# Mjolnir....in Space **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 2, 2013, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mjolnir-in-space/665145 "2013-08-02T12:23:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mjolnir-in-space/665145/41 "2013-08-05T05:14:01Z")
In issue #122 of The Avengers (April 1974), The Avengers are blasted into space in a rocket disguised as a house. Thor throws his hammer through a force field, but it fails to return to his hand due to the motion of the rocket house. Iron Man is able to grab Thor’s hammer and move it around. According to his thought bubbles: “Thor’s croquet mallet! We’ve orbited back to the place he first tossed it!” “I’d better grab it while I have the chance! It’s a good thing we’re both weightless. On Earth nobody but Goldilocks could carry this thing.” So at least Iron Man thought he was able to move Thor’s hammer because it was weightless in space. And later, once they get closer to Earth, Iron Man thinks: “Thor’s hammer! We’re starting to feel Earth’s gravity, and it’s being dragged in! My wrist is pinned–” “–and now the thing’s too heavy for me to move! I’m trapped – can’t slow the ship’s descent! WE’RE BURNING UP IN REENTRY!” ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mjolnir-in-space/665145/42 "2013-08-05T19:32:04Z")
> [@B.Serum](#): > > The Red Hulk did indeed wield Mjolnir (in zero gravity) in 616 continuity. It happened in 2008, Hulk #5, pages 11-14. I know Thor fans don’t like it, but the zero-gravity factor made the difference. In all honesty, I thought it was a creative examination of the extent of the enchantment (and kind of think it’s laughable that the hammer _wouldn’t_ be able to be moved in the emptiness of space). To each their own, I guess. > > Also: It’s not Jeb, it’s Jeph. Not really, no. Why have the enchantments always worked in space prior to that and since then? The hammer always returned to his hand in space. It’s in dozens of comics if not hundreds. So it wasn’t creative, just stupid. There are just many more examples of the enchantments working just fine in space then not. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mjolnir-in-space/665145/43 "2013-08-05T19:37:43Z")
> [@Lochdale](#): > > Not really, no. Why have the enchantments always worked in space prior to that and since then? The hammer always returned to his hand in space. It’s in dozens of comics if not hundreds. So it wasn’t creative, just stupid. > > There are just many more examples of the enchantments working just fine in space then not. Don’t move the goal posts. We are talking about being able to move the hammer in gravity, not whether the hammer returns to Thor when thrown. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mjolnir-in-space/665145/44 "2013-08-05T19:44:00Z")
So the answer is: No, unless the writer violates continuity. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mjolnir-in-space/665145/45 "2013-08-05T19:45:32Z")
> [@B.Serum](#): > > Don’t move the goal posts. Why, were they enchanted by Odin? ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mjolnir-in-space/665145/46 "2013-08-05T20:04:58Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Why, were they enchanted by Odin? 😃 Clearly not! ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mjolnir-in-space/665145/47 "2013-08-05T22:34:20Z")
The hammer’s power is from Odin, right? So wouldn’t anyone whose power exceeds Odin’s be able to break the enchantment and wield it? I don’t know much about the Marvel power ladder, but Galactus would be able to play with it as if it were a toy, right? Same with most of his heralds? Maybe the Celestials? ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mjolnir-in-space/665145/48 "2013-08-05T22:54:20Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > The hammer’s power is from Odin, right? So wouldn’t anyone whose power exceeds Odin’s be able to break the enchantment and wield it? I don’t know much about the Marvel power ladder, but Galactus would be able to play with it as if it were a toy, right? Same with most of his heralds? Maybe the Celestials? Galactus may not be quite on Odin’s level. He’s about equally powerful, but only in a very limited range of abilities. He might well be able to destroy the hammer, but possibly couldn’t use its power. ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mjolnir-in-space/665145/49 "2013-08-06T03:41:50Z")
> [@B.Serum](#): > > Don’t move the goal posts. We are talking about being able to move the hammer in gravity, not whether the hammer returns to Thor when thrown. Sigh. No. Specifically Loeb said that the enchantments didn’t work in space. Not true. I believe it has been retconned that the Red Hulk was somehow siphoning off power from Thor thus allowing him to wield the hammer. I’ll try and find a cite. The hammer returning is a basic enchantment along with being worthy. Rulk didn’t just move they hammer, he used it which defied continuity (all in an effort to build up the Rulk). The fact that one enhancement always works in space suggests that gravity isn’t a factor. ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mjolnir-in-space/665145/50 "2013-08-06T03:43:46Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > Galactus may not be quite on Odin’s level. He’s about equally powerful, but only in a very limited range of abilities. He might well be able to destroy the hammer, but possibly couldn’t use its power. Galactus is superior to Odin. Slightly but still more powerful. He could use or destroy Mjolnir. Unlikely that a herald could do anything to the hammer given how well Thor has performed against them in the past (heralds are well below Odin who casually one shot the Surfer when the Surfer attacked him). ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mjolnir-in-space/665145/51 "2013-08-06T05:15:56Z")
> [@Lochdale](#): > > Sigh. No. Specifically Loeb said that the enchantments didn’t work in space. Not true. I believe it has been retconned that the Red Hulk was somehow siphoning off power from Thor thus allowing him to wield the hammer. I’ll try and find a cite. Cool. I look forward to reading it. > [@Lochdale](#): > > The hammer returning is a basic enchantment along with being worthy. Rulk didn’t just move they hammer, he used it which defied continuity (all in an effort to build up the Rulk). To be clear: for something to contradict continuity, you need to find an example of someone not being able to move the hammer in space. So far, this thread has produced two examples of it being moved in space. I don’t mean to be dismissive, but from my perspective, it doesn’t appear to contradict continuity so much as to be a revelation about the nature of a Mjolnir you don’t particularly like by a writer you don’t particularly like _(which is absolutely your prerogative, and one I can relate to — don’t get me started on Spider-Man’s organic web-shooters that just happened to manifest where he used mechanical ones, and then a few years later, they somehow went away :dubious:)._ > [@Lochdale](#): > > The fact that one enhancement always works in space suggests that gravity isn’t a factor. That’s one way to look at it. But the nature of the enchantments have always been vague. Who’s to say one enchantment uses gravity as a factor and another uses impact with a target and/or distance from the thrower as a factor? ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mjolnir-in-space/665145/52 "2013-08-06T05:32:06Z")
**Lochdale,** check this out. If you want to get mad at somebody, it’s probably [Tom Brevoort](http://www.formspring.me/TomBrevoort/q/552076681), not Jeph Loeb. [QUOTE=Tom Brevoort’s Formspring page] …Jeph Loeb asked me if there were any circumstances under which the Red Hulk might be able to lift Thor’s hammer. We batted it around for awhile, and after some thought I told him that I could foresee two circumstances under which that might work: 1) If Thor still had his hand within the hammer’s thong or in his hand as well, so that the worthiness enchantment was defeated in that Thro (sic) himself waas still in contact with the weapon, and 2) if the battle occurred in space where there was no gravity, and therefore the hammer was weightless. Jeph ended up using versions of both of these approaches in the story he thereafter wrote. [/QUOTE] A [CBR post](http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2010/05/how-did-the-red-hulk-lift-thors-hammer/)on the matter that linked to the Formspring post. ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mjolnir-in-space/665145/53 "2013-08-06T18:41:06Z")
> [@B.Serum](#): > > That’s one way to look at it. But the nature of the enchantments have always been vague. Who’s to say one enchantment uses gravity as a factor and another uses impact with a target and/or distance from the thrower as a factor? I don’t think that they are so arbitrary though that gravity would negate one enchantment but not the other. Will dig out some examples of the hammer not being movable in zero gravity as the other cite. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mjolnir-in-space/665145.md?page=2)