Thor in the MC2

With all the build up for Avengers: Endgame, I've elected to cover the MC2 incarnations of the films main cast. I figured the best place to start would be with the god himself, Thor.

The first of the original Avengers to appear in the MC2, Thor is revealed to be the Lord of Asgard in A-Next #1. When Loki attempts to steal the enchanted mace 'Thunderstrike' from Kevin Masterson, he transports the assembled heroes opposing him to the Isle of Silence on Asgard. However, Kevin ends up transformed into the heroic Thunderstrike when he leaps into Loki's magicks and saves the other heroes by summoning Thor to their aid with a huge signal in the sky.

Thor greets the assembled heroes with warmth, despite at first mistaking Kevin for his deceased father, Eric Masterson, the original Thunderstrike. After a celebration, Thor sends the heroes back to Earth using Mjolnir, leaving them with the parting words 'The planet spins! The page turns! And the world still needs heroes. May each and all prove worth of the privilege before you!'.

We don't see Thor for quite sometime until Last Hero Standing #4 when, as a result of Loki's scheme to end the Age of Heroes, Thor encounters his former teammate Captain America alongside other heroes stranded on Asgard. With the Hulk on a rampage thanks Loki's spell, Thor and Captain America discuss the latter's declining abilities and Cap reveals he intends to retire after this final mission (Last Hero Standing #5).

Thor transports the group of heroes back to Earth to confront the Hulk and find Loki. When Spider-Girl reveals Loki, Captain America confronts him as Thor battles the Hulk. Loki's spell is almost sealed by the spilling of fatal blood when Thor nearly kills Hulk. But thanks to Captain America breaking Loki's spell by destroying his dark crystal at the cost of his own life, the day is saved.

Thor banishes Loki to Limbo and the Hulk voluntarily exiles himself alongside the god of mischief to atone for the destruction he has caused. As Captain America lays dying Thor intervenes, combining Asgardian life force with the spirit and power of Cap's country channeled through Mjolnir to transform the heroes soul into a new star that will inspire generations to come.

In the sequel series Last Planet Standing, all of Asgard is threatened when Galactus launches an attack on the Realm Eternal, seeking the Odinsword in his quest to satiate his endless hunger. Despite Thor leading all of Asgard Assembled against Galactus and his Herald Dominas, Asgard is destroyed and Thor is taken captive by the world eater as survivors of the attack flee (Last Planet Standing #2).

Later, with Galactus' plan nearing it's completion, his Worldship containing energy from a thousand worlds is destroyed when energy from Captain America's Star overloads the containers, freeing Thor.  Thor arrives on Earth in time to witness Galactus and the Silver Surfer merge into a new being and reverse the destruction caused by Galactus.

While this is Thor's last present day on-panel appearance we do meet his daughter Thena on a mission for him in Avengers Next #2. We also learn that both Thor and his father Odin are attempting to revive Asgard using the Odin Power in Avengers Next #3 as well as glimpse a younger Thor in a flashback in this same issue.

And that's it for Thor in the MC2 at present. A more mature Thor, the loss of Asgard and the introduction of Thena certainly lend themselves to future stories, which I sincerely hope we get to see someday.

Until I learn to how to speak like the Asgardians, I remain


frogoat

Thena: Who's Your Mama?!

Shout out to faithful blog-reader arias-98105 for suggesting this topic! It's nice to have reader engagement and I greatly appreciate it! So today, I'm going to examine the MC2's Thena and try and work out who her mother could be. But first, a little background information on Thena.

First appearing in 2006's Avengers Next #2,  Thena is the daughter of Thor, the Asgardian God of Thunder. Thena grew up alongside her cousin Sylene, daughter of  Loki the Trickster God. We learn that she survived Galactus' destruction of Asgard (during the events of Last Planet Standing) and was tasked with restoring Kevin Masterson's powers as Thunderstrike.


While we know from the start Thor is her father, the identity of Thena's mother is still a bit of a mystery. Here's are the facts:

• Thena states she is 'daughter to the most honored Lord and Lady of Asgard' (Avengers Next #2).
• During the events of Last Hero Standing Thena was on a quest with her mother, thus explaining her absence during that story (Avengers Next #2).
• During the events of Last Planet Standing, Thena attempted to join her father against Galactus but was instead commanded by her mother to aid those fleeing the destruction of Asgard (Avengers Next #3).

As pointed out to me by arias-98105, prior to the events of Onslaught and Heroes Return (see here), Thor was romantically involved with the Asgardian villainess Amora the Enchantress! For those who follow this blog regularly, you will know that the late 90's are where most of the MC2's shared history with the Main Marvel Universe ends, thus making Thor's romantic entanglements around that time relevant to solving this mystery.


History lesson time! In a four-part story published in Thor #491-494 by Warren Ellis and Mike Deodato Jr called 'WorldEngine', Thor and Amora begin a relationship during their time exiled on Earth. Beware: Very 90's art!

In addition to this, the relationship storyline is continued by the following writer (William Messner-Loebs) on the book leading up to the events of Onslaught (Thor #495-502). After Onslaught the title was renamed back to Journey Into Mystery starting with issue #503 while Thor was absent and widely believed dead. From then until issue #513 the title was written by none other than MC2 co-creator Tom Defalco who also touched upon Amora's feelings for Thor while he was assumed dead.

Clearly, Amora had genuine feelings for the Thunder God despite her past of manipulation. Given the couples ongoing romance around the time, Thena's blonde hair and even some readers desire to see the two have a child together (see the reader's poll and letters pages below from Journey Into Mystery #505, #506 and #508, respectively) a case could be made for Amora being Thena's mother.

Naturally, the other major candidate for Thena's mother was Thor's long-time off-and-on love interest Lady Sif who made her first and only MC2 appearance in Last Planet Standing #2 during the destruction of Asgard. The strongest evidence for this becomes clearer when the relevant pages and panels from both Last Planet Standing #2 and the flashbacks in Avengers Next #3 are viewed in sequence:

So, Sif was given the job of overseeing the evacuation of Asgard's most vulnerable subjects, the same task Thena was entrusted with by her mother. This strongly suggests Sif is Thena's mother, but obviously we don't have any definitive answers. 

So, who do you think is Thena's mother: Amora the Enchantress? Lady Sif? Or someone else entirely? Let me know! This was fun to research and theorize about, I may just do more like this, perhaps exploring the mystery of Sylene's mother?

Until I get exiled to the Isle of Silence and can no longer produce this blog, I remain

frogoat