of Mjolnir in Marvel Comics

After over 60 years of stories in the Marvel Universe, an iconic Fantastic Four hero is finally proved worthy of Thor‘s hammer Mjolnir. In a legendary feat, the FF accomplish the impossible to bring down Doctor Doom… but against a corrupt Sorcerer Supreme, is even an Asgardian hammer enough to deliver victory?

The Thing Just Proved Himself Worthy of Mjolnir

Fantastic Four’s Thing Lifts an Asgardian Hammer to Stop Doctor Doom

In today’s One World Under Doom #8 – from Ryan North, R. B. Silva​​​​​​​, David Curiel and Travis Lanham – the Thing proves himself worthy of Mjolnir. Faced with Doctor Doom’s plan to subjugate the entire planet, Invisible Woman collects the energy of every available Marvel hero, with Reed using his new science-based magical abilities to channel them into the mystical hammer Stormbreaker.

Finally, the Thing lifts it, declaring, “Turns out Aunt Petunia’s favorite blushin’ blue-eyed nephew is worthy after all.” The Thing slugs Doctor Doom with a world-ending blow, sending the villain flying with the combined might of all Marvel’s heroes.

However, without spoiling today’s issue, suffice to say the fight doesn’t end there. Nevertheless, the lasting outcome of the story is that the Thing joins the short list of heroes who are officially worthy of Mjolnir… with one catch.

Wait, Did the Thing Actually Lift Mjolnir?

In the recent Immortal Thor #25, Thor’s death caused him to be totally removed from Marvel lore, being reborn as a mortal hero. Beta Ray Bill replaced Thor in Avengers lore, becoming a founding member and replacing Thor in their most iconic history and current adventures.

Because of this, the hammer that the Thing lifts isn’t Mjolnir, but Beta Ray Bill’s Stormbreaker. However, fans can rest easy – Stormbreaker has the exact same worthiness enchantment as Mjolnir, and both were cast by Odin. In the comics, Odin created Stormbreaker for Beta Ray Bill after he proved himself worthy of lifting Mjolnir, granting him Thor’s abilities from then on.

While this unfortunately adds a wrinkle to the simple image of the Thing lifting Mjolnir itself, he still officially joins the same list as Thor, Captain America, Storm, Superman and Wonder Woman – heroes who have proved themselves worthy via the ultimate heroic test.

Our Take on the Thing Being Worthy

For as long as fans have debated who might be worthy of Mjolnir, the Thing has been at the very top of the list. It’s therefore a huge moment to see him judged worthy, confirming that the scrappy hero who never, ever gives up has the heart of a god.

At the same time, it’s a shame that Marvel didn’t give fans the unfiltered image of the Thing lifting Mjolnir itself. While longtime fans are served by consistent continuity across different titles, it would have been a historic image to see Thing wielding Thor’s personal hammer, and blurring the timeline a little would have been worth it for a moment that will stay with the FF hero forever, making him the heroic equal of Superman and Thor.

One possibility remains for fans to get this iconic image – when Marvel collects One World Under Doom into hardback and paperback, the publisher could choose to swap out Beta Ray Bill and Stormbreaker for Thor and Mjolnir. After all, no-one believes that Thor will be gone from Marvel lore forever, and the idea of ‘rewriting history’ is the whole point of his recent reboot. However, outside of Marvel correcting outright errors in single issues, this would be an unprecedented move, and fans shouldn’t get their hopes up.

Even if it’s via Stormbreaker, the Fantastic Four‘s Thing proving himself worthy of Thor‘s hammer Mjolnir is a huge moment, and exactly the kind of world-shaking event fans are looking for from big comic events like One World Under Doom.

One World Under Doom #8 is available now from Marvel Comics.