That secret, of course, came to a head with Tony and Steve’s confrontation in Captain America: Civil War, since it turns out that Bucky Barnes (during his dark period as a manipulated and brainwashed enemy agent) was responsible for the deaths of Howard and Maria Stark.
Of course, this contradicts something that Civil War and Endgame co-director Anthony Russo said last year. “In our heads he was able to wield it, and he didn’t know that until that moment in Ultron when he tried to pick it up” Russo told the Happy Sad Confused podcast in 2019. “But Cap’s sense of character and his sense of humility, sort of out of deference to Thor’s ego, you know Cap in that moment realizing he can move the hammer decides not to.”
So, it seems that the directors and writers of Avengers: Endgame can’t decide on Steve’s relative worthiness in relation to Thor’s hammer. Of course, the person who would really be able to answer that question is Joss Whedon, who wrote and directed Avengers: Age of Ultron. He’ll have to be the tiebreaker in this one.
“Being worthy but pretending not to so as not to hurt his buddy’s feelings” sure feels like Steve Rogers behavior, though. And it gives Thor’s joyful “I knew it!” in Endgame when he sees Cap holding Mjolnir a little bit more weight.
