Mjolnir is switching allegiance! It would seem that plain ol’ thunder-god Thor is heading elsewhere within the Marvel Comics universe, and a new Thor is on the way.
There isn’t a lot of information as of yet, but Marvel has explained some of the details:
No longer is the classic male hero able to hold the mighty hammer, Mjölnir, a brand new female hero will emerge will who will be worthy of the name THOR. Who is she? Where did she come from and what is her connection to Asgard and the Marvel Universe?
“The inscription on Thor’s hammer reads ‘Whosoever holds this hammer, if HE be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.’ Well it’s time to update that inscription,” says Marvel editor Wil Moss. “The new Thor continues Marvel’s proud tradition of strong female characters like Captain Marvel, Storm, Black Widow and more. And this new Thor isn’t a temporary female substitute – she’s now the one and only Thor, and she is worthy!”
Series writer Jason Aaron emphasizes, “This is not She-Thor. This is not Lady Thor. This is not Thorita. This is THOR. This is the THOR of the Marvel Universe. But it’s unlike any Thor we’ve ever seen before.”
So first off—Thor is not becoming a woman here. (Some people might count this as obvious, but Loki was female there for a while, so it’s not an impossible turn of events.) The Thor that we know is going to be otherwise occupied, we presume. This might still be slightly confusing because up until now, Thor was more a name than a title. (Excerpt for a bout of madness in the late 80s and early 90s) But because Mjolnir’s inscription directly pertains to Thor, it would seem that the name can be passed on in a title-like fashion. This is the problem with people-gods.
Everyone with me so far?
Mjolnir is deciding that a woman is worthy. Which is fantastic. And exciting. (And may force me to make some shiny new cosplay plans.) It’s also a pretty big deal, considering the fact that Thor is one of Marvel’s bigger-name superheroes, especially where the Avengers lineup is concerned. Even if ye olde Thor is still around, we can presume that his role in things will be shaken up. And what of Thor’s name? Does he get a new one? Should we call him Donald again? Don the Thunderer?
Moreover, who is picking up the mantle (and hammer)? Angela was recently revealed to be Thor’s sister, but since the press release emphasizes a new hero, that would seem to indicate someone newer being indoctrinated to the fold. Considering the success of Kamala Khan’s introduction as Ms. Marvel, it’s not an unlikely path for Marvel to take.
So let’s take a look at the costume design that was released for the announcement:
But. But, guys. Boob plate armor is not comfortable for moving in. I thought we’d been through this already. (Then again, that helmet doesn’t look too sound either, even if it is oh-so shiny.)
Ah, well. Let’s start with the buffness, and hope for more and better down the road. It seems likely that they’re trying to telegraph Thor being female via visual cues, but really; Thor doesn’t exactly need armor. Seems silly to think that she’d opt for something decorative that’s less than cozy. I am liking the fact that she fights bare-armed, which former-Thor was partial to as well.
UPDATE: Here is what Joss Whedon had to say about the announcement (well played, sir, though I think the Captain Marvel fans have Sackhoff on hold)—
All that aside—what’s important is that the success of female-lead comics are leading to more female-lead comics. What’s important is that a top-tier male superhero will now be a female superhero. What’s important is that young women everywhere will know that they, too, can possess the power of Thor.
Count me excited for this one to hit shelves.
News via The Mary Sue.
Nope nope nope
Stupid…what are they thinking!?
They let Thunderstrike and that goofy alien Betaray Bill guy be Thor for a while. Hell, Odin’s been passing out magic hammers like candy it seems like.
Why not go all out and create a Thor Corps (I know, I know, they did this already, but follow along) where all sorts of culturally, dimensionally and sexually diverse creatures get to be a Thor, and they can recharge their hammers every 24 hours by putting it into the Green Forge of Heimdall and chanting “In Darkest Night, in Brightest Day, We Bear the Power be we Straight or Gay, Let those who fear Diversity’s Might, Be Struck the Fuck down By Mjolnir, A’ight?!”
TL;DR: Thor is a dude. What would have been wrong with giving Sif the hammer? (Answer: nothing. It would have been awesome).
This is just plain awful. Why Marvel? Why?
I’ll hold judgement until I know more, but I’m unsure about this. If there’s a decent story about how it happens, OK, but I’m concerned that the whole thing could essentially boil down to Marvel patting themselves on the back going “Damn, are we PROGRESSIVE!”
And I suppose this new Thor is scripted by Stanella Leigh and Jacqueline Kirby?
Man Thor is still an active player in the Marvel Universe, he just no longers wields Mjolnir because he’s no longer worthy (this can be seen on the Avengers 35 cover, which takes place 8 months in the future of the Marvelverse, he also has lost his arm a la King Thor).
I’m pretty excited for this, it’s written by Jason Aaron who is writing the excellent Thor: God of Thunder at the moment so I think the title is in good hands.
Also @@@@@ 2, Beta Ray Bill may seems goofy but was actually a pretty important character in examining what it means to be worthy (and also what it means to look like!) and was, of course, created by the greatest Thor writer/artist Walt Simonson so show respect!
This is awesome.
That better be decorative pale leather on top of the black support belt. Because if it’s a full blown cut out in a highly vulnerable part of the body, I already give up.
But the more I look at it, that’s what it is. A useless pointless cutout in the middle of her black leotard thing.
Boob plate I’ve given up on long ago.
If they wanted to tell Thor stories with a woman, they could have gone with Sif. If they wanted to make Thor a woman, they could have simply replaced Donald Blake with a woman, and have a woman and a male god exist within the same body (that would have much more interesting in fact). This just makes no sense.
Thith ith gonna make a lot of fanth thor…
@9 Having a women be deemed worthy to hold the hammer makes less sense than bringing back Donald Blake but turning him into a women?
lol wut?
Angela.
It’s clearly Brunhilde the Valkyrie, right?
I actually think it’s a brand new character and not Sif/Valkyrie/Angela.
Why make a new character? Why not just give Sif the hammer? Is she busy or something?
Right, because rather than make an interesting female character, we simply have to ruin an existing title. Fantastic.
I have no issue with a woman being worthy to hold Mjolnir. That makes perfect sense. I do take issue with the woman taking the name of Thor. Whoever is worthy to hold the hammer can wield the POWER of Thor. They don’t become Thor, son of Odin. Other than that, it could be interesting. Just the name thing is stupid.
Well according to Walt Simonson Beta Ray Bill became Beta Ray Thor when he had the hammer and with the whole body switching thing of Don Blake there is precedence that Thor is both a name and a title.
Oh good God. Thor is Thor. Go ahead and give her the power of Thor, that’s great, but let her have her own identity. For crying out loud, she isn’t Thor any more than someone else can suddenly become me. And really, why does she have to assume the name of a man to suddenly become a cool superhero?
Because the Valkyrie staring Fearless Defenders and the Sif (and Beta Ray Bill) staring Journey of Mystery, while both awesome, sold like shit. Hopefully this gives her a good push.
I’m just glad she’s not in a battle bustier.
Maybe it’s Xena?
In a classic What If? issue, Jane got the hammer before Don and became Thordis, until Odin sorted everything out. That got the comic a few nasty letters, including one to, and I’m not joking, stop messing with “Celtic folklore”.
Wow. So Marvel apparently wants a Thor the feminists can like…but the character apparently can’t stand on her own without taking Thor’s name as well as his warhammer. Got it.
You’ve come a long way, baby…
*facepalm*
Oh, and I forgot that to add to the feminist fail (as Tor.com is also reporting) that not only is Thor now going to be a hot blonde with boob armor, but DC Comics just gave Velma and Daphne slinky WonderWoman outfits for Grrlpower.
Heh. *facepalms again*
There was an awesome Marvel’s What If comic long ago that had Storm being worthy of lifting Thor’s hammer and becoming teh new God(dess) of Thunder.
No one’s yet brought up Thor Girl, created by writer Dan Jurgens and artist John Romita, Jr. yet?
@25. Wes S.
I took the Daphne and Velma armours to be proposed updates to Wonder Woman’s…ummm…outfit. They were both better than what WW wears.
This boob armor is kind of stupid looking but, let’s be clear, men like boobs, right up from a young age. It’s not that I can’t possible enjoy a movie about a woman whose boobs are not obvious, but they better have a strong actress there. Just like women got all the muscles with Thor, the men get boobs, even with Black Widow. It’s just the way it goes.
Thor was already a woman in the Earth-X Marvel universe, but I suppose it doesn’t count since it’s not in the main comic timeline.
>>No longer is the classic male hero able to hold the mighty hammer, Mjölnir, a brand new female hero will emerge will who will be worthy of the name THOR.
What do you expect from an outfit that thinks that’s an English sentence…
OK folks, I get the impression a lot of you are not comic book readers, and you all just need to calm down a wee bit. For those of you who don’t know it, not only have an alien and a human wielded the mighty hammer, but Thor was also, for a short time, a Frog of Thunder. So pretty much anything is possible. And at some point, after everyone has had some fun doing something different for a while, Thor 1.0 will repent or atone or whatever, regain his mantle, and things will go back to the status quo.
They just revealed that a Neil Gaiman character, Angelina, who got her start in McFarlane’s Image comics, but who Gaiman regained control of in a court suit, and loaned to Marvel, is Thor’s long lost sister (who says all the convoluted stuff comes inside the comics–sometimes the story of how they are created can be just as convoluted). So, for all we know, the title of Thor is staying in the family.
For myself, I look forward to having a little fun with something different. And the more woman characters that my granddaughter can look up to, the better!
@5: This made me chuckle, but not for the reason you think.
The late Barbara Mertz, in her literary persona as Elizabeth Peters, is best known for a long series of suspense novels starring turn-of-the-century Egyptologist Amelia Peabody. But I first encountered Peters as the creator of a different series character — a smart, sarcastic librarian who eventually became a smart, sarcastic writer of romance and suspense novels. (See particularly The Murders of Richard III and Die for Love, as well as Naked Once More.)
And that character’s name was….
…Jacqueline Kirby. Occasionally called Jake (but NEVER “Jackie”).
I would let that Jacqueline Kirby write this Thor comic any day of the week, and twice on Sundays.
Next thing you know they’ll have Spiderman make a pact with devil to save his Aunt by giving up all his life with Mary Jane . . . (I know, I know, but I’m just trying to think up the stupidest and craziest thing I can think of. A pact with the devil rewriting history. LOL.)
@31:
“at some point, after everyone has had some fun doing something different for a while, Thor 1.0 will repent or atone or whatever, regain his mantle, and things will go back to the status quo.”
Not if we take Marvel editor Wil Moss at his word: “And this new Thor isn’t a temporary female substitute – she’s now the one and only Thor, and she is worthy!”
http://marvel.com/news/comics/2014/7/15/22875/marvel_proudly_presents_thor
@34 I’m sure they mean it. They always mean it. Until the book stops selling, and then it’ll become The Dude Formerly Known As Thor Reclaims Mjolnir! in the New Hipster Gods United Saga, written and edited by Someone Else!
I hope they tell a good story…
But I fear they will do little more than be self congratulatory.
@32—I was just riffing. A real Jacqueline Kirby! My apologies…
Jedikalos@33:lol, but also wince.
Bluejay@34:The floors at Marvel (and others) are littered with the promises of comic book editors.
I haven’t read comics in a while, so I really have no stake in how this story plays out in the books themselves. My only qualm is the claim that she’s not a temporary Thor — like when they tried to tell us that Bucky was the permanent Captain America. When a new character (of any race, gender, or orientation) takes the mantle of a previously-existing, “classic” one, it’s at best a 50-50 shot that they’ll hold onto the mantle and become the new “main” version of that character.
I am intrigued to see how/if this gets reflected in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Maybe they’ll use it when Chris Hemsworth’s contract is up.
-Andy
If there’s a problem here it’s that I don’t think this kind of thing leads to interesting women characters. Whoever it is, she’s basically just ‘borrowing’ Thor’s identity for awhile. After he inevitably reclaims it, what happens to her? The track record for this kind of thing is kind of mixed. Characters like She-Hulk and Batgirl are great, but are still overshadowed in the larger media by the male character they got their identity from.
The exception that proves the rule I guess is Carol Danvers, who is now more publically identified with the title ‘Captain Marvel’ than the original Captain Marvel and probably will continue to be. But that has taken a LOT of pushing from Marvel, and it seems like they’ve sort of struggled to keep her in a continuing monthly comic.
I’m a female who loves fantasizing about her male protaganists. The last thing I want to do is hear that one of my favorite male fantasy characters that I grew up adoring will no longer be a male? Seriously stop messing with a woman’s fantasy’s even if they arent real lol. Dissapointed in you Marvel :(
Now I’m wondering what the Asgardian Formerly Known as Thor’s real name is, and why it has been unkown for all these years. (Odin Jr.?)
Well actually God is a title.
A male title actually, so there can be no female God of thunder period.
Iowahawk on Twitter: “I’m OK with making Thor a woman. As long as Mjolnir becomes a rolling pin.”
Snork.
@37: No need to apologize; I did see what you were going for. I was (a) amused, as I said, and (b) simply re-riffing in a different direction, which I hoped might amuse others familiar with the Peters/Mertz character as much as it did me.
Indeed, in the hands of the right sort of fanfic writer, it would be both hilarious and thought-provoking to read the story of what the fictional Jacqueline Kirby would do with the Thor gig and the assignment to write a lady Thor.
I get that marvel wants to diversify and give girls more female superheros to read/look up to, but turning a male character into a female character is the cheap and easy answer.
Rather than push any of their current female characters (Sif anyone?) to the forefront, or god forbid, create something original , they just half ass it.
It could be a executed wonderfully (especially with the writer slated) and be a great story, but at the end of the day it will be a female character whose power base, mythology, and entire foundation, will have been built on a man.
Is that seriously the right kind of message?
After thinking about it, it’s less stupid that it seems. Because Thor is indeed an ideal and a title. But still, there were better ways to do this (especialy for the armor).
Oh, Light! *Groans*
Yes! It must be She-Thor or Thor Girl… Consider it Torun OR Thor’s daughter OR Valkyrie, a fictional (sitcom) character of Marvel comics eh!
Rule 63 of Thor. Love it!
I don’t have a problem with Thor having his powers taken away and given to someone else. My problemis the fact that Thor is a specific individual it is an identity not a title and it has never been portrayed that way. In the past numerous people have wielded thors hammer and obtained his power but they were never called thor. I say again thor is not his powers, thor is his identity. Take away his powers and he is still Thor he just has no power. I am going to try to give an example here. Let’s say that Tony Stark retires and gives his suit to someone else. That person does become the new Ironman, because Ironman is a title, they do not become the new tony stark because tony stark is his name. It is rather the same with Thor. His powers are given to someone else. That person becomes the new God of Thunder, because God of Thunder is a title, they do not become the new Thor because Thor is his name.
I have no prob with a woman becoming the new God of Thunder, in fact I think it is pretty cool, but she is not Thor that is just stupid. What is the old Thor called…does he have tyuio choose a new name for himself now or what?
We did this video discussing Marvel having a female take the place of Thor and use his identity.Freya Aswynn gave her opinion as well as many other special guest.http://youtu.be/V_bHkKzez7E
I think this is ludicrous, and insulting to spiritual beliefs, and yes, I am VERY excited about the recent discovery of Viking female warriors. I say this so this is not twisted. A story about Mjollnir ending up in the hands of a female is fine, but saying that Thor himself is now a woman has no point. Nothing is being acheived here besides insulting people and our intelligence. Create female characters or use pre-existing female deities, simple as that.
Why would Thor no longer be called Thor? how is it the new female wielding his hammer will not be called by her name????? Thor is not a title it is a name given by his father Thor Odinson (Odin’s son Thor). He loses the right to hold the hammer and now he stripped of everything he is before he had the hammer such BS..
You have to wonder just how stupid Jason Aaron and Marvel think we all are.
“Thor is male …”
“Thor is male.”
“…except that Thor is female, now!”
“Duh … Thor is female.”
Stupid, so stupid!!! There are so many female Godesses in Nordic European mythology. Why not use them as inspiration?? Frøya (Freyja) for example.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freyja
While I don’t know if it’s a good or bad move, I do appreciate that they’re not feminizing the name. It drives me batty when people insist on adding -ess or some such suffix to show that this is a strong independent woman who’s comfortable (overt) with her sexuality. Makes my eye twitch just thinking about it.
thats so stupid Thor is my fav superhero those people at idiots..
Thor or Tor as he is called i Scandinavian is and will allways be a malename. If you want to make it female you have to put another ending as Tora (Swedish) or Torun (Norwegian) but Tor is Tor and Mjölner his hammer. Meaning the Miller for the one
who didn’t know that…