WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Snake Eyes: Deadgame #4-5 by Rob Leifeld, Chad Bowers, Adelso Corona & Federico Blee, on sale now.
Snake Eyes' mini-series Deadgame has come to an end, but not without the ninja G.I. Joe member wielding an electrifying new weapon. Not content with taking down bad guys with mere swords or guns, Snake Eyes has now started wielding Mjolnir, the hammer of Thor.
Gifted by the God of Thunder himself, Snake Eyes uses the thunderous hammer to fight an equally supernatural opponent. As exciting and over-the-top as Snake Eyes using Thor's hammer is, it might just be a bit too over-the-top for the franchise.
The issue begins with Snake Eyes running a gauntlet of fierce battles. His prize for succeeding was the mythological hammer Mjolnir, gifted to him by Thor himself who appears before him. In Issue #5, Snake Eyes makes quick work of Destro's Cobra goons, with the hammer casually taking out his opponents with both its strength and its lightning.
Snake Eyes quickly realizes the hold that the weapon has on him and tries to throw it off of a mountain, but it quickly returns to him and defends him against his enemies. When he faces the arcane enemy Kirigun, the hammer bequeaths him with supernatural strength and resilience to hurt his foe and quickly recover from any damage of his own. Kirigun states that the weapon's continued use will change him as Kirigun himself has been changed. This dexterity is showcased when the electrified hammer actually breaks against Kirigun's blows.
Despite this setback, Snake Eyes is able to rely on his usual weapons and skills to decapitate Kirigun, taking him down once and for all. This seemingly hints that the moral of the story pushes against such mystical artifacts in G.I. Joe, but something like Mjolnir being there at all is problematic enough.
The enchanted hammer of Thor, as well as the Asgardian himself, are a bi too much for the world of G.I. Joe. The military franchise has ranged in how realistically some of its weapons and technology are portrayed, but at its weirdest, the gadgets are always strictly in the realms of plausible science fiction. The presence of otherworldly gods puts things far too close to fantasy, which G.I. Joe has nothing to do with.
Two rather egregious examples of the franchise were Crystal Ball and Cobra-La. The former was a toy exclusive character who was conceived and developed not by Larry Hama, but by iconic horror author Stephen King and his son Owen. This character, a Cobra hypnotist and psychic who possessed mystical abilities sounded like something right out of one of King's novels. This explains why the character was never really used in any of the fiction, as he fit in better in The Shining than a terrorist organization.
Similarly, the bizarre concept of reptilian society Cobra-La from the animated G.I. Joe movie was largely disliked by fans as being too out there and removed from the military setting, especially given its retcon of Cobra Commander's origins. If mystics and snake people don't belong in the franchise, then Asgardian gods and their equally magical mallets are completely out of place. While Thor may be a comic book icon in his own right, the Asgardian and his weapon are a step out of place in the relatively grounded world of G.I. Joe.
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