Thor Gets A New Costume And Golden Hammer

The Odinson is still deemed as unworthy, but a vision of the future shows that might be changing sooner than later.

Spoilers incoming for Thor #700, so if you haven’t had a chance to read the issue yet you’ve been warned.

Odinson is beckoned by the keepers of the fates themselves the Norns, but specifically by Karnilla, Queen of the Norns. The Norns need protecting from Malekith, who has already attempted to storm their fortress the Nornkeep. The Norns actually twine the strands of fate itself, and if the Nornkeep falls he could manipulate the fates of anyone.

Obviously, that’s a bad thing, so Odinson battles Malekith’s forces to keep them at bay. Unfortunately, even the might of Odinson, Toothgnasher, and Thori can’t hold them off forever, so Karnilla takes some of those threads and enters the brawl, strangling Malekith’s forces with the fates. As she manipulates them the reader sees what is to come “for all the realms. For all the Gods. For all the Thors.”

That vision features a number of interesting pieces, but as you can see in the gallery, the most eye-popping one is a new version of Odinson. He is in a costume that blends more classic elements of his costumes (chainmail, long boots, red cape) with new pieces, such as the golden arm. The arm holds Jarnbjorn, his trusty magical axe, but the other hand holds a golden hammer that looks a lot like Mjolnir.

Elsewhere in the panel the current Thor, Jane Foster, can be seen bleeding, fighting with damaged armor. There’s another shot of her human form as well, which lays dead on what appears to be the surface of the moon, though it could be somewhere else. Loki is also seen with the Infinity Gauntlet, which is a scary thought in and of itself, but another Loki in a more classic costume can be seen in the lower right corner as well.

It does seem inevitable that Odinson will once again wield a hammer, though why it is gold now is anyone’s guess. Is it Mjolnir or something else entirely? More answers await in Thor #701, but in the meantime, you can find the splash page in question in the gallery.

Thor #700 is in stores now.