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Marvel's New Thor Will Be a Woman
An anonymous reader writes: Marvel Comics has announced that Thor, the thunder god whose story has been told in comic books, movies, and TV shows since the 1960s, will fall from grace, and no longer be able to wield his hammer Mjolnir. A brand new female character will take up the name Thor and continue the series. Jason Aaron, the series writer, said, "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." Marvel's Wil Moss added, "The new Thor continues Marvel's proud tradition of strong female characters like Captain Marvel, Storm, Black Widow and more. And this new Thor isn't a temporary female substitute — she's now the one and only Thor, and she is worthy!"
I am Woman, hear me Thor!
That is all.
But this summary and article both kinda sorta imply 616(i.e. main) universe.
This is beyond ridiculous.
Congratulations to a comic book company for changing a male character from very old mythology into a woman.
Perhaps they can next make a comic book with Jesus as a woman?
Still, this is stupid. Incredibly stupid.
In related news, Odin will become a transgender drag queen with a flair for theatrics. Loki, however, will remain low-key.
Just another comic book gimmick like female Robin, and gay minority Spiderman. Comic books can't go more than a few months without having to completely change everything around and "spice things up". Just try following a single title for more than two years.
So, her name will be Thora (óra is legit Icelandic name, just like ór)
One more opportunity for a character with big bazoombas and skimpy clothes to pander to their core reader base.
putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
The Thor films seem to have a lot of appeal for my wife and female friends, partly due to beefcake. I wonder how much confusion this will cause between the comics and movies.
Thor has always been a male demigod. They are just pandering at this point.
My karma is not a Chameleon.
Better than someone with so little mental fortitude that they going into a bawling rage over a slight casting change on a comic-book they don't even read.
I don't think a comment of "sad" qualifies as a "bawling rage" and I don't think "a staple of the Marvel Universe and Norse mythology" being changed into a woman is "slight."
One of the early What If? comics Marvel put out was about Jane Foster finding Thor's Hammer instead of Don Blake. There is a hilarious summary of it here. Not sure if it's the earliest example of Thor as a woman but's its gotta be close!
Creationist Textbook Stickers Declared Unconstitutional by CowboyNeal
Wait, no...that's a different show.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
The renaming of its famous comic book and TV character, "Wonder Person."
Chris Hemsworth and Lynda Carter are reportedly in talks to assume the other's iconic role. No word yet if they're planning to share costumes.
But is she also going to be half-black/half-latino, transgendered and disabled? Don't they need to pander to more groups?
I'd pay several moneys to see Thor with Parkinson's disease wield Mjolnir.
Are we so unimaginative now that it's not possible to come up with and build new characters? Existing characters have to be completely substituted, just to piggyback on the established lore and history?
And for what? To satisfy some new gender-equality metric? Seriously, I know it would take time and effort, but surely you can come up with a compelling unique story for a woman without them having to be propped up by a different character's previous popularity.
Thor is a very male name in Scandinavia. It isn't like people in the US name their daughters Jeffery....
But If gender swapping their most popular characters while keeping their gender specific names is going to be a thing, they should just go all out.
They should Make peter parker & clark kent women,.. & make Lois lane a man, etc...
Come on comic book industry, I dare you.... triple dog dare you
A brand new female character will take up the name Thor and continue the series. Jason Aaron, the series writer, said, "This is not She-Thor. This is not Lady Thor. This is not Thorita. This is THOR.
Uh, yeah. Like when that other guy was Batman? But then he wasn't Bruce Wayne, was he?
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
Depowering a beloved character so a woman can take his place is not the way to show respect for women. This isn't feminism, it's just ridicullous. If Marvel wants to show respect to women, they should make sure their existing female characters are well-written and well-drawn. As it stands, I don't believe for a second that this new Thor isn't going to be subject to the same sexist tropes as so many other superheroines.
Political Correctness alive and well....
Marxist?
I think you missed the main problem. Thor has been depicted throughout the ages as white and straight.
Let me guess... This new female Thor will wear a skimpy outfit, and much less armor than the previous, male Thor. But this is objectification is somehow empowering to women...
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
I think, you'll find, that the Thor who's dead, and thus being replaced isn't in "the" marvel universe.
More T&A for the male readers and unreal body expectations for the females. Win-win. :)
[John]
Shit better not happen!
And apparently not strong enough to not need a huge rack to sell issues.
Consider the advice of the great philosophers Nelson and Mr. T.
I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
Must be Loki's doing?
I'm all for strong women. Hell, I have an 11 year old daughter. So I like the idea of her having strong role models. But this is a little weird considering the comic book character is based off of the male god of Norse legend by the same name. And why is this a "fall from grace" as TFS states? And why can't (s)he wield Mjolnir?
While I'm asking, why is it that most of these comic book "strong women" have a pair of double D boobs (at minimum) falling out of their outfits? I don't care how skilled a women is, she ain't gonna be fighting worth a damn in 5 inch 'fuck-me-heels' with her ass and boobs falling out of her costume.
They usually do so good using established works and expanding upon them. At least call her a Goddess if you're going to do it right.
The comic book industry has started to realize that sexism is bad for business. There's still plenty of remnants left (especially at DC - see the New 52 Starfire kerfluffle), but it's changing. The comics press has been talking about it for years, indie comics have been doing it for longer, and now Marvel is riding the trend. If you can even call it a trend - I really doubt "treating both genders as equals" is something that will go out of style, barring another dark age or something.
Yes, it's a bit gimmicky, taking an established character and replacing him with a her. But comic plots in general are pretty gimmicky. And they took care to keep the "old" character around, he's just depowered (something that happens to superheroes pretty much constantly). So it's not as big a change as it might outwardly seem (especially since Marvel has two continuities, and they haven't said if this is Ultimate universe or the original universe Thor being replaced - so either way, a male Thor will still be around in at least one universe).
Marvel's business side is probably doing it only because it's trendy and makes them look good, but I don't feel like the writers are doing it purely for that reason. Hard to tell at this point, though. The armor is potentially problematic - boob plate is better than most female characters used to get, but it's still not good design (both from a realist perspective (good way to break your own ribs and guide blows straight to your heart), and a feminist perspective (you're only doing it because boobs)). But other than that, they're at least talking like they're making her a proper female character. Marvel's been doing well with that of late (see Ms Marvel for a widely-praised example).
Modern feminism gets a bad rap because of the extremists, because they're the loudest and easiest to argue with. But they aren't the majority - the bulk are just people who think gender equality is a good thing, which is much harder to argue with.
Does no one else remember Beta Ray Bill from Walt Simonson's run in the '80s (the golden age for Thor and large swathes of Marvel, in my opinion). Beta Ray Bill was able to wield Mjolnir and Thor's power even though he was a vaguely-humanoid alien.
Political Correctness has hit comic books! Whoda thunk it. Create a female character if you want but don't superimpose a female gender on a male character. That is unless Thor is now going to have a sex change? Wait Norse God, Denmark. It makes sense now! Thor will undergo a sex change operation, talk about predictable.
Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"
This has nothing to do with Norse Mythology. Which.btw, also changes with time. Do you complain about those changes to?
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
At least they didn't have Thor get shot to death with an evil black gun whilst defending his homosexual best friend. Comic books need to stay away from politics...far, far away.
She wasn't? I just thought it was a rather manish drag queen, which made it even creepier. That's not to say any of the system lords appeared to be 100% heterosexual (especially Ra and Ba'al).
Slow Down Cowboy! It's been 1 hour, 47 minutes since you last successfully posted a comment
Well we as consumers don't have to like the change or more importantly support or buy into the stupid idea of a Female Thor. I wasn't a Thor fan anyways. Stop thinking we like female super heros, well we do, when there scantly clad. I never bought into the "Cough" Strong female hero unless they are scantly clad lol. Call me a pig i don't Give a F :) I like my women with nice curves and a soft ass.Women shaped like guys make me want to gag. But if thats your cup of tea well we all like different things so be it. This is all IMO of course.
Jack of all trades,master of none
Ugh, how about Thorella, Thorette, or Thorina. What a buncha idjits that are going to do this.
Oh, yeah! Wise guy, huh? Woob woob woob woob! Nyuk! Nyuk!
Yes.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
We already did this... Even a racist clock is right twice a day
In Marvel Lore, anyone who is worthy may wield the hammer and gain the power of thor... this has included
A horsefaced dude (beta ray bill who now wields a dupe of the hammer, sorta)
A frog named Throg
it has also been wielded by Storm (who is a woman) and Captain America.
This is a non-story, and not the first time a woman has wielded Mjolnir.
One night the Norse god Thor was feeling a bit horny so he decided to come down to earth to satisfy his needs.
He picked up a good looking woman with a great body and they went to her apartment she only had one small problem, she had a speech impediment, but this didn't affect the sex. They went at it hot and heavy all night long.
In the morning Thor had to leave so he decided he should at least tell her his name so he said to her, "I'm Mighty Thor and I have to leave now."
She looked at him and said, "You're thore?! I'm tho thor I can hardly pith."
Donte Alistair Anderson Roberts - hi son!
Karma: Chameleon
Either you are being misogynistic, or stupid. Pick at least one.
Nope. False dilemma used as ad hominem.
Cluebat -- The thor comic is based on the norse mythology, making it reasonable for the character to be male. The narrative in the article makes it clear this change is being done for 'grrl power' political reasons.
You might see it as a problem. I consider the fact you see it as a problem, as the problem (if this was meant as sarcasm, I apologize). What's wrong with white, straight males? Norse mythology comes from scandinavian culture. They are/were largely white. Seems reasonable to me for them to depict their deities as such.
The name 'Thor' is masculine too. If marvel wanted a new female character, why not create a new one? Either borrow from existing norse mythos like they did with thor, or come up with all new material. I know, what a concept, right? It's pretty clear from the language of the article that this was done for 'grrl power' political correctness and not for any legitimate creative reason.
To be fair, minting Thor as a superhero that, though a series of cosmic macguffins, teams up with Captain America and Ironman, is a deeply stupid idea to begin with.
i would also chip in several moneys for this to be real.
Next up is Superman. He went to LA and got a sex change. She will remain called Superman, however, Clark Kent is now known as Clara Kent.
Thor the son of Odin. http://www.rosala-viking-centr... Hmm. Costumed superheroes can move on from generation to generation as done well in Watchmen but genuine gods are surely a bit more stable.
Easy solution: Don't buy the books. I would guess, the overwhelming majority of comic book buyers are men. Let's see if the male readers can make a sufficiently large bump in the profit Marvel makes with the Thor books, so it cannot be compensated by the three additional female readers Marvel might get through this move. If not... you deserve not better.
Mjolnir isn't just any screwdriver! It's a sonic screwdriver of kick-ass! The hammer part it just sonically created. ;o)
Microsoft, Apple, Google, Amazon what's the difference? All steal money from devs and control with walled gardens.
Groucho-Marxist.
You can wish the moon was made of cheese, and you can announce it is, but it won't make it so.
Thor is a male norse god, no matter how you try to retcon it. The new character will not be Thor, period. It'll be a female character called Thor.
I don't know why they did this, because it's completely stupid. The norse mythology is rich with strong women, equal in power to their male counterparts. They could have easily built up any of them into a major character.
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
My 5' 0" Irish Grandmother was VA hospital RN . She was my first female superhero.
Flipping 6' 3" Marines around their beds one handed while giving anyone who tried to give her the jeast bit of lip Instant Kill Gaze O' Death.
But is she also going to be half-black/half-latino, transgendered and disabled?
You're thinking of Spider-Man.
Stop using your platforms to push marxist propaganda. It's so blatant when history is so blatantly contradicted for no good reason. The mythos always depicted thor as male. Why is it so terrible to have a dominant male in a protagonist role? It's not misogyny.
The Marvel Thor is whoever holds the hammer. In the past a woman, an alien, and even a frog have all become Thor. This has been established for several decades and back to the creation of Marvel Thor character in the 60's. It's not terrible to have a dominant male role, they've got plenty of them. Now they want a dominant female role to add in to sell things in a capitalistic desire to make money because half the population is lacking any dominant characters they can relate to. Somehow you make that Marxist? You are a little messed up by this it seems and have some biases when you start claiming a capitalist grab for money by supplying a product to demanding customers is Marxist. In addition to that, you don't know shit about comics. Some nerd you are.
The name 'Thor' is masculine too. If marvel wanted a new female character, why not create a new one?
Why bother? Their readers probably don't speak scandanavian languages and don't know that Thor is a masculine name. To Americans, it's just a name. It could be the Asgardian equivalent to Pat. They need a front ranked character to make female because there is an increasing number of readers who want a primary character that is female. Taking one who has stood the test of time not only shows their commitment to these readers, but decreases the chance of coming up with a character that will fail. (Look at all Marvel's attempts at creating a Superman counterpart, including a black one. Even after sticking them in the Avengers they don't amount to anything.) Plus, I bet if we look at sales, the Thor title isn't doing all that hot anyway.
I'm interested. Please explain what this has to do with Marxism.
Karma: Terrifying (mostly affected by atrocities you've committed)
After Wonder Woman is killed, a brave young man takes up the bracers, lasso and breastplate, becoming.....
Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
Look, sometimes this works like when Duncan played Kingpin, but usually it's a transparent money grab.
I think Marvel & Paramount really wanted to push Sif & the warriors 3 into a spin off. The problem was they were a bunch of pussies in the first Thor and they were even weaker in the second. This is a a blatant money grab and a not very original one.
Hmm, Thor is not property of Marvel Comics..They have hijacked a Nordic cultural icon. Taking something away from someone else's culture and making money with it caused issue for Marvel. I would think taking a cultural icon from a foreign country and giving it a sex change will cause more issue. Thor is not their story. and not theirs to change. I'm betting eventual litigation, if not from Americans..then from the Nordics. What next, are they going to steal Poseidon from the Greeks and create a transsexual against the will of others?
If they can grab money with that, then it is right what they are doing. Making money is the first and foremost task of a company.
Is it already April Fools'?
Well yes and no. They could sell all of their trademarks and IP for $10 and that would be making money. Shoving something out just for a short term gain isn't always the best plan.
Never thought I'd find myself searching google images for "thor nude", but here we are.
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
I suggest you read the article as it makes the motivation for the change quite clear.
Feminism is cultural marxism across sex (males are the oppressor class, females, the oppressed). I'm sure marvel loves to make as much money as they can, but they're also using their platform to push disingenuous politics. I'm criticizing them for it. Of course, they're welcome to do what they want with their business.
Notice how I responded without personal attacks? Try it on for size.
This is very "green lantern-ish" sounding to me. The way it's explained here: http://time.com/2987551/thor-m... makes it sound like whoever wields Mjolnir is Thor. Current Thor becomes unable to wield the hammer, so the hammer choses someone else, who happens to be a woman. She becomes Thor, and previous Thor becomes "big muscular guy but not superhero" or something.
This is where I get my recommended daily allowance of "Foot in Mouth."
This time it's "what if Thor was a woman - what would change?"
It's no less valid in the setting than "what if Jimmy Olsen was turned into a Gorilla - again?"
Whether it's readable or not and breaks other things in the setting is a different story. Some artists and writers could make it interesting.
Just like what was done with turning Wonder Woman into a female Batman with no superpowers a while back. That was mentioned here a while back and I'll bet that's over and now a side story with zero effect on continuity.
Now we can have loads of girls thinking that they're special goddesses instead of mere mortal princesses. How trite.
From the posts here it looks like a lot of us are just grabbing the wrong end of the hammer - Marvel see "Thor" as the job title of whoever has the hammer and the moviegoing public like me see "Thor" as the name of a specific character born in Asgard.
So I think most of the complaints are just people grabbing the wrong end of the hammer and rubbing vigorously in public - not a good look.
Nerd Fail!
It's not just armor, it's a costume. A costume is meant to not only protect the wearer, but to distract the attacker(s).
Just like you probably can't talk normally to really good-looking girls, in the comic universe, attackers cannot fully focus on attacking when the costume-wearer is a hot chick.
Nothing personal, it's just part of Canon.
Drop the "T".....
I am the unwilling control for my Origin.
I'm looking forward to seeing the new character use her powers to create a miniature hurricane to clean the bathtub. [I kid, I kid]
Personally I'm holding out for a female version of Juggernaut or the Blob.
On one hand I want to shout "Hypocrites! Who here complained when Starbuck was turned into a female?"
On the other hand I just can't see how the single Marvel character that screams "masculinity" can be turned into a woman without becoming a comic figu... erh... you know what I mean!
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
The Dirk Benedict Starbucks was a young, reckless hoodlum who couldn't keep his hand out of women's panties. Turning that into a woman makes it a slut, and we (ok, at least if we're not overcome with PC-ness) think that's hot.
Thor is a strong, rather grim, very masculine superhero who beats up the bad guys. Turning that into a woman makes it a butch dyke.
You might see the difference.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
What? No Zombies, Robots, Pirates or Ninjas?
Are you prejudiced?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
That's all nice and dandy, but remember, when time comes to make a movie, what will matter is how big the hooters on the actress are and rest assured that her "armor" will highlight that "feature" of hers.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
The Aesir already have women among them. What about Freya, or the Valkyries? Marvel don't need to do this.
I'd actually be interested to know the opinions of any genuine Asatruar who read these comics, about this development. Do you consider it sacrilege?
Jack Chick will be recasting Jesus as a woman to appeal to the female audience.
The new Thor continues Marvel's proud tradition of ...
... completely ignoring things like historical background, common knowledge and elementary logic.
Being Danish, it has always irked me, that this cartoon 'Thor' is portrayed as a tall, sledge-hammer wielding body builder with lanky, blond hair, full body wax and a placid temperament; the traditional thunder-god, son of Odin and married to Sif, was red-haired and -bearded (and generally hairy as a man would be), foul-tempered and wielded a hammer, mjolnir, that was famously short-shafted. I suppose a busty, female 'Thoretta' isn't really all that much further from the original. It just another American, plasticky product, like 'He-Man' and 'Power Rangers'.
Thoreen.
Thora. (the explorer)
Thorida. (if she's from Florida)
Thorala.
I am the unwilling control for my Origin.
This kind of stuff used to be novel, but now is just dumb. Me thinks the girls have enough Girl power roll models.
Politically Correct Bull.
And this new Thor isn't a temporary female substitute — she's now the one and only Thor, and she is worthy! They said the same thing back then for the new Spiderman, the new Green Lantern(DC), the new ... you get it. When sales plummet for a few months(like they always do, because comic books oldies only like their sacred Statu Quo), they'll bring back the old Thor fast enough.
Break out the chain mail bikini! You go Thor!
Left MS Windows for Linux Mint and never looked back!
Vote for Bernie in 2016!
I have no doubt she will be worthy. But I also have no doubt Marvel will spec her with large bosoms and a bustier.
1) The new Thor apparently shaves her armpits.
2) Again with the "female does what a male does, but without the powerful hammer"
Well, apparently, you only have to fool the majority of people for a little while.
If they want to sell some comics, they should make Wonder Woman a man. And Batgirl a guy as well. Maybe, then it would sell better.
Ninjas don't carry tic tacs
I know, lets give the new Thor round black ears.. No Lets make Thor into Micky Mouse - Mickey Thor!! Marvel has this nasty habit of messing with and messing up their best characters. A politically correct female Thor is ridiculous - changing Thor's identity is ridiculous. (nothing against women BTW but this is just ugly) Didn't they once try to do this with Superman? changing his identity almost killed off the character completely. I like a lot of Marvels characters but that always comes with the knowledge that sooner or later they will shit on them - and you..
Below the speed of light Special Relativity is one of the most accurate theories in physics - above the speed of light..
A comic is a very strange world, its a place where women and men are hyper-sexualized, they die and wake up after a short period of time, there are people with fictional superpowers which can defeat laws of physics , it's a place where the mythological history is rewritten over and over again. I just don't understand people, this is just another turn of the events in order to create a false sense of polemic, If you are expecting a very successful and commercial comic book with real characters and realistic proportions, well, you can do it, but i don't know how many of those are you going to sell. Sad? yes, but that's how the comics work
Finally, Marvel is brave enough to allow one of their heroes to come out and get a gender-change operation!!! Transexual Thor... or better knwon by it's heor name Trans-is-Thor!!!!
-- 29A the number of the Beast
They could just have taken any of the many hardcore war-godesses like Thud, the very daughter of Thor, as badass as the fther... or even more, she avanged him!!! Hail Odin, brothers and sisters !
-- 29A the number of the Beast
... Christianities next Virgin Mary will be a man.
And be ready for the 2050 Blockbuster where Evil Adele Hitler conquers Europe.
Seriously Marvel? You couldn't just create a new female character...maybe in an alternate universe or something. You have to genderbend Thor. Well shit. Marvel never had a logo for an image, but I would like to suggest a big Vagina as your logo. I guess it's not just in the movies where you can just swap out an actor. You can do it in comic books too, to an even greater extent. Remove the penis, we don't need it. This female empowerment thing is getting out of hand. But I don't mind staying at home while the husky women go out mining.
This is just silly. Thor isn't someone Marvel made up, he's a loaner from a well established mythology, in which he is male. Why not come up with a new, female, superhero? It really comes across as pandering to me.
The Norse Germanic concept of the God of Thunder known as Thor, is based on the African Egyptian God named Menes aka Narmer, In Niger and also along the Nile he is known as Shango, however in about 2500 BC the God of Thunder was depicted as a woman, named Candace, Queen of Kush / Ethiopia. http://a.disquscdn.com/uploads... Read on http://sco.lt/7SWSIb