What 'Thor: Ragnarok' Viewers Should Know About Thor's History With His Hammer

The latest film from Disney's Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor: Ragnarok, is currently dominating the worldwide box office. Minor spoilers ahead. As you may already know from the trailer, there's a scene in Ragnarok where the film's lead villain Hela Goddess of Death, played by Cate Blanchett, is seen destroying Thor's hammer — but does Thor's hammer ever break in the comics? The weapon is known by the name Mjolnir in the comic books, and it definitely pops up in numerous Marvel installments.

As Thor himself explained during Avengers: Age of Ultron, the hammer can only be lifted by those who are "worthy." And as it turns out, the hammer and Thor have what Graeme McMillan of The Hollywood Reporter refers to as a "significantly more complicated" relationship in the comics, featuring the Asgardian superhero, than in the movies. Over the decades, Thor and Mjolnir have been enchanted in a way that would cause Thor to perish if he was ever without the hammer, and at one time, he became not worthy to handle the weapon. As a result, there were technically two Thors at the same time in Marvel comic book continuity.

Throughout the comics, Thor's hammer has actually been destroyed on a number of occasions. As Comic Book Resources pointed out, Mjolnir has faced destruction about a dozen or so times in various Thor and Avengers related titles. This is similar to what fans see happen in Ragnarok, as was shown at the start of one of the first teaser clips released for the film. In case you don't remember, let's break it down.

In the scene, Thor attempts to hinder Hela by throwing his hammer at her. He definitely put some muscle into the throw, and you would think that it would hinder Hela. But the Goddess of Death is far too powerful and easily grabs Mjolnir with one hand.

Cut to Hela squeezing the hammer as she smirks...

...then destroys the enchanted weapon sending lightening blasting throughout the streets.

A pretty epic moment, right? Hela clearly seems like a powerful being, and remember, this is first time there's been a female on-screen villain in the MCU, according to People. The first of hopefully many, because Hela seems like she'll be a memorable villain.

Although this moment in the movie doesn't come directly from the comics, one of the comics bearing the same name involves a story where the hammer was destroyed. According to THR, in first chapter of "Ragnarok" in Thor No. 80 released in 2004, Mjolnir was destroyed by another enchanted weapon and Thor was without his hammer for two years.

But apparently the hammer is not hard to fix; in some instances in the comics, all Thor had to do was hold Mjolnir in order to fix it. There's also been a situation where Thor was able to fix a broken Mjolnir by using Norn Stones, according to CBR. Additionally, there have been other times where Thor was able to find a replacement weapon.

So, despite the fact that fans see Mjolnir getting destroyed in the trailer by Hela, perhaps all hope isn't lost. In footage of Avengers: Infinity War shown at ComicCon and Disney's D23 fan convention, Thor is seen literally hitting the windshield of a ship being driven by the Guardians of the Galaxy before then being seen interacting with Peter Quill (aka Star-Lord), Mantis, and the rest of the team. Therefore, we know that Thor will have some sort of a role in Infinity War, but will his hammer appear in the film or not?

That much isn't currently known, but as the comics prove, there's precedent for Thor to either fix Mjolnir or find a replacement when need be.