The identity of Marvel’s female Thor was leaked ahead of schedule. We talked to Thor writer Jason Aaron about the reveal, what earned the character her new mantle, and what’s next. MASSIVE SPOILERS BELOW.
After seven issues of narrative buildup, the truth behind the identity of Marvel's female Thor was leaked early this week ahead of the release of issue #8.
Fans had been guessing the identity alongside the former Thor, Prince Odinson, who was on a mission in the comics to discover the identity of the woman whom his former hammer deemed worthy of the mantle.
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Though red herrings in the run hinted at Odinson's mother Freya or S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Roz Solomon as potential Thors, the woman actually inheriting the heroic mantle is Jane Foster.
Natalie Portman has been portraying Jane in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since 2011.
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Thor's hammer Mjölnir imbues Jane with superpowers and gives her a costume that shields her identity, but once the hammer's powers are stripped away, the Jane underneath it all is fighting a different kind of fight.
Marvel has cast a woman with breast cancer as one of their most popular (or at least well-selling) heroes. How her illness will affect or be affected by her new superheroics has yet to be seen, but so far it's been mightily successful in concealing her identity from the other characters in the story.
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So the news broke a little earlier than anticipated; how did that feel? How has the response been so far, especially from those who'd been guessing along with the story?
Jason Aaron: Of course as the guy who writes the book, I'd rather people get the reveal the way it's intended, which is from reading the actual comic. But whenever you're dealing with a big mystery like this, you're going to have deal with the allure of the spoiler. Though the mystery in and of itself has never really been the story; the mystery was only a way of setting up the story. Simply knowing the person's name who's underneath the mask doesn't tell you everything you need to know. The real story will be where we go from here and what very particular challenge this lady is now facing. As for the response to all of this, it's been simply amazing. Far beyond anything I ever expected. It was fun to read all the different guesses and theories people had. Pretty much everyone under the sun got guessed at one point or another, including some characters I never imagined. So there were plenty of people who correctly guessed that it was Jane. But only one or two that I saw who had an inkling as to the rest of the mystery, in terms of Jane's cancer and how being Thor has affected her physically.
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