Odinson Looks for a New Hammer in ‘The Unworthy Thor’ from Jason Aaron and Olivier Coipel

The Odinson, the god formerly known as Thor, returns to his own title for the first time since 2014 in The Unworthy Thor, a new ongoing written by Jason Aaron with art by Olivier Coipel. The Mighty Thor, also written by Aaron and featuring Jane Foster in the title role, will continue alongside the new series.

According to an interview Aaron gave to io9, this series tells the story of Odinson's escape from captivity at the hands of the Collector, and his quest to find the Ultimate Universe Thor's Hammer, which was left on the main Marvel Universe Earth after Secret Wars. Aaron presents as a mystery whether or not Odinson will be able to lift this hammer and reclaim the name of Thor, but given that the title of the series is not "The Unworthy Odinson," I'll be surprised if the first story arc doesn't end with exactly that happening.

Fans will remember that Odinson has been unworthy to lift the version of Mjölnir that was once his ever since the Original Sin crossover, in which Nick Fury whispered something in his ear. We still don't know what Fury said, so that seems likely to also come up in this book. In the meantime, Jane Foster has lifted that Hammer and become Thor in her own right, with Odinson a supporting character recognizable by his metal arm and large axe.

With this new series, Thor joins Captain America and Spider-Man in this strange new status quo of the original white male hero and his "replacement" headlining titles simultaneously. By this time next year, I have no doubt that Logan/Wolverine and Bruce Banner/Hulk will be headlining books alongside Laura Kinney and Amadeus Cho. That's just how things work now, it seems.