Thor is a Woman

By: Nicole D'Andria

Originally announced Tuesday by The View and now circulating on big name news sites like Time and MTV, Thor is no longer worthy of lifting his hammer Mjolnir. But the real news is who will be taking on the mantle of Thor, God of Thunder - and that is a new and, as of right now unidentified, woman. Yes, the God of Thunder will be a female!


If you're unfamiliar with Thor and Mjolnir's history, here are the highlights: Mjolnir is Thor's powerful hammer which can only be lifted by those who are worthy. Usually, origin stories about Thor (including the Thor movie), Thor loses his ability to pick up his hammer and must redeem himself in order to get Mjolnir back. Thor is not the only one who has lifted his hammer either. Captain America has previously wielded Mjolnir and in a crossover between DC and Marvel both Superman and Wonder Woman were able to lift the hammer.

 
So this isn't the first time a woman has used the hammer. 

According to Jason Aaron, the writer of the upcoming series, "This is not She-Thor. This is not Lady Thor. This is not Thorita. This is THOR... This is the THOR of the Marvel Universe. But it’s unlike any Thor we’ve ever seen before." This will be the eighth comic book from Marvel that features a female in the leading role (the other eight include Ms. Marvel, Captain Marvel). 

Marvel “aims to speak directly to an audience that long was not the target for Super Hero comic books in America: women and girls.” However, while their hearts may be in the right place, I'm not very enthusiastic about a female Thor. A big issue with female comic book characters is that there is a lack of original characters not attached to a male character. 

While Aaron was adamant that this wasn't She-Thor, meaning she wasn't an imitation but the genuine article, she's still attached to her male counterpart. Also, I don't understand how her name is Thor. Just because she has her powers doesn't mean she should lose her identity... unless this new costume hero is just a genderbendered God of Thunder. He has been a frog, so I guess this isn't too much of a stretch.

She does look pretty badass though...

The reaction to a female Thor has been pretty negative. While I'm not as thrilled as I wish I was by the news, I'm not going to say whether or not this is truly a good or bad decision until I read the new series. Who knows, maybe they'll create an empowering figure that will become even more popular than her male counterpart? 

The new female wielder of Mjolnir will begin her adventures in Thor. The series will be written by Jason Aaron (Ghost Rider, Wolverine) and drawn by Russell Dauterman (Supurbia). Aaron's current Thor series, Thor: God of Thunder will be ending this September 2014. The new comic book series will begin in October 2014.