Thor has long been one of Marvel‘s most important heroes. In a lot of ways, Thor has always struck me as a character that was Jack Kirby’s attempt at Superman — a powerful hero in a red cape who was the defender of the world, blending sci-fi in mythology to make the story work, allowing the artist to go wild drawing his techno-castles and costumes that combined the ancient and the futuristic. The God of Thunder has changed a lot over the years, but he’s always been the beating heart of the Avengers and one of the most unique characters in the Marvel Universe. Not every Thor run is great, but the ones that are just so happen to be some of the best comics ever.
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As the decades have passed by, Thor has been taken in numerous directions, and each of these have left their mark on the character. Looking at the history of the Asgard’s fiercest defender, there are some ideas about him that most fans hold. However, these are sometimes wrong, and these five Thor ideas number among them.
5) Thanos If Not a Thor Villain
Thanos is often considered Marvel’s greatest villain, but that doesn’t mean that he works with every character or even every heavy hitter. The Mad Titan, in the modern era, has often been paired with Thor and it’s time to admit that doesn’t work for either character. In the past, Mistress Death’s least favorite boy toy has battled heroes like Captain Marvel I, Adam Warlock, and the Silver Surfer. While the God of Thunder definitely belongs with that group power-wise, he doesn’t have the same kind of relationship to Thanos that the other heroes did. Them fighting each other in events and other books is always fun, but people that count Thanos of Titan among Thor’s foes are wrong.
4) Every Ragnarok Event After the First Was Pointless
We’ve gotten many kinds of Thor stories over the years, but there’s one that we’ve seen a few too many times. I’m speaking of the Ragnarok stories. The twilight of the Norse Gods is an important part of their tale, but it’s one that is fundamentally against the idea of superhero comics, which don’t end. Now, the first one, back in Walt Simonson’s amazing run on The Mighty Thor in the ’80s, is among the best comics ever. It uses the idea of Ragnarok perfectly, and Thor and company being able to beat destiny and survive is outstanding. However, as the years have gone on, Marvel has tried to recapture the story’s popularity by re-treading it, and it’s never worked. Asgard gets destroyed every few years, parts of Ragnarok somehow happening while others are stopped. It’s become a huge problem. We needed the first one, but all of the ones after it were pointless re-treads and shadows of the original.
3) Unworthy Thor was the Best Version of the Odinson
Jason Aaron’s run writing Thor was one of the best eras of the character, and readers got a shock in the beginning: Thor became unworthy of Mjolnir because of something Nick Fury said to him at the end of Original Sin. This was the biggest change to the character’s status quo ever, and it just worked. I’ve been reading a lot of Marvel from that period — the end of Hickman’s Avengers, Unworthy Thor, and the like — and I’m struck by how much more I like him. The Odinson was wrestling with himself, who he was without the power of Mjolnir, and what he could be. He killed Beyonders, lost his arm to Malekith and the Dark Elves, and matched wits with the Collector. He even ended up joining Hydra Cap, in a desperate bid for worthiness. There was just something about the character; he wasn’t more human, but he was fallible in a way he never was before. He wrestled with his destiny and who he was, and it remains one of the most interesting periods of the Odinson’s existence.
2) Asgard Isn’t that Interesting Anymore
Asgard is a huge part of the Marvel Universe, but it’s nowhere near as cool as it once was. When Kirby first created the conception of it, it had the same mixture of sci-fi and mythology that made the character’s adventures so great. Asgard wasn’t some old Norse city, but a place where magic and technology melded together. As the years went on, though, creators changed it to fit the more mythological bent that Thor took in the ’80s. While it’s a very large setting, it’s still become boring because we always get the same kind of stories. Asgard was much better in the past, and while it’s been cool in books like The Immortal Thor, most creators don’t have the right idea about it. How many times has it been destroyed? How many great stories have come from it in the last few years? It’s always the same and that’s become a huge problem.
1) Jane Foster Was the Best Thor
Thor losing his worthiness to Mjolnir opened the door to the best Thor story ever. After having his arm cut off by Malekith and the Dark Elves, the Odinson was saved by a new Thor, this one a woman. The mystery of this new version deepened and it was soon revealed that it was Jane Foster, the former love interest of the hero from the Silver Age. Her story was flawless from the start; watching her deal with being the most powerful god in Asgard, living up to the legacy she inherited, and dealing with her cancer diagnosis. It was an amazing time for fans, and Jane proved to be everything they could want and then some. It was a story with a ticking clock the whole time, and it wouldn’t really work as well again if we’re being honest, but it proved that Jane Foster was the best Thor, adding an unexpected chapter to the legend of the God of Thunder.
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