Being on hiatus from Tumblr for a while (at the very least a minimalized interaction) was useful when a couple of ridiculous news from Marvel came out. Seeing that picture and article of Hydra!Cap lifting Mjolnir enraged me as much as anybody else. Thankfully though, I had a more private space to rant about this first and that helped me calm down a bit, so this is a much calmer post than it was intended to be.
I’ll be the first one to admit that I always wondered what Steve would be as a villain. @lavengadoraaa, @kiernaserea, @cyborgrhodey, and @ishipallthings will attest to that because I tell them time and again that his potential for a darker shaded character was stupendous. There is a thin line of difference between a hero and a villain (or rather anti-hero) in reality, if both are filled with qualities of extremities. It all boils down to situations, at times, and other times it depends on intent of actions along with effect of them. I’m not going to go into the history and origins of Steve Rogers because I’ve read quite a lot many wonderful posts that detail them. I’m simply addressing him as a character and his potential. So yes, a man as honored and respected as him,very much has the potential to go dark in the specific situation to a certain target with a specific level of threats/intent involved. We’ve seen heroes fall down the rabbit hole of confused anarchy, thoughtless experiments, self-righteous proclamations, and well-intended bad decisions. We’ve seen that in almost every comic history. The point of contention though comes with the medium used and means identified to pull that move.
Every turning point/’twist’ of a story has a million other alternatives to it. That’s one thing you learn as a writer, when you go back and read your stories. You always come up with a What-If scenario, and there are times when your What Ifs seem much more feasible than the originally thought out scenario. Still, it does remain within the right of the writer to choose their pathway, and that is an unsaid rule. Unfortunately or fortunately, this rule has its exceptions. These exceptions are quite deep and firm, and more often than not have wide spread implications. One of the major exceptions to this rule is glorifying inhumane thoughts/actions/history or invalidating unsavory real life connected social issues especially using the garb of a mouthpiece or character who was specifically created and identified as a trademark against those issues. Nazism falls under this category. If the writing has to choose the path of an inherently wrong and unacceptable plot device to bring in a ‘twist’ to the tale of someone sold as a hero for decades, then the writing is wrong. Justification of it is like justifying the election of a tyrant to the masses by the privileged. It’s convenient and flimsy, but irrevocably wrong. So, the very first step of this controversy, of Steve being portrayed as Hydra and Marvel sticking to its guns in saying that this had always been its plan : wrong.
Now why is the Mjolnir-lifting bit even worse, if there is even a scale of worsening left? Mjolnir is a symbol of worthiness, as has been repeated in much more elaborate ways through the history of her existence in the comics and outside. I say her because the creators and caretakers of Mjolnir have considered her sentient, and it is only respectful to do so myself. Mjolnir’s ability to discern a person’s worthiness has been the talking point of many comic issues, through many character arcs. People have been validated, glorified, redeemed, and recognized through her. She’s like the lie detecting test, on an advanced level but related to worthiness. Now, you may say that worthiness is a vague term, a stretch of capabilities that can be for any purpose. I hear that point, my friend, but I also urge you to understand the context of worthiness Mjolnir takes. To use her in the context of a Hydra devoted Steve Rogers is to say that you are awesome even if you’re evil, as long as you have the conviction to be totally strong in evil. Which is probably awesome for the comic creators, but considering that you’re basically throwing years of reality in your pit of concocted illusion of an anti-Nazi being a Nazi, it’s telling of how the current societal issues are viewed. So no, the Mjolnir lifting bit isn’t just bad because it insults her in the comics level, but is worse because it gives out a stand that worthiness for the sake of worthiness is enough, and your intent/inclination doesn’t matter. That’s pretty dangerous and telling.
[i hope its okay i add to this, i have some stuff 2 say]
As someone who has devoted a fair portion of my life to Norse Mythology, Thor, and comics, the way Jason Aaron changed the mjolnir origin story kind of pissed me off. However, because of how many male comic readers are against Jane in general, it made sense that they would go out of their way to justify her becoming Thor. I understand and respect his decisions even if it retconned and actually wrecked a huge portion of male Thor’s history.
One of the worst things Marvel does regularly is use Mjolnir as a prop to lift up other characters, while also demeaning the value of the hammer itself. It is seen as a symbol of worthiness, and everyone in the world is so obsessed with having every character lift this legendary relic. Thor had to go through rigorous trials for thousands of years to be able to lift the hammer over his head. Every great act of honor he committed allowed him to lift Mjolnir higher and higher. [this has since been retconned by making the hammer sentient].
That being said, Because of what they changed in Mjolnir’s history, Steve Rogers should not be able to wield her.
Steve, as originally intended, has many of the same qualities as Thor. They are both strong, always defending the weak, and they are good at implementing direct action. Mjolnir, as written in both early comics and the myths, required someone to work for a long-ass time and that timeframe was generally longer than human lifespan. But since lifting Mjolnir has become like, a milestone for every character, they rewrote that dozens of times.
This last retcon is the most interesting because Odin was the one who cursed the hammer so no one would be able to wield her. The only being in existence that can overturn Odin’s curse is the storm goddess inside the hammer. She chose Jane because her heart was strong, and she chose Thor because he worked tirelessly for the good of the nine realms.
Steve, in this whole hydra bullshit, has Not been committing acts of honor for the greater good of the nine realms, but for an organization that seeks genocide and control. These are not honorable acts - the hammer is a real literal storm goddess who would not let Odin use her in his conquests. She could tell that his mind was being warped by power, and so she waited until someone [Thor] came along with the desire and strength to do good and not be swayed by the torrential and destructive power that resided inside the hammer.
Mjolnir, as written in the comics, would not allow Steve, who is being warped by an evil organization, to wield her. He would fall so hard to the power, and use her for terrible acts.
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Comic history aside, there is another issue here that comes into play. The Nazis stole the swastika from Norse Myths - they actually stole a lot of stuff, but some of the earliest designs in history had the hammer with a swastika. One of Hitler’s main dudes wanted the nazis to be resemblant of Nordic knights, and they wore lightningbolt symbols inspired by Thor. Mjolnir has been used as a symbol for neo nazis for a long time.
Now Steve is becoming a poster-boy for neo nazis. By giving him the hammer, Steve has become the ultimate symbol of the nazi party, and the impact is so strong its gonna make hitler nut from beyond the grave. He’s a blond haired, blue eyed white boy using the hammer that has been stolen out of its original context and is instead being used as an element of genocide and destruction.
“Thor’s Hammer is currently used by Neo-Nazis, symbolically, so seeing a fascist Captain America literally raise Thor’s Hammer high won’t fall on deaf ears.” - Tim Midura from The Outhousers.com [the actual picture is posted here as well]
Everyone needs to be critical of this. This is more than just an edgy comic arc that will probably be retconned as soon as its over. This is very carefully and calculated - everyone in charge of this comic knows exactly what they are doing. The fact of the matter is, Marvel has actual neo-nazis running its comics, and they’re still trying to run under the whole ‘hydra is fictional and harmless to real life’ mantra.