Immortal Thor is easily one of the best Thor comics in years. Writer Al Ewing had already wowed Marvel fans with Immortal Hulk, so giving Thor the Immortal treatment was just what the doctor ordered. From the beginning, readers knew that Immortal Thor was going to take the Thor mythos to some drastic places, as the death of Thor was teased from the beginning. It’s been a long strange trip through Immortal Thor, as Ewing used the threat of the Utgard gods to move Thor through a story that made him more powerful than ever. It all led him to Utgard, where he and Skurge found themselves in battles against the most dangerous Elder Gods in creation. Thor was able to win the battles, and everything seemed like it was going Thor’s way. However, Loki has been a huge part of Thor’s journey, and it’s all been a part of a plan by the God of Stories.
That plan has involved Thor’s death from the beginning. Immortal Thor #25 changes everything about the Thor mythos. The Black Bridge and the Rainbow Bridge are both broken, and somehow the people of Earth have forgotten the role of Asgard in the age of heroes. Thor is sent to the Third Heaven, where Odin before him sacrificed himself to himself for knowledge. Thor battles against Donald Blake, now the God of Lies, and soon realizes that the only way to win is to finally, actually become human. This is a huge change to Thor, but it’s not the first time that Thor has become human.
Thor Has Been Bonded to Humans Several Times
So, it all began with Thor’s hubris. Thor’s power and skill made him Asgard’s greatest warrior. He became basically insufferable, and Odin created the human guise of Donald Blake to house his son’s spirit and show him humility. Thor spent years as Donald before even remembering that he was ever Thor, finding the walking stick that held Mjolnir. He transformed for the first time and realized what Odin had done to him, and became a superhero, to protect the humans that he had been living among for years. Thor met Jane Foster during this time and fell in love with her. Eventually, Thor would stop using the Donald Blake identity, and was a superhero full time. Thor would go without a host for a long time, having to deal with Red Norvell, who tried to replace him as Thor, before he was bonded to another human, this one Eric Masterson, with Odin saving Eric’s life by giving him the power of Thor. Eric was the dominant personality during this time, but eventually Thor would become his own being. Eric was given a magic mace and became Thunderstrike, but was soon killed.
The final time that Thor was bonded with a human took place after the heroes had returned from the pocket universe created for them by Franklin Richards in the aftermath of the battle against Onslaught. Thor ended up in battle against the Destroyer, and was killed. However, Odin again intervened, bonding Thor with paramedic Jake Olson. Thor and Olson stayed as one for a while, but eventually they separated. Thor did have a fourth human identity, that of Sigurd Jarlson. After being separated from Donald Blake, Thor still wanted to live among humans, so he created this new identity. Sigurd was a construction worker, and gave Thor a chance to experience a more normal human life than he had ever had. Thor would lose this life when he was bonded to Eric. However, it’s that last life is the most important one of all to Immortal Thor, as Thor decides to finally create a human identity all his own.
Thor Has Chosen Mortality
As Thor is battling Donald Blake, he reveals several things to the God of Thunder. One of them is that he’s been saddled with the mantle of God of Lies by Loki, and that the two of them are linked. Blake uses the Devil’s Hammer Hellnir against Thor, and Thor realizes that since two of them are bonded deeper than anyone else, that he can use Hellnir’s power as well. He decides that the two of them are gods with a human soul between them, so Thor steals that soul they share, all to create a new mortal identity. Of course, he uses the identity that he created all those years ago — Sigurd Jarlson.
Al Ewing promised to change Thor, and this is the biggest change imaginable. The Marvel Universe has forgotten who Thor is, thanks to the actions of Loki and Skurge, so this is an entirely new Thor. Thor has experienced mortality before, but he always knew that he was a god underneath it all. This is the first time that he’s truly mortal, and that could lead to some very interesting places.
Immortal Thor #25 is on sale now.
The post Marvel Just Made a Huge Change to Thor appeared first on ComicBook.com.
