Marvel’s God of Thunder has an awesome new costume, as Thor embraces an all-black redesign, complete with a dark power upgrade. How will this alter the lore surrounding the favorite son of Asgard, and what dark consequences will come from Thor’s decision to embrace a new source of power?
Thor is one of Marvel’s most powerful beings, thanks to the combination of his godly physique and his enchanted hammer, Mjolnir. However, he also has a long history of acquiring other godly artifacts when he needs them, from his strength-increasing belt Megingjord to the godly axe Tormod the Keen Edge, which gains cutting power in correlation with his wisdom.
Now, Thor has claimed an iconic Marvel weapon as part of a dark rebirth, but how long until the weapon is wielding him instead?
Thor Is Officially Venom’s New Host
In a new preview of What If…? Thor #1 – from Torunn Grønbekk, Sergio Fernández Dávila, Aure Jimenez, Bryan Valenza and Joe Sabino – Thor claims Venom, bonding with the alien symbiote. The next series depicts an alternate history where, during 1984’s Secret Wars‘ event, Thor claimed Venom before Spider-Man got the chance.
In mainstream Marvel canon, Spider-Man became Venom’s host while looking for a costume fabricator on the patchwork planet of Battleworld. Instead, he freed an alien being from its cage – one which bonded with him on the biological level, amplifying his rage and aggression before going on to become the villainous Venom. What If…? asks how things might have gone differently if Venom was discovered by a God rather than a teen vigilante.
Thor’s black costume is an intimidating design, with a white line connecting his armored plates to create a new chest logo, and adding spikes to his classic helmet, as well as binding bands up and down his arm. It’s worth noting that a lot of Venom’s visual identity and personality came from its time imprinting on Spider-Man, meaning Thor may be incubating a very different version of the character.
This What If…? comic has the benefit of retelling a story that has been expanded with decades of lore. Fans now know that Venom is a creation of Knull, aka the King in Black, the godlike embodiment of the cosmic void. It’s likely that operating on a godly scale, Thor’s Venom will come into conflict with its creator far sooner in this timeline.
Thor Already Has a Dark Connection to Venom Lore
While turning Thor into the new Venom is a creative new twist, Thor does have existing connections to symbiote lore. Most prominently, his destiny is entwined with the sword known as All-Black the Necrosword. All-Black was the first symbiote created by the King in Black, and later became the chosen weapon of Gorr the God-Butcher, who used it to slay countless deities.
In 2012’s King Thor – a proposed ending to Thor’s story, from Jason Aaron and Esad Ribić – Thor faces Gorr’s final form, merged with All-Black into an apocalyptic force that finally slays Loki and grievously injures Thor. It will be interesting to see how What If…?Thor merges Thor’s existing connections to Venom lore into this new story, given how significant it already is by a different route.
What If…? stories usually end in disaster, with creative teams taking the opportunity of a standalone story to rain down consequences that the mainstream can’t support. In this case, it’s highly likely that Thor could become the new King in Black – an outcome which would necessitate yet another redesign, this time stripping the son of Odin of his humanity as the ultimate god of evil.
What If…? Thor #1 is coming June 17 from Marvel Comics.
- First Appearance
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Journey into Mystery
- Alias
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Thor Odinson, Eric Masterson, Kevin Masterson, Beta Ray Bill, Thordis, Throg, Red Norvell, Jane Foster
- Alliance
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Avengers, Warriors Three, Thor Corps, God Squad
- Race
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Asgardian, Human
- Franchise
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Marvel