Fans reaction to a woman taking up the mantel of Thor in October have been mixed. There are some who are all for it and others who reacting with “by Odin’s beard!” and other more colorful phrases. The way I see it there are 4 main reasons why Thor being a woman is just fine.
- Story wise it makes sense: As most fans will know Thor’s hammer “Mjolnir” bears the inscription “Whosoever hold this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.” Meaning that any deemed worthy can pick it up and lay claim to it’s power. Throughout the years there have been others who have picked it up including Captain America, Storm from the X-Men, Superman (during a crossover) and even Hulk have used it’s power. So the fact that a woman (we don’t know yet if she will be human or Asgardian) picks it up and holds on to it for a little while is more than okay. It is still unclear wether or not this means the Thor we all know and love will bite the dust or just have his power stripped from him. Which has also happened before for the record.
- Jason Aaron is a great writer: He has written and proven himself time and time again. Aaron is know for his work with “Ghost Rider”, “Wolverine: Weapon X” and “The Incredible Hulk” all three runs he had with those characters were entertaining and fun to read. He is also writing “Thor: God of Thunder” which started in 2012 and is currently still running. On Goodreads fans have given the series 4 stars and are happy with what has been done so far. So give him a little faith and stop prejudging the comic and character.
- More female heroes equals more female readers: I’m not saying that there aren’t female readers out there. But Marvel trying to get more to embrace the medium of comics is not a bad thing. Not only is a smart move from Marvel on the public relations front but it could also boost sells and what comic geek wouldn’t want that?
- Marvel will hit the reset button: Last but not least is that fact that no matter what happens in the comics the reset button always gets pressed. Stan Lee at the Salt Lake City Comic Con in 2013 was asked what he thought about Doc. Ock being Spiderman and his response was “I have no idea whats going on. I haven’t had time to read the books…but it doesn’t matter whats happening, in a few months everything will be back to normal. It always is.” I know that in the press release they said this isn’t a temporary thing but in comic time a year is a long time. My point is that no matter how Thor’s powers transfer from man to woman eventually they will transfer back. It might take awhile but the Thor we know and love will be back to screaming “Have at thee!” eventually. If the female Thor comic is successful then even she will stick around just not as Thor. Maybe she’ll get her own hammer like Beta Ray Bill did which would be pretty sweet. If the comic flops she’ll be killed off or turn out to be a cruel trick of Loki, who knows, no matter what though I believe Thor will eventually get his hammer back but only after proving himsself worthy.
So there you have it. Four simple reasons why the sex of Thor doesn’t really matter. Hate it if you want, scream and rant about it if you have to. However even if you’re not going to read the series I recommend picking up the first issue if you’re a collector. I have a hunch that the first issue is going to disappear pretty quickly and you don’t want to miss your chance.