I hope you had a wonderful Thorsday people of Midgard! Another week tis at an end and here again we give thanks to the god of thunder soon to be goddess of thunder? That’s right t’was announced that the man who wields mighty mjolnir would no longer be worthy of such a power and that another would take his place.
This new Thor is to be a woman and is not to be called Thorita, Lady Thor, etc. She is to be called Thor and as such we give praise for this new incarnation of the Norse god with a list of those who were found worthy and previously held (or currently hold) the moniker of Thor whether it was for a few years or for a few seconds.
Donald Blake Journey Into Mystery #83 (1962)
When Thor made his debut in the 1960’s, his backstory consisted of him being an a-hole resulting in his Odin casting him out from Asgard and down to Earth to learn some humility. Odin places Thor without his memories of godhood into the body of a partially disabled medical student named Dr. Donald Blake.
While on vacation in Norway, Blake witnesses an alien scouting party and flees hiding in a cave. He discovers a walking stick (which turns out to be Mjolnir), strikes it against a rock and is transformed into Thor. It’s later revealed that Blake has always been Thor, but Odin’s spell caused him to forget who he was.
Throughout the years, Donald Blake and Thor have split into separate people and then re emerged as the same person in the comics.
Eric Masterson aka Thunderstrike The Mighty Thor #432 (1991)
Punished for killing Loki, Thor is bonded with the human Eric Masterson who carries the mantle of the god of thunder for many years. Masterson continues Thor’s duties as an Avenger and protector of Midgard. Eventually, Thor is freed from Eric’s mind but asks the human to continue to be Thor.
The Enchantress tricks Masterson into attacking Thor and afterwards he gives back Mjolnir to Thor. In return for his good deeds, Odin gives Masterson an enchanted mace which he uses as the hero Thunderstrike.
Red Norvell The Mighty Thor #276 (1978)
Loki brings a documentary crew to Asgard and Roger “Red” Norvell is a part of the team. He meets and falls in love with Lady Sif and Loki gives him Thor’s Iron Gauntlets and Belt of Strength to fight Thor for Sif’s affections. Norvell beats him and takes Mjolnir. Apparently this was all part of Odin’s plan to create a surrogate god of thunder who would die fighting the Serpent of Ragnarok and fulfill the prophecy.
Jane Foster What If? Volume 1 #10 (1978)
Instead of Donald Blake discovering the stick, it was Jane Foster who does and she becomes Thordis (Thordis? Really?). Unfornately her time as the goddess of thunder doesn’t last long since Odin recalls her to Asgard and takes the hammer back to give it to its rightful owner. Jane then is elevated to godhood so she can marry Odin….yeah I’m glad that didn’t really happen.
Beta Ray Bill The Mighty Thor #337 (1983)
The champion of the alien race the Korbinites, Beta Ray Bill was a monster who unexpectedly proves himself a hero, Bill becomes the first being outside the Norse pantheon who is deemed worthy enough to wield Thor’s hammer. At first their was a lot tension between Bill and Thor but it didn’t last long and Odin grants Bill his own hammer called Stormbreaker and the same powers of Thor.
Storm Uncanny X-Men Annual# (1985) & X-Men: To Serve and Protect #3 (2011)
While vacationing on a Greek island, Storm along with the New Mutants are kidnapped by Loki’s henchmen. Loki-who handed over the New Mutants to the Enchantress-planned to bewitch Storm-who had lost her powers-by turning her into the new god of thunder. Loki gave Storm her own hammer called Stormcaster and she became the goddess of thunder.
The call for help went out and the X-men divided up into two search parties to look for their friends. Finally locating Loki in the Great Hall of Heroes, Wolverine has been poisoned and Storm’s struggling with who her real friends are. With the intervention of Hela and Mirage, Storm came back to her senses and used her powers to fight Hela and Loki. She then gave up the hammer and her powers.
Flash forward to after the Siege of Asgard, Thor visits Queen Storm in Wakanda. In the ruins of the Siege, Thor had discovered a box which had Storm’s name on it. Guess what was inside? Why Stormcaster of course. Storm was drawn to it and when she picked it up her goddess power returned to her and to Loki’s side.
Which wasn’t good news for Thor as a fight soon broke out between the two of them as he attempted to calm Storm down. Thankfully the fight didn’t last long and when Storm saw the truth she grabbed mjolnir from Thor’s hand and used it to destroy Stormcaster. She then left her goddess form behind once more and returned to her normal self.
But that wasn’t the only time she wielded Thor’s power. In What If? Vol 2 #12, if the X-men had stayed in Asgard, Storm would have remained the goddess of thunder and her hammer was called Stormbringer. In the alternate universe in X-men: Millennial Visions Vol 1 (2001), Storm didn’t feel like she belonged with the X-men and spent her time in hurricanes and tornadoes until she met Thor. They fell in love and Storm became the goddess of thunder reigning with Thor as the rulers of Asgard.
Captain America The Mighty Thor #390 (1988)
The star spangled hero (who also is no longer Captain America, The Falcon is) was found worthy of the power of Thor in the 80’s. Going by “The Captain” as he had become disillusioned with the American government, he helped the Avengers fight the Egyptian god of death Seth. When Thor got his butt kicked by Seth, Captain America picked up Mjolnir for the first time and saved the day.
But Steve’s adventures as the god of thunder didn’t end there as there were more times when he wielded Thor’s hammer, the most recent was during the Fear Itself event. He held the hammer in order to inspire his fellow heroes in arms and ordinary citizens around the globe.
Rogue What If? Volume 2 #66 (1994)
You know how the story goes. While attempting to break the Brotherhood out of prison with Mystique, Rogue accidently absorbs so much of Thor’s power that he dies in addition to most of the Avengers and Brotherhood while she attempts to cope with it. Later on Loki tries to manipulate Rogue into attacking Asgard but after she’s able to lift mjolnir and see Odin taking the loss of his son to heart, a small quantity of Thor remains and begins to manifest in her subconscious telling her that Thor was both an ideal and a person. This allows Rogue to accept the power and become the new Thor.
Wonder Woman Marvel vs. DC #3 (1996)
Remember that cool series in the 90’s which pitted some of your favorite characters from both universes against each other to see who would come out on top? Well in the aftermath of Thor fighting Shazam, the thunder god loses mjolnir and it’s Wonder Woman who discovers the hammer as it’s just lying around (only the worthy can pick it up after all). Well needless to say this happens:
Deadpool Deadpool #37 (2000)
The merc with a mouth was worthy? Well not exactly. Always wanting to mess with his brother, the trickester god Loki gave Deadpool his own hammer so our undying anti-hero could annoy Thor Asgardian style while still keeping his Deadpool charm.
Ultimate Thor Ultimates Vol 1 #4 (2002)
From psychiatric nurse to suffering a nervous breakdown and spending 18 months institutionalized, this is the Ultimate universe god of thunder. On a mission to save Midgard and stop the “war to end all wars,” this Asgardian is a political and social activist and self-help author.
Superman Avengers/JLA #4 (2004)
In the most recent crossover between the big two, it’s the big superhero teams who are pitted against each other. However that didn’t last long and in the final battle against Krona, it is the man of steel who is found worthy. He uses Captain America’s shield and mjolnir and was only Hulk step away from becoming the ultimate superhero.
Ragnarok Dark Avengers #189 (2013)
During the Civil War, Thor went missing and Tony Stark took one of Thor’s hairs that he had kept from the first meeting of the Avengers and with the help of Mr. Fantastic and Henry Pym brought to life the Asgardian clone. Needless to say Thor was not too pleased and when he came back defeated the clone. Worthy or not, Ragnarok-as he named himself-has come back to haunt Thor a few times but has been defeated every time.
Black Widow What If? Age of Ultron #3 (2014)
This time our favorite spy got to wield the hammer. The miniseries follows the idea that Wolverine’s constant time traveling in main timeline Age of Ultron caused multiple problems across the multiverse. During random points in Marvel history, certain characters would see all of the alternate realities all at once and have an aneurysm and die. As a result, history would be changed forever by their deaths.
Cue Ragnarok. In the midst of fighting the Midgard Serpent Jormungand, Thor dies suddenly and Asgardian monsters ran rampant across Earth. Years later, the only team of heroes made up of Nick Fury, Black Widow, Silver Sable, Falcon, Shang-Chi, and Microchip fly towards Jormungand in a Quinjet, armed with the Dr. Doom technology they stoled. Black Widow jumps out of the plane and picks up Mjolnir.
She then flies right towards the serpent and defeats it. Years later Nick Fury tells the story confined to a wheelchair as he admire the statues which honor Black Widow and her Asgardian comrades in arms…
And thus that ends my list. So whenever you hear the rumble of thunder in the skies above, always remember those who were worthy of the power of Thor. I hope your Thorsday was a good one. May you in good health and cheer. Until next time Midgardians!
