Comics Explainer: Thor Love & Thunder

What to know before seeing the movie

When Jason Aaron’s first issue of Thor hit the stands, everyone knew it was the start of something special. Over the course of seven years, Aaron and a team of incredibly talented artists put together one of the best comic book runs in modern memory. It was tragic and triumphant in even measure. And it introduced a bevy of new ideas into the Thor universe that we knew we would eventually see on the big screen - because it was too good for Feige & Co. to avoid.

But if you weren’t reading Thor in 2012, you might be wondering what the comic background is for these relatively new characters. And here I am, once again, happy to provide. Let’s get into it.

The Mighty Thor

When Jason Aaron first introduced The Mighty Thor, her true identity was a complete mystery to comics readers. But the advertisements for Thor: God and Thunder have made it clear that they won’t be hiding her true identity as Jane Foster, Thor’s long-time love interest played by Natalie Portman in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

In the comics, Jane was also Earth’s representative to the Council of Worlds, while also dying of cancer. Partially, her illness was a red herring to throw readers off the trail. But it also provided a difficult choice for Jane: Keep her powers and live forever as an immortal, or accept her own mortality as a human.

Jane would maintain her helm as Thor for years in the comics. After the Mighty Thor comic ended, Jane took over the main line book, Thor. She survived the collapse of the multiverse and was a part of the Thor Corps on Battleworld. I don’t know if any of that will ever make its way to the big screen, but I hope Natalie Portman gets her own Thor trilogy instead of getting shunted off to Disney+.

Gorr the God Butcher

Gorr’s story was the beginning of Jason Aaron’s run on Thor in 2012. He came from a desolate desert world where he lived among a religious tribe who prayed everyday to survive. His people were sure that the only thing standing between their harsh, tragic, disappointing lives and death was the protection of their gods. But after Gorr lost his wife and daughter, he cursed the gods and left his tribe to go his own way.

While surviving on his own, Gorr found the body of two dead gods who had killed each other in combat¹. Seizing one of the dead gods’ weapons, Gorr swore an oath of vengeance against all gods. The way Gorr saw it, gods were too obsessed with themselves and not interested in helping people or answering prayers. He then began an unending quest across the cosmos to kill every god.

His ultimate intention in the comics was to build a God Bomb, a weapon that would explode across time, destroying all gods across the entirety of the timeline. Whether or not we’ll see a God Bomb in the comics, Gorr is an exciting character who I’m excited to see Christian Bale bring to live on the big screen.

The Unworthy Thor

In Thor: Ragnarok, Hella destroyed Thor’s hammer. But in the comics universe, Thor lost his hammer for an entirely different reason. During an event series called Original Sin² Thor becomes unworthy and looses his ability to lift Mjölnir. And this loss of power came when Thor finds out “Gorr was right.”

Whether Thor will be forced to grapple with his own worth in Love and Thunder remains to be seen. But the character certainly wasn’t in the best emotional space the last time we saw him. His brother, mother, sister and father are all dead. His hammer is pulverized. And he’s still living with the guilt of failing to save humanity from Thanos. So there’s the possibility for a similar arc.

1. Fun fact! One of them is the god of the Symbiotes. Gorr’s swords is actually a part of a symbiote god. Not sure if the movie rights will allow that. But fun stuff!

2. Also by Jason Aaron