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Thor knew the tremendous and deadly force generated by pounding Mjölnir into something. It sure looks like he was bringing the hammer down on Cap with 'bad intentions'. He has killed many Frost Giants with it and who knows how many other foes have fallen to his onslaught. He even used it to destroy the Rainbow Bridge in the movie 'Thor'.

There's no indication that he knew about the energy/force dissipating quality of Cap's shield or its ability to survive such a powerful strike. He hit the shield hard enough that when the shield diverted the energy away from Cap, all the trees around them were leveled by the 'shockwave'.

Did Thor somehow pickup on Cap or the shield's abilities when Cap bounced his shield off of him and nimbly jumped to the ground from 20' up and was just going to show him who's boss, or was Thor intending to remove this new threat from the gene pool?

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    This is one of MCU inconsistencies. By attacking Cap. such way made him unworthy. Yet, he was able to wield the hammer.
    – Doctor Doom
    Commented May 5, 2014 at 0:13
  • Or was he subconsciously aware that the Shield would take the hit, and not harm the Captain?
    – Stark07
    Commented May 5, 2014 at 5:38
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    Or he just recognized that anyone trying to interfere in a fight between a Norse God and the kind of Technological God that Tony Stark is had to have some way to defend himself.
    – Zibbobz
    Commented May 5, 2014 at 13:47
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    @SS-3.1415926535897932384626433 A little late, but I don't think that fighting perceived foes is enough to make one unworthy. He thought Captain America was just another obstacle interfering with him bringing Loki to justice.
    – TylerH
    Commented Jul 16, 2015 at 20:55

2 Answers 2

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This is a known mistake in the film. It has been made fun of in several different media, notably by Cracked (more than once, but I can't find the other occasion).

It is possible to argue that during Thor's previous stay on Earth he had learnt of Captain America and the abilities of his shield, or that being Asgardian he recognised the Vibranium used in said shield, or even that he thought Captain America would move and he was only intending to make a big hole in the ground with his hammer there. But it is obvious, from the events of the film, that yes, the excitable Thor had just tried to murder Captain America.

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    That was hilarious, it had me cracking up.
    – Morgan
    Commented May 5, 2014 at 6:34
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    I don't understand how this could be a 'mistake', or would make him unworthy of Mjolnir? He was tasked with bringing Loki back to Asgard, and attacked someone who sought to stop him. I don't think Asgardians have a strict ROE when it comes to battle, and as the Cracked article points out; he's pretty gung-ho when it comes to this sort if thing. Why would he do anything other than trying to kill Cap, at this point?
    – John Smith Optional
    Commented May 5, 2014 at 16:13
  • @JohnSmithOptional: I should clarify; it's a known "WTF, did Thor just try to murder Captain America" moment, rather than an out-and-out mistake. It's still poor writing; I'll fight my two quasi-allies over who gets to find the Tesseract, meanwhile giving Loki ample time to escape any time he feels like it. Thor might be that stupid, but Stark and Cap aren't.
    – James Sheridan
    Commented May 6, 2014 at 1:45
  • Per Marvel movieverse, Thor is from an advanced race and well over a thousand years old and firstborn in line to rule Asgard... He should be pretty smart and have a fair dose of wisdom, I would think.
    – Morgan
    Commented May 6, 2014 at 6:52
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    @Morgan: Age does not necessarily lead to wisdom. My mother-in-law is an idiot, for example.
    – James Sheridan
    Commented May 6, 2014 at 9:09
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He is also "trying to kill" Stark remember...

At that point he is "justified" in that he does not know who Cap is, and he probably learned at the Asgardian Kobra Kai dojo... a man confronts you, he is the enemy.

I think at this stage of proceedings Thor is actually enjoying the combat/challenge of what are clearly his earthly equivalents and probably has no intention of killing either man, just stopping them getting in his way. Of course if Coulson was there, it would have been unnecessary...

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    Also adding that, I think the strike he does is over exaggerated for a few reasons; 1) when the immovable object is struck by the unstoppable force its bound to make a cosmic explosion whereas his whack to Tony a few seconds earlier just knocks Tony back. 2) obviously this was thrown in for the comic fans, as everyone would want to see what happens when these two objects collide... and it was epic to say the least. 3) finally, Thor was angry before he striked at CA, he probably put more power into his attack than normal by accident.
    – Jared
    Commented May 28, 2014 at 22:55
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    Maybe he judged the shield's quality moments before when it struck him in the head?
    – Omegacron
    Commented Mar 13, 2015 at 18:25
  • mercy is for the weak. if a man in blue tights confronts you he is the enemy. an enemy deserves no mercy
    – King of NES
    Commented Sep 27, 2019 at 19:27

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