Thor is one of the most powerful and famous Marvel superhero who has been adapted into the big screen as well. Chris Hemsworth played God of Thunder in ‘The Avengers’ and also in Thor solo movies. The latest one being Thor: Ragnarok which was surely the funniest Marvel movie ever made. For the first time, we saw the incredible comedic side to Hemsworth which was pleasantly surprising. The movie did amazingly well at the box office and exceeded $800 million in worldwide collections.
The plot of the movie revolved around mighty Thor and his allies including Loki, Valkyrie and Hulk trying to save his home planet Asgard from the wrath of his evil sister Goddess of Death aka Hela. It is adapted from the Jack Kirby’s Ragnarok comic where Asgard is burned to the ground and Thor must defeat evil villains to resurrect his home from the ashes and restore order.
But in the movie, Thor realized that his powers combined with all the others is still not sufficient to defeat Hela so he let loose a giant monster Surtur who calls himself ‘Asgardian doom’ on Hela as he came to the realization that destruction of Asgard can’t be prevented as it is part of Ragnarok prophecy, but he managed to escape with as many people he could save.
In 2014, Marvel made a big decision and replaced Thor with his love interest Jane Foster who donned the mantle of Thor. On the other hand, Thor Odinson, in recent issues, had lost the right to the Mantle of the God of Thunder when he was found unworthy of lifting Mjolnir. In his absence, Jane Foster had become the new Goddess of Thunder as the new Thor.
In the MCU, the famous actress Natalie Portman played the character for two Thor movies and then she left the MCU and vowed never to return. The concept of female Thor on a big screen has been explored and Tessa Thompson aka Valkyrie is considered to be the front-runner. Her co-star Karl Urban who played ancient warrior Skurge feels that the idea is infact overdue and she must be brought into the MCU. He said:
“Fundamentally, the process is the same. But I have to say with Marvel, there’s a real sense of inclusion and collaboration and they certainly made me feel very, very welcome and like part of the family. And what I appreciated most about Marvel was how they foster the creativity and they hire people to do their jobs and let them do it and this movie is a direct result of that.”
Here is what Kevin Feige said about this whole thing:
“We always look back to the comics to get those ideas … sometimes very specific storylines like Civil War, sometimes just nuggets or characters like Planet Hulk. So anything that’s happened in the comics, even a female Thor, become great potentials and the ideas from which future movies can be born.”
But looks like in comics, Jane Foster’s days of herding lightning are over. In the recent wake of her death, Thor Odinson has managed to regain his mantle. Thor Odinson is back as the God of Thunder in Marvel Comics.
It’s been a really long time since Thor was deemed unworthy of wielding Mjolnir. Nick Fury and his whispered Truth changed the world of Odinson forever. He was found not to be able to wield his own Uru hammer anymore. Then there was Jane Foster. She lifts the hammer effortlessly. Her willingness to sacrifice herself in the face of imminent death was more than enough for Mjolnir to consider her as worthy. But there’s a catch. Jane Foster is dying. Her chemotherapy sessions have turned her into a husk while trying to cure her of her cancer. Every time she touches Mjolnir, the effects of Chemo are reversed. But even the mighty Mjolnir can only keep her alive for so long. Time has caught up to her now. The death of Jane Foster and the Goddess of Thunder is inevitable.
Marvel is trying to sketch up new stories for the Thor arc. Writer Jason Aaron is planning new twists and turns on his Thor run. He is partnering up with artist Mike Del Mundo to create a completely new story. In an official announcement of the Thor’s issues’ synopsis, Marvel Comics has revealed a completely new and interesting twist. Comics beat reports:
“The artifacts of Asgard have been scattered across the Earth, and to reclaim them, Thor will have to face some ugly truths…Like the production cost of hundreds of new hammers! And he’ll need every last one of them if he’s going to stop the unstoppable when none other than the Juggernaut joins the fray.”
Aaron is clearly super excited about the new story for Thor. Even though Thor Odinson is reclaiming his mantle of the God of Thunder, there will be new concepts introduced into the story never before seen in the comic books. The volume will be going in an as of yet unexplored direction for Marvel Comics. The entire universe of Marvel Comics, says Aaron, will be affected by Jane Foster’s death. Thor is wielding not one but a multitude of hammers in the new Thor run. Why are there so many fucking hammers? And why is Thor willing to own up to the “production cost” of these hammers?? So many questions have been left unanswered.
The battle of realms is far from over. The monstrous being known as the Mangog has waged a war against Asgard. His latest devastating attack on Asgard left the Asgardian homeworld in ruins and he even bit Odin and the Odinson to o bloody inch of their life. As a result, Jane Foster was forced to pick up Mjolnir for one last time, knowing all too well that picking up Mjolnir will permanently reverse the effects of her chemotherapy, effectively killing her. Jane Foster is on Asgard for one last deciding battle with Mangog.
Marvel has picked up the perfect time to start a new relaunch of the Thor character. After the massive declining sales of Marvel Comics last year and the way DC Comics made them bite the dust in 2017, it was clear Marvel needs to take some necessary steps to keep their ships afloat. Several classic characters like Captain America, Iron Man and Thor were pushed back into the spotlight. The sales may have been declining but the decline rate is getting smaller and smaller by the day. One day Marvel Comics will start earning a profit. The Thor issues are a welcome addition in that direction.
Jason Aaron is a gifted man. If anyone could save Marvel, it is him. With the recent departure of several prominent artists and writers from Marvel to DC, Aaron and Del Mundo are perhaps the last men standing in the Marvel Pantheon. Let’s hope they can do for Thor that the rest of the folks couldn’t.
It’s exciting to see our beloved superhero back again fighting new threats that may seek to destroy Asgard or other realms. He is worthy again of lifting the hammer ‘Mjolnir’ which was destroyed in the movie by Goddess of Death aka Hela. The difference between comics and movie is that in the latter it was shown that the real power rests inside Thor and that hammer was just a conduit, whereas in comics Thor is rendered powerless without his hammer Mjolnir.
Do grab the copy of latest Thor comic hitting the shelf to track the plot, but even if you are a comic book nerd, do see the movie Thor: Ragnarok atleast once. Here is the official synopsis released by the Marvel studios for the same, read it below:
“Imprisoned on the other side of the universe, the mighty Thor finds himself in a deadly gladiatorial contest that pits him against the Hulk, his former ally and fellow Avenger. Thor’s quest for survival leads him in a race against time to prevent the all-powerful Hela from destroying his home world and the Asgardian civilization”.
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