Marvel Reveals How Storm Got Her Asgardian Hammer Back

Storm's Asgardian hammer, Stormcaster, made an unexpected return in X-Men Gold. Now the latest issue of the series has finally revealed why.

SPOILERS for X-Men Gold #33 by Marc Guggenheim, Michele Bandini, and Erick Arciniega follow.

Stormcaster was first created way back in an Uncanny X-Men Annual from 1985. This was during an era when Loki, the Asgardian God of Mischief and Thor's brother, had a vengeful fixation on the X-Men.

In an attempt to trick Storm, Loki created a hammer very much like Mjolnir that would tap into a divine power source and transform her into the goddess of thunder. Storm used Stormcaster's power on what she believed to be an imposter Wolverine only to realize she'd nearly killed the real thing. In order to fix things, the X-Men made a deal with Loki to make everything like it was before his little game began, meaning he got Stormcaster back.

Years later, in the series X-Men: To Serve and Protect, Thor returned Stormcaster to Storm, but the goddess and god of thunder ended up fighting one another until Storm destroyed her hammer.

That was presumably the end of the hammer and why its return in X-Men Gold was so unexpected. Despite having been seemingly destroyed, the hammer was shown on Old Asgard. The hammer flew to Storm's hand during her hour of need seemingly of its volition. While we still don't know how the hammer reformed, we do know now why Stormcaster flew to Storm's aid.

Storm's parents died when she was very young and she was taken in by a woman named Ainet in Kenya. Ainet raised Storm in their Kenyan village as if Ororo was her own daughter. When Storm's mutant ability to control the weather manifested, the people of the village began worshipping her as a god.

When Storm left with Professor X and never returned, some of the villagers began worshipping something else called Uovu. These villagers began hunting down non-believers, including Ainet. The followers of Uovu offer Ainet mercy if she will swear herself to their god. Instead, Ainet swears to the old gods, praying for them to give Ororo the "power of divinity" to make her a "true god."

That power lies within Stormcaster, and so it was Ainet's prayer that compelled Stormcaster to find Ororo and turn her into the goddess of thunder once more. Now Storm has returned to her village to mourn Ainet's death and to find this Uovu that holds so much sway in her village.

What do you think of Storm getting her hammer back? Let us know in the comments!

X-Men Gold #33 is on sale now.