Marvel has finally revealed the identity of the mysterious new woman calling herself Thor. While the actual reveal was meant to come with the release of Thor #8 tomorrow, due to an early leak of the story, Marvel went ahead and made their official reveal on The New York Times’ Arts Beat blog.
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The new Thor is none other than Jane Foster, accomplished doctor and long-time on-again, off-again girlfriend to the former Thor. That Thor (now calling himself “The Odinson”) had already confronted Jane in an earlier issue of the new series as he struggled to deduce the new Thor’s identity. However, he dismissed the idea after seeing that Jane was dying from terminal breast cancer.
Apparently that cancer isn’t stopping Jane from picking up Mjolnir and battling evil in her down time. “Jane Foster has been part of the Thor comics and the Thor mythology from almost the very beginning,” writer Jason Aaron told Arts Beat. “The very act of picking up this hammer, of becoming Thor, is killing her. Where we go from here is the real story.”
Other possible candidates included the Odinson’s current girlfriend, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Roz Solomon, his adoptive mother, Freyja, and Lady Sif.
Aaron also spoke about how the debut of this new Thor has broadened the audience for the comic. “Most of the new readers seem to be women and young girls, which is great,” he said. “You’re seeing more and more comics that appeal to that audience.” The popularity of the new Thor has also increased his recognition with non-comics fans. “Usually when I say I write comics for a living, I kind of get blank stares. Now, when I say I write Thor, they say, ‘You’re the lady Thor guy?’ Yup. That’s me.”
