Marvel Pulls a Thunderbolts Twist for Thor’s New Series Following His Death

The Thunderbolts* influence continues with the God of Thunder.

July 2, 2025, 3:33pm

Image Credit: Marvel Comics

Marvel Studios shocked fans when the asterisk in the Thunderbolts* title was revealed to be hiding the superhero team’s real name, The New Avengers. The twist has been used once in the comics, changing the already announced New Thunderbolts* comic to New Avengers for better synergy with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. A similar twist is taking place with Thor. This week features the release of Immortal Thor #25, marking the God of Thor’s death. We already know that Thor #1 is launching in July, but the ending of Immortal Thor #25 reveals that it isn’t the comic’s real title.

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The new volume of Thor has been retitled The Mortal Thor, with Marvel releasing three covers for the new series. As readers of Immortal Thor #25 discovered, Thor has been reborn as a mortal named Sigurd Jarlson. Mortal Thor comes from writer Al Ewing and legendary Thor artist Pasqual Ferry. After the God of Thunder underwent a hero’s journey worthy of Asgardian legend, he triumphed in battle against the Gods of Utgard. Just as Thor was on the verge of victory against the exiled Elder Gods, he was slain by Loki, fulfilling a dark prophecy. To protect Asgard, the Rainbow Bridge was shattered, wiping Thor and all of Asgard from Midgard’s memory.

Thor in his Marvel NOW costume in Thor: God-Butcher

“Now that Immortal Thor #25 is on the stands for you to read – and please do – we can be a little more open about the exact nature of the second act of the story,” Ewing explained. “This was an idea that sprang into being from the original pitch; I wanted to treat Thor as a God, and give him a truly mythological story… but as well as the son of Odin, he’s the son of Gaea. So we find ourselves in winter. Thor is dead, and Sigurd Jarlson walks the earth – without power, without fame, without memory. And yet the fate of Asgard and Midgard rests on this mortal man making the journey to return the magic of the Gods to the Earth. And to get there – to even learn the nature of the quest – he’s going to have to fight.”

ComicBook spoke to Al Ewing ahead of the release of Immortal Thor #25, and while he didn’t give away the name change, he did discuss heading into Act Two of his sweeping Thor tale and the threats fans can look forward to.

“I’m going to dance around this one a little as well, because it’s based on faulty assumptions, but if you’re asking me to list some bad guys who’ll be in the book — well, the Enchantress is continuing her scheme, although that’s a background simmer for now,” Ewing said. “More immediately, we have the Sons of the Serpent making their first appearance in the story — and we haven’t seen the last of Cobra, Mister Hyde, Grey Gargoyle and Radioactive Man either.”

THE MORTAL THOR #1

Written by AL EWING
Art by PASQUAL FERRY
Cover by ALEX ROSS
On Sale 7/14
THE LEGEND BEGINS! The Norse Myths tell of Gods who walked the Earth, doing great deeds for the mortals who believed in them. But Asgard isn’t real, and never was. The Gods never soared in our skies, never stood with our heroes, never fought for kindness or justice. It was all just a story. Nobody’s coming to help us. But somewhere in the city… a man is waking up. A man with a hammer.

THE MORTAL THOR #2

Written by AL EWING
Art by PASQUAL FERRY
Cover by ALEX ROSS
On Sale 9/24
WHO IS THE MAN CALLED THOR? The Thunder Gods were hired to teach a simple lesson – make trouble for Roxxon Construction, and they’ll make trouble for you. Now somebody’s targeting the bike gang where they live. Somebody who won’t give up. Somebody calling himself “Thor.” Somewhere in the city, a man with a hammer is getting to work.