Loki Kills a Major Marvel Superhero

Loki has long been one of the greatest villains in the Marvel Universe, even holding the distinction of being the first threat so great that Marvel’s heroes joined together, assembling as the Avengers for the first time, in order to defeat it. Loki has, over his lifetime, moved from avowed villain to morally grey agent of chaos, and that position very much informs his actions in Thor #3.

SPOILERS for Thor #3 by Jason Aaron and Mike del Mundo follow.

Loki’s relationship with his brother Thor, the Asgardian god of thunder and founding member of the Avengers, has long been complicated. For a time, Loki tried to live up to being the god that Thor believed he could be, but more recently he’s become more unpredictable, seemingly playing both sides of the War of the Realms that has consumed every land connected by the World Tree.

Loki even went so far as to try to kill his own mother, Freyja, apparently at the behest of Malekith, the mad dark elf stoking the fires of the war. Though Freyja survived and Loki claims to have only stabbed her in the back for her own good and the good of Asgard, Thor is still holding a grudge.

That is how, in the first arc of the recently relaunched Thor series, the two brothers of Asgard have found themselves fighting side-by-side in Hel, the realm of the dead located in Niffleheim, which is currently being invader by Sindr, the daughter of Surtur and ruler of Muspelheim who has aligned her burning legion with Malekith. Thor needed to get to the war front, but after the Mangog destroyed the Bifrost he had no means of traveling between realms. Loki showed up and offered to use his magic to teleport Thor to Hel, but Thor wasn’t willing to trust that his brother would send him to the afterlife without there being a catch, and so Thor grabbed onto Loki and took him through the portal as well.

In Niffleheim, Thor and Loki have reunited with their brother Balder the Brave, the ruler of Niffleheim and regent of Hel, who has been leading the battle against Sindr with Skurge the Executioner at his side. Together, the group of Asgardians waylaid a shipment to the opposing forces’ camp to liberate what they believed to be a superweapon. What they found were Loki’s children: Hela, the deposed former ruler of Hel, and her brother, Fenris Wolf.

A fight ensued with Hela looking to reclaim her throne, but Loki came up with a plan. Knowing that Hel needed a united front in order to stand a chance against the forces of Muspelheim, Loki suggested that Hela and Balder should marry and co-rule over Hel. The two reluctantly agreed.

During the ceremony, Thor spoke to Loki and confessed that he didn’t believe even the combined forces of Hel would be enough to stop Sindr. Thor believes they need the Valkyrie, the warrior women who carry the honored Asgardian dead to Valhalla. But you have to be dead to go to Valhalla, and so he suggested that Loki kill him.

Loki is smart enough to know there’s no way killing Thor looks good on him, and so he at first refuses. However, Thor goads his brother, and it’s ultimately when Thor tells Loki that he still loves him that Loki snaps, and:

The issue continues and we see Thor at the gates of Valhalla, where he’s greeted by Valkyrie. The plan is going well by Thor’s estimations, and this seems to be setting helping to set up the upcoming new series Asgardians of the Galaxy, which will feature both Valkyrie and Skurge as main characters.

What do you think of this issue of Thor? Let us know in the comments!

Thor #3 is on sale now.