After an nearly two year hiatus the original Odinson is returning to reclaim his rightful place atop the Marvel Universe. As part of the Marvel NOW! publishing initiative Marvel Comics is launching a brand new Thor series this October featuring the original incarnation of the Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created character to be written and drawn by Classic Thor Scribe’s Jason Aaron and Oliver Coipel entitled: Unworthy Thor. Aaron and Coipel most famously brought Thor back to life in 2007 revitalizing the character on the pages a few years before Chris Hemsworth would do the same on the screen.
In past few two years Jane Foster has wielded the Hammer, and done so with critical acclaim after the original Thor was deemed unworthy after the events of the 2014 crossover Original Sin. Since then the Odinson has dealt not only with the loss of his hammer, but the loss of his hand as well as imprisonment. It remains to be seen what will happen with Jane Foster’s battle with cancer or if the Odinson will even be deemed Worthy once again considering the title of the series is Unworthy Thor, for these answers and more readers will have to wait until October 2016.
Personally I am thrilled with the return of the Odinson! While I have been supportive of Marvel’s more diverse catalog of characters in recent years in the fields of race, gender, and sexual orientation I have remained steadfast that there must also be a place for classic incarnations of characters in the Marvel Universe. While characters must continuously evolve you must maintain some sense of recognizability to your brand, and by adding the Odinson back in the fray it appears Marvel has done just that.
Let us know what you think about the return of the Odinson in the comments below and let me know if you plan on picking up Unworthy Thor this October via twitter @thereelbradbell