The MCU Finally Does Justice To The Phase 1 Weapon Stronger Than Mjolnir (2024)

Warning! This article contains spoilers for What If...? season 2, episode 7.

What If...? season 2, episode 7 provides a weapon from Phase 1 of the MCU that is stronger than Mjolnir with the attention it deserves after being largely absent from Earth-616's stories. The nature of What If...? season 2's stories and variants allows the show to continue where season 1 left off by exploring the endless possibilities of the vast MCU multiverse. With What If...? season 2's cast of characters seeing the return of Cate Blanchett as Hela and Idris Elba as Heimdall for episode 7, the animated MCU show continued to delve into stories of intriguing MCU variants.

The latest of What If...? season 2's episodes blended the world of Asgard with Ta Lo, the mystical realm introduced in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, to focus on a redemption arc for Hela, the Goddess of Death. As such, Hela's journey shown in What If...? season 2, episode 7 naturally included several powerful weapons, from the dragon-scale arsenal of Ta Lo to the Ten Rings themselves. However, a weapon more powerful than all of these armaments - and even the MCU's Mjolnir - also received adequate attention in What If...? season 2, episode 7 after its power had been left largely unseen in the franchise’s past.

What If...? Shows Exactly How Powerful Gungnir Was Supposed To Be

Besides the Ten Rings and Mjolnir, What If...? season 2, episode 7 portrayed the power of Gungnir. In the MCU, Gungnir is the spear of Odin that has long been shown at the King of Asgard's side throughout the original Thor trilogy of the Infinity Saga. In What If...? season 2, episode 7, Gungnir returned as the object Hela and Xu Wenwu wished to part Odin from if they were to put down his attempted conquest of Earth. Through this plot point, Gungnir's true power is highlighted in a way the MCU has failed to do in past stories be it through the abilities it showed to the spear’s durability.

What If...? season 2, episode 7 explained that the Ten Rings are powerful enough to defeat a god, yet Gungnir swatted aside the Rings with ease. Aside from this power, Gungnir showcased some of the weapon's powers that have been shown in Thor and Thor: The Dark World. The sustained beam of energy that the weapon shoots was used at length in What If...?, with the central plot of needing to part Odin and Gungnir helping to sell how strong the spear truly is.

Despite What If...? season 2, episode 7 highlighting Gungnir's power more than previous MCU properties, films like Thor: The Dark World have shown Gungnir to possess different abilities. Odin held the ability to send Frigga and other fallen Asgardian warriors to Valhalla using Gungnir by slamming the weapon into the ground. Similarly, Gungnir allows its user to traverse the Bifrost without Heimdall, one of the other many powers highlighted in What If...? season 2, episode 7.

What Happened To Odin's Gungnir In The MCU

Concerning the mainline MCU, the reason why Gungnir has never received the attention it deserves was its fate in Phase 3. The weapon was featured in bit parts throughout Phases 1 and 2 of the Infinity Saga before Thor took up the weapon to defeat Hela in Thor: Ragnarok. During this fight, Thor was disarmed before unlocking his true lightning-based abilities, resulting in Gungnir being cast aside. Since then, it has never been seen in the MCU until What If...? season 2, episode 7, meaning Earth-616's version of the weapon was presumably destroyed by Surtr when the being annihilated Asgard.

Marvel's What If...? season 2, episode 7 is streaming now on Disney+.