Avengers: Endgame theory fixes a huge Mjolnir problem in Thor 4

What did Captain America do with Mjolnir when he went back in time at the end of Avengers: Endgame? The obvious answer is that he returned the hammer to Asgard at the exact moment when Thor took it earlier in the film. But what if Cap had something else in mind for the powerful weapon?

An intriguing new Avengers: Endgame theory uses the comics to argue that Mjolnir could still exist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe right now, and it may be hiding in the last place you’d look for it.

The Theory — A new Reddit post from u/TheMediocreCritic speculates that The Falcon and the Winter Soldier may hint at what Captain America (Chris Evans) actually did with Thor’s hammer.

The Disney+ series made several references to in-universe speculation that Steve Rogers was living on a secret base on the moon. This new theory suggests those references were included to help set up a reveal in Thor: Love and Thunder. The Redditor argues that Thor 4 will reveal Steve Rogers didn’t take the hammer back to its proper place in time. Instead, left it on the moon for the next worthy wielder of it to find.

On the Moon — We know that Mjolnir is coming back in some form next year in Thor: Love and Thunder and it is expected to play a role in Jane Foster’s (Natalie Portman) transformation into The Mighty Thor. We also know that Love and Thunder writer and director Taika Waititi was heavily inspired by Jason Aaron’s Thor comics while writing the Marvel film. And it’s in Aaron’s Thor run that Jane Foster gets telepathically called to the moon, finds an abandoned Mjolnir, picks it up, and transforms into the Goddess of Thunder.

So, with that in mind, it is entirely possible that Thor: Love and Thunder could reveal that, somehow, Mjolnir has ended up on the moon. It’s even possible that Steve Rogers himself may have taken it there.

Here’s how that exact scenario (minus the Steve Rogers stuff) played out in the comics:

As awesome as that would look on the big screen, there are a few problems with this theory.

For one thing, it seems unlikely Steve would create another divergent timeline just to put the hammer on the moon. Additionally, recent Thor: Love and Thunder set videos seemed to heavily hint that Jane’s Thor transformation will take place in Norway near the exact spot where Hela (Cate Blanchett) shattered the hammer in Thor: Ragnarok — not on the moon. Most fans even believe Jane’s presence will result in the broken pieces of the hammer coming back together and reforging.

In other words, the current rumors surrounding Thor: Love and Thunder all indicate that it’ll show Jane using a remade version of the Mjolnir that was broken in Ragnarok, not the intact version of the hammer that Cap and Thor used in Avengers: Endgame.

The Inverse Analysis — Still, this is a fun theory, and given how much mystery there still is regarding Steve’s unseen time-traveling actions in Avengers: Endgame, it’s entirely possible Marvel could have a reveal of this caliber up its sleeve. But it’s also the kind of twist that would require a lot of explanation — something that it doesn’t seem like Thor: Love and Thunder will have much time for.

Plus, based on what The Falcon and the Winter Soldier showrunner Malcolm Spellman recently told Inverse about the show’s Steve Rogers references, it doesn’t seem like any of the moon comments in the Disney+ series have much weight to them. At least, not as of right now.

Thor: Love and Thunder will be released in theaters on May 6, 2022.