Thor, son of Odin, will retake his hammer and his place as the Marvel Universe’s premier thunder god in the relaunched Thor #1, Marvel Comics announced today. This follows a nearly four year period in which Jane Foster held the title.
To recap: Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir, abandoned Thor Odinson when he became “unworthy,” and attached itself to a new hero, a woman who called herself Thor. This Thor was eventually revealed to be Jane Foster, escaping her mortal body, which had been weakened by terminal cancer, to aid the world as a superhero. Odinson, meanwhile had many adventures of his own, including losing his left hand and taking up axes.
Now, Jane’s future as Thor is up in the air. Her current series, The Mighty Thor, is going through an arc called “The Death of the Mighty Thor,” in which the frailty of her mortal form finally catches up to her. If Jane transforms into Thor again, she will surely die the moment she turns back — or the moment she is separated from Mjolnir for long enough.
While the outcome of that epic tale remains as yet unwritten — or, at least, it hasn’t been published yet — it seems that Odinson will be retaking Mjolnir in Marvel’s Fresh Start relaunch this summer. The superhero’s book will be relaunched as Thor #1. Writer Jason Aaron, who brought Jane Foster’s Thor to the Marvel Universe in the first place, will pen the comic, with Mike Del Mundo on art.
“On the one hand, I still feel like I’m writing the same Thor story that began six years ago in the pages of Thor: God of Thunder #1,” Aaron said in Marvel’s announcement, “But at the same time, God of Thunder had a very different look and feel and focus than Jane Foster’s story.”
Thor will face new challenges now that he’s back in the metaphorical saddle. The status quo of Asgard will be significantly changed by “The Death of the Mighty Thor,” and a war still rages in Asgard’s Nine Realms.
“The artifacts of Asgard have been scattered across the Earth,” Marvel’s announcement said, “and to reclaim them, Thor will have to face some ugly truths … Like the production cost of hundreds of new hammers! And he’ll need every last one of them if he’s going to stop the unstoppable when none other than the Juggernaut joins the fray.”
It looks like a few of those new hammers are seen in the full cover to Thor #1, below. The issue will hit shelves on June 13.