The mighty hammer known as Mjolnir has a new Thor, and she looks ready for battle.
That's right: Thor will be a woman in a new Marvel comic series. The big question is, who is the new God of Thunder?
The character was unveiled Tuesday on "The View." And Whoopi Goldberg gave us her answer with a little sarcasm.
"She turns out to be the person who works here, on this show, as the moderator. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it is Whoopi Goldberg." (Via ABC / "The View")
But really, Vulture speculates on who the Norse god might be. "A likely candidate is the mononymous Angela, a no-nonsense warrior who was recently revealed to be Thor's long-lost sister."
She takes the name Thor because, as the Marvel story goes, whoever holds the hammer shall possess the power of Thor.
Mjolnir can only be wielded by those who are "worthy." That means the current Thor is on track to mess things up for himself and get stripped of the hammer. (Via Paramount Pictures / "Thor")
And not just temporarily. Marvel editor Wil Moss says, "She's now the one and only Thor, and she is worthy!"
Of course, this is about more than the comic book story.
MTV says the new Thor is "doing right by the thousands of women and girls that read comic books but have been largely underserved in the representation of female strength and superherodom compared to their male counterparts."
And please don't give her some cheesy knock-off name like She-Thor or Lady Thor. The series' writer Jason Aaron says: "This is not Thorita. This is THOR. This is the THOR of the Marvel Universe. But it's unlike any Thor we've ever seen before." (Via Marvel)
She joins a handful of other female heroes in the Marvel universe, including Black Widow of Avengers fame. (Via Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / "The Avengers")
But Thor is one of Marvel's big three, along with Iron Man and Captain America. So this change makes her arguably Marvel's biggest female hero. (Via Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / "Iron Man 3", Paramount Pictures / "Captain America: The First Avenger")
That said, there has been no word on if the new Thor will get her own set of Marvel films. Chris Hemsworth will continue to carry Mjolnir on the big screen. (Via Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / "Thor: The Dark World")
Without a film, reaction to the switch could be somewhat delayed from the mainstream population.
After all, Marvel replaced Peter Parker with a half-black, half-Hispanic Spiderman in a series in 2011. But many probably still think of Andrew Garfield's on-screen Spidey first. (Via USA Today, Sony Pictures / "The Amazing Spider-Man")
The new Thor comic book series is set to launch in October.
