Marvel Comics in the early 2000s was eager to get new readership but wasn't sure how to do so, until the idea of the Ultimate Marvel imprint was thrown around. Not wanting to bog new fans down with years and years of lore and character baggage, Marvel created the Ultimate Universe as a way to gently settle in new readers into the main Marvel Universe. Consisting of rebooted and renewed versions of their classic characters such as Spider-Man, The Avengers, and The X-Men, these new versions were new and open slates that Marvel often used as testing grounds for concepts they would then implement into their main universe.
One such character from this new Ultimate Universe, dubbed Earth-1610, was Ultimate Thor. First appearing in Mark Millar's The Ultimates, this universe's Avengers, this new Thor was very different from his Earth-616 counterpart, the Thor of the main Marvel continuity. Ranging from power sets to mindsets, here are seven differences between regular and Ultimate Thor.
10 Ultimate Thor Relies On Tech
Thor is an Asgardian God whose powers run mainly on magic. His powers are his and his alone. Mjolnir isn't where his power derives from, rather it helps channel and control his abilities. It's all within him. However the same can't be said about Ultimate Thor.
Ultimate Thor, while technically Asgardian, does not actually contain the power within him he once did. Being reborn as a human after Loki's invasion of Asgard in that universe, Ultimate Thor was just a mortal man. To compensate for this and to make him their “Super Soldier”, a commodity in the Ultimate Universe it seems, they give him a harness, belt, and belt that grant him the powers of Thor. He packs a hell of a wallop with these items but is vulnerable without them.
9 Is Reincarnated
Thor Odinson, being Asgardian, is no stranger to magical means of escaping or sliding around death. He's been through Hel and back, but has never TRULY been reincarnated and had to start from infancy. This of course only applies to the Thor we all know and love from Earth-616. Earth-1610’s Thor has a different story to tell.
Killed by Loki in a raid against Asgard during the 40’s, Ultimate Thor was reborn on Earth and reincarnated, not as an Asgardian prince, but a mortal man. With this new mortal shell, Thor was no longer the God he once was, and as a result, lost the power of Odin that he once commanded. Nevertheless, this never slowed Thor down, seeing as he had no recollection of his past life until Balder, Thor's brother came back into his life.
8 Was A Member Of The Warriors Three
The Warriors Three are well known throughout Earth-616’s realms as a band of warriors who march into battle fearlessly and with smiles on their faces. Not only do they call themselves some of Asgard's mightiest, but also Thor's best friends. Made up of Fandral, Hogan, and Volstagg, the Warriors Three are fan favorites among the Asgardian side of Marvel.
However on Earth-1610, the Warriors Three as we know it were made up of a much different cast. Consisting of all of Odin's sons, Thor, Balder, and Loki, it seems more appropriate that they would be called the “Odinsons”. Yes, it's corny, but hey, it works doesn't it? Acting essentially the same as the Warriors Three in the main Marvel Universe, the added tension between the trio due to future events definitely makes this an interesting group.
7 No Longer Donald Blake
Donald Blake, the “alter ego” of Thor, has been apart of the comics and Thor's story since the beginning. Acting as Thor's human identity when he was banished by Odin to Earth. Odin did this to teach Thor some humility and humble him, and to do this, Odin sent him into the body of Donald Blake, a doctor who could teach Thor valuable lessons through healing those of Midgard.
Ultimate Thor however does not have this alias. When he was reincarnated after his death at the hands of Loki, he was reborn as Thorlief Golmen. The Donald Blake name was bestowed upon Thor's brother Balder upon his reincarnation. Balder. Still very important to Ultimate Thor's world, however, not as directly connected to Thor as his 616 counterpart.
6 Was A Nurse
Throughout both of Thor's lives, they have had experience in the medical field. Thor was a doctor through his guise as Donald Blake. He acted as a doctor to the sick and meek. However, Ultimate Thor's place in the medical field isn't quite the same.
Ultimate Thor was instead of a normal physician, a psychiatric nurse in Norway. He helped treat and care for the mentally ill, which made his own mental break down in his thirties quite ironic. Although, this mental breakdown did set into motion the process in which Thor would once again remember his past life as Odinson.
5 Can Teleport
With the powers of an Asgardian God, Thor has quite the list of abilities at his disposal. Ranging from the power of lighting within him to incredible base strength. However, one ability Thor has never had is the power of teleportation. Whenever Odinson needed to move throughout the realms, he'd always have to depend upon the bifrost, the bridge between the realms, controlled by Heimdall, the watcher of Asgard.
Despite this being a problem for Thor of Earth-616, this snag does not apply to the Thor of the Ultimate Universe. This world's Thor's hammer, albeit not Asgardian made, does have the ability of teleportation. This comes in handy for Ultimate Thor as he often has to teleport around the world for missions with the Ultimates. He's also a big fan of making a dramatically late entrance. If one thing can be said about both Thors, they are quite fond of theatrics.
4 He Has A Son
Thor, Odinson, and Prince of Asgard. Three mighty titles for one Mighty Avenger. However, it's quite surprising that within main continuity and canon of Earth-616’s Thor, he has yet to gain the title of father. Being an adventurer and having the weight of Asgard on his shoulders might be quite the burden, but Thor always seemed the type to raise a son or daughter to be a great warrior throughout it all.
The same can't be said about Ultimate Thor, who does indeed have a son. However, it is a much different story than you'd think. Thor, wanting to escape from Valhalla in order to save Valkyrie on Earth, agreed to supplement Hela, his only way out, with a child. He did indeed do this and did indeed have a child. Well, that child turned out to be evil and attempted to destroy America by inciting another civil war. Thor's response? Killing his son. Yeah, Ultimate Thor wasn't what you'd call, a great dad.
3 Is A Mortal Man
Throughout his history, Thor has never been an immortal God who is incapable of being killed, although, he isn't a mortal man either. His resistance to most pains and injuries helps with this sure, but his Asgardian blood and royal lineage helps see to it that Odinson doesn't die so easy. Shoot Thor in the head and you've only made him angry. Get his crazy uncle who can turn into a serpent to bite the crap out of him and yeah, you got him on the ropes.
While it is a gigantic task to take down the Thor Odinson of Earth-616, it isn't so hard with Ultimate Thor. You see, while he is Asgardian, he was reincarnated as a man. A mortal man to be precise, meaning that if you managed to shoot this Thor square in the forehead, it's bye bye Odinson. Although this is still a hard task given that Thor, no matter what Universe he's from, is one mean son of a gun to even hit. With his extensive training on how to fight, you'll be lucky to even touch Ultimate Thor without his permission.
2 Works For The Government
Thor and the government have never really seen eye to eye on how things should go. Thor had joined the Avengers, but never was there during periods where the government had their hands in that pie, even being angered when Tony Stark created a cyborg of Thor himself and named it Ragnarok, using it during the Civil War event. Thor's ideas on how things go almost never coincidence with how S.H.I.E.L.D. thinks they should.
Ultimate Thor on the other hand, does work for the government, albeit, begrudgingly so. Ultimate Thor is a bit of an anarchist who has some political goals in mind when working for the Government run and funded The Ultimates. Even going as far as to make some demands for the government to carry out before he joins the team. While he may not enjoy the government much, Ultimate Thor sure does love the Ultimates. They make him feel like his old Thor self again, which is very nice.
1 Created By Mark Millar
The Thor Odinson everyone knows and loves was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby back in 1962, first appearing in Journey Into Mystery #83. Thor was met with great reception at first, but his book sales dwindled until Lee and Kirby put him into their hit book, The Avengers.
Back in 2002, Mark Millar created The Ultimates, and in turn, Ultimate Thor. Wanting this story and world to be a darker, more realistic version of what you've seen in Marvel Comics past, his characters reflected that, including Ultimate Thor. The Ultimates was met with great reception, as many new fans jumped on at this point or older fans appreciated the different direction this book took these characters. While they kinda screwed up this universe later on, the original plan and comics from the Ultimate Universe still shine on as dang good reading.