I am no hero. Merely a man who has seen and done and endured what can never be forgotten or forgiven – Magneto
Brandon Sanderson, the noted and respected Science Fiction author said that “Every man is the hero in his own story”, and even though his ideas and actions have always seen him cast in the role of villain, in his own mind, Magneto has always been a champion who is willing to sacrifice everything and everyone for his people.
Unwilling to see himself as a hero, he does however view himself, and his fellow mutants, as humanity’s superiors and as such, has always thought of mutant-kind as being somehow more worthy of the Earth’s bounty than their poor human cousins are.
But does his rationale and ideology mean that he’s worthy of the power of Thor? Would Mjolnir view Magneto the same way he sees himself?
Does his willingness to do what he thinks needs to be done to guarantee his people’s survival somehow translate to worthiness that the hammer imbued with the power of the God Storm, a raging cosmic tempest captured and enslaved by Odin himself, would and could understand?
Or could Magento use his control over metal and mastery of magnetism to force Mjolnir to bend to his will?
Does being the hero of his story qualify him as being worthy of Mjolnir, or have his deeds forever cursed him to be unworthy of the hammer and the power it possesses?
Whosoever Holds This Hammer, If He Be Worthy, Shall Possess The Power Of Thor…
While the list of characters who have been able to lift Mjolnir in the four-color world is surprisingly large, few have been able to use it in the way that Odin intended it to be used, as a vessel to transfer the power of a god to a righteous soul who is truly worthy of the honor.
In the MCU, Captain America was able to use the power of Mjolnir to fight Thanos and in the comics, Jane Foster assumed the mantle of Thor when she lifted the hammer.
But could the mutant master of magnetism lift the hammer Mjolnir and do what few before him have managed to do?
In a word, no. There is absolutely no way that Magneto would ever be able to lift Mjolnir and use the power of Thor to further his own agenda. Why?
Because he could never be worthy of the honor, his soul is dark and stained with the blood of thousands of innocents, which immediately makes him unworthy.
All of the heroes who have previously held Mjolnir high have all had one thing in common. They were essentially pure of heart and driven by a desire to save and help all men and women.
Magneto’s selfish, ego-driven, self-righteous mission would place him in the same position that Thor found himself in after encountering Nick Fury in Original Sin and being banished to Midgard in Thor, unworthy of the power that the hammer grants whoever is able to wield it.
Magneto has, however, been able to “lift” Mjolnir in the Ultimate universe, and used his power over metal to brandish the hammer in both Ultimatum and Ultimates 3 #5, but as he wasn’t lifting the hammer of his own accord, and was using his own powers to lift it, it did not, and would not grant him the power of Thor.
He may have looked like a god, but appearances can be just as deceptive as Magneto can be, and merely “holding” the hammer isn’t enough to be worthy of it.
Could Magneto Control Mjolnir?
Controlling Mjolnir is something that Magento could and, in the past, has actually managed to do.
In Journey Into Mystery #109 when Jane Foster and Thor are faced by the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, Magneto deflects Mjolnir when the hammer is hurled toward him, which proves that in the heat of battle, Magneto can protect himself from the fury of Asgard.
That said, it isn’t really surprising that Magento can control Mjolnir, as the hammer itself is made of metal.
Granted, the metal the Mjolnir was forged from should technically contain some ferrous material in order for Magneto’s power to be able to control it, but as neither the comics nor the films seem to be too preoccupied with whether a metal is actually magnetic or not, and Magneto (despite the origin of his name) has been granted full mastery over any, and all metals, he should still be able to control Mjolnir even if he can’t lift it.
Is Mjolnir magnetic? That is a question that only the gods and the dwarfs of Nidavellir could answer. Forged from Uru in a furnace powered by the heart of a dying star, Mjolnir was, and is a hammer unlike any other.
As it’s made from metal, and neither the dwarfs, Odin, or Marvel canon have expressly stated that Uru is an exception to the Magneto rule, we’re going to assume that, just like he did when Stan and Jack put him in Mjolnir’s way in Journey Into Mystery that Magneto could control the hammer if, and when, he finds himself on the wrong side of a conflict with Thor.
Magneto And Mjolnir
While it seems as though the answer is dependent on both the universe that Magneto inhabits and the version of the character tasked with taking charge of Mjolnir, like so many other things in comic mythology, it’s entirely dependent on a certain point of view.
Yes, he can and has lifted and controlled Mjolnir in the past, but as he had to use his powers in order to do so, he wasn’t able to take advantage of the promise that Odin made.
Is Magneto worthy of the power of Thor?
In his own mind, he almost certainly is, but his past life and his ruthless dedication to his mission to see a world ruled by mutants have made sure that he’ll never be on Mjolnirs’ incredibly shortlist of individuals who are truly worthy of the power of Thor.
