First Female ‘Thor’ Pages Previewed, Reason Behind Change Explained
The mantle of Thor being taken up by a mysterious female character was first announced by Marvel all the way back in July. The decision was hailed in some quarters and met with controversy in others. The fateful switch is happening this week, when Thor #1 hits newsstands. Marvel provided a preview (via Vulture) of the first four pages of the new comic.
The Thor: God of Thunder run of comics ended its 25-issue run in September with the character constantly being pushed to the edge. The final issue left the Odinson to deal with the repercussions of Original Sin #8 earlier in the month, which found him unworthy to wield his hammer, Mjolnir.
“I’ve introduced some new characters, brought back some old villains,” writer Jason Aaron said of his work on Thor: God of Thunder in a Washington Post interview. “All of that really plays into the new series. This was always the plan: to get Thor to a point where he was unworthy and have someone else pick up that hammer.”
Thor #1 will pick up immediately following the end of Thor: God of Thunder #25, with Thor now unworthy and begging Mjolnir to allow him to pick the hammer up once again. There’s another that is worthy, and this mystery woman is able to pick up the enchanted hammer in a gender-empowering sort of twist to the classic inscription. The big question for comic fans and Thor is who she is.
“The Odinson, the previous version of Thor, he’s going to look at all the women around him and start to try to figure out which one of [them] is running around with [his] hammer,” Aaron explained. “It’s a suspect list that’s going to include his mother, Freyja, who plays a big role in [the first issue]; Roz Solomon, who is Thor’s new love interest and also a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent; [his] ex-girlfriend Jane Foster; and Sif [who is a big part of the movies].”
Don’t expect the mystery to last long though. Aaron says the secret identity won’t be stretched out for long.
Aaron also explained the reasons behind the decision to make a female Thor. Essentially it’s because it hasn’t been done before.
“I knew pretty quickly that I wanted it to be a female character for a couple of different reasons. We haven’t seen very many female characters pick that hammer up over the years. We’ve seen lots of different people in the Marvel universe, from Captain America to horse-face alien guy Beta Ray Bill lift that hammer, but hardly any female characters. And if you look at Thor’s supporting cast these days, like the one he’s had in the book I’ve been doing, most of his supporting cast is female. So if it was going to be someone from Thor’s world that was going to pick this hammer up, then it made sense that it was going to be a woman.”
You can catch the preview panels for Thor #1 below. What do you think of this twist with the classic Marvel superhero? Let us know in the comments below.
[Images via Marvel / Vulture]
