Comic book Thor is boring.
There, I said it. Come at me. For the record though, I found him boring for the same reason I found Superman boring. The near omnipotent power at their disposal made it almost impossible to tell interesting, compelling, human stories. There was precious little room for genuine pathos and most writers wound up relying on the omnipotent monster of the month formula just to meet their deadlines (or in Superman’s case, giving everyone and their dog Krytponite to make things moderately interesting).
Every month Thor would confront some alien or rogue god or over powered mutant and after hitting him in the head a bunch of times he would discover their weak spot and smite them with a thunderstorm before getting drunk. Wash, rinse and repeat. It was like watching bad Shakespearian cosplay with a severe storm warning.
For fifty plus years.
It was about as exciting as mouldy white bread.
This isn’t to say some writers didn’t try to infuse everyone’s favourite Norse God with some humanity. More than once the Odinson was tied to a fragile mortal here on the Earthly plane to balance his immortal omnipotence and ground the character with some humanity. But that narrative device always wound up discarded in favour of undiluted and boring divinity.
Nor was this to say that there weren’t some very good Thor stories told by some very capable writers. But they were the exception and not the rule, with most of Thor’s stories becoming repetitive white noise.
Until Jason Aaron did the unthinkable.
Several years ago Thor became unworthy to wield Mjolnir. It was a story built up over time, with serious doubts about both the gods and his place in the world festering inside the God of Thunder. During a pivotal battle against Nick Fury on the moon (because comics), all that doubt and uncertainty came to a head and Thor’s confidence that he was worthy to wield the mighty hammer came crashing down. He could no longer lift Mjolnir as a result.
And there the hammer stayed, sitting on the surface of the moon because no one, not even Odin AllFather himself, could budge it. Until Jane Foster did.
What was fascinating about Jane inheriting both the power and mantle of Thor was that she was forced to embrace her fragile humanity. Unlike the movies, Jane Foster was a supporting character during Thor’s early days, a token romantic interest who disappeared quickly. By the time she came back into Thor’s life, the good doctor was suffering from advanced cancer.
And while every time she lifted Mjolnir she was transformed into an unstoppable Goddess of Thunder, the transformation back to her mortal self completely erased the progress of her life sustaining chemotherapy. As Thor she was more powerful than most of the beings in the known Universe; she soared across the stars and saw things most humans could only imagine. She humbled intergalactic warlords, defended refugees fleeing entire planets and battled dark elves and super villains in humanity’s name. But as Thor, she inched closer and closer to death’s inevitable door every time she became the hero.
She was fragile. She was mortal. Despite all her power she was losing the battle with her own mortality. She was doomed to die just like the rest of us, the unimaginable power at her disposal killing her while saving untold legions of others.
What was just as compelling about Jane’s turn as Thor was the effect and influence it had on the original Thor himself (who adopted the name Odinson after witnessing Foster perform selfless acts of courage and heroism while wielding Mjolnir). After drunkenly wallowing in self pity like a spoiled child whose just lost his favourite credit cards, he did eventually embark on a journey of self discovery and growth that developed his character more than any story since his creation half a century ago.
In short, Thor was interesting for the first time in recent memory. Even Foster’s inevitable sacrifice was part of the story, her humility and selflessness eventually reminding Thor Odinson of what it was to be a hero. Of what it was that made that made him worthy in the first place.
That one development not only gave us an interesting new chapter in the Thor mythos (one that examined what it truly was to be human while possessing the power of a God) but also allowed an interesting re-examination of a character that had grown stale decades ago.
(Don’t worry about Jane though, following the Universe spanning War of the Realms she was resurrected as the world’s final Valkyrie.)
More than a few eyebrows were raised when Marvel announced that there be a fourth Thor movie (a first among solo Avengers movies) AND that Natalie Portman would reprise her role as Jane Foster to transition into Thor. It’s a move that will definitely spice up one of the MCU’s charter members (for all the reasons above) and could well stand as one of the most pivotal moments in the MCU post Endgame.
Granted the MCU Thor has been a much more entertaining figure than his comics counterpart, especially with Taika Watti at the helm. So it will be interesting to see how the story of Jane Foster’s Thor affects both him and the MCU moving forward. But just imagine Thor under Watiti becoming genuinely conflicted. Genuinely interesting (with a healthy serving of comedy of course).
And the seeds of Thor’s fall from grace may have already been planted. Don’t forget that Thor was worried that he may no longer be worthy of Mjolnir during the events of Endgame. After he failed to prevent Thanos from killing Loki, the slaughter of Asgardian refugees fleeing the destruction of their home world and half the entire universe, he spiralled down into depression and gluttony.
For a few moments he sincerely doubted his worth. And he doubted it for a reason. It may have been the same reason he abdicated New Asgard’s throne to Valkyrie before heading off with the Guardians of the Galaxy or something we’re currently unaware of. But the fact remains that the dude was sweating until Mjolnir was back in his grasp.
It will be interesting to see what pushes him to the breaking point and how he loses his worthiness altogether. Nearly as interesting will be to see how Jane comes into possession of Mjolnir (let alone how she comes back into Thor’s life after leaving so abruptly).
As an aside, many people have expressed concern over Natalie Portman returning to the role of Jane Foster. While there were times that it felt like Portman was uninterested during her earlier foray into the MCU, we should have faith in MCU architect Kevin Feige and director Taika Watiti. Like it or not, the MCU is an unparalleled cinematic achievement and Feige has proven he knows exactly how to steer the juggernaut that is Marvel. Watiti meanwhile, has proven that he can see exactly what he needs from a performer and successfully coax it out of them. In these two we trust.
Perhaps more interesting will be seeing where everyone goes after Thor: Love And Thunder (where Foster’s Thor will debut). Will we have a new Thor wielding Mjolnir and fighting alongside the Avengers while the Odninson goes on a quest to reclaim his worthiness and rediscover who he is? Maybe on a DisneyPlus show of his own?
Now wouldn’t that be an ingenious, Universe defining development.
Image via Movieweb.com
