SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for Thor #1 by Jason Aaron, Mike Del Mundo, Marco D’Alfonso, Christian Ward and Joe Sabino, on sale now.
While Marvel may have actually followed through with “The Death of the Mighty Thor,” we as readers were lucky enough not to lose Jane Foster as a result of that storyline. Even better, though she is no longer The God of Thunder, she’s still very active in Asgardian affairs. This week’s debut issue of the new volume of Thor shows us what Jane has been up to since relinquishing the power of Mjolnir and giving up godhood, and it proves she’s just as important and necessary to the Ten Realms as she was before.
If She Be Worthy
Jane Foster was one of the few people aside from Thor Odinson himself to prove to be worthy of wielding Mjolnir and the power of Thor. After her former lover found himself unworthy for the first time in centuries, Jane was summoned by the hammer and became the new Thor. With Odinson unable to fulfill his role as Thor, Jane stepped up when Asgardia needed her most, fighting against Loki, Malekith, Shi'Ar gods and The Queen of Cinders. She served as an Avenger, had a relationship with Sam Wilson/Falcon, and saved the Ten Realms on numerous occasions. In the process, she even unlocked new secrets about the mysterious hammer, secrets which had eluded her predecessor for millennia.
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Jane Foster had a good run as The Mighty Thor, but it was always going to come to an end. Not just because superhero comics always revert to status quo, but because of the danger she was putting herself in every time she made the transformation from mortal to god. While her godly self was invincible, her mortal self was battling cancer, and every time she made that switch, it would erase all of the positive work done by chemotherapy. Ultimately, it was decided that she would not pick up the hammer again until she completed her treatment, because one more transformation would kill her.
However, when The Mangog came to Asgardia and began a path of destruction, Jane couldn’t just sit by and let everything she swore to protect be reduced to rubble. Knowing it would kill her, she transformed to The Mighty Thor one last time and took the fight to The Hatred Who Walks. In order to defeat The Mangog, Jane chained him to Mjolnir and commanded the enchanted to hammer to fly itself into the heart of the sun. Though the day was saved, Jane reverted back to mortal self and passed away in the arms of Odinson, as she was long warned would happen.
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Fortunately, Odinson is not known for rolling with the punches, and he wasn’t going to let Jane die. Calling down all of the thunder and lightning he could manage, he attempted to revive his former lover but was unsuccessful. It was only when Odin — who never approved of Jane’s relationship with his son and who actively despised her as Thor — joined the effort to save Jane that the combined power of Asgard’s two most powerful gods was enough to bring the one-time God of Thunder back to life.
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Mission Control
Even before she was the God of Thunder, Jane Foster was the representative for Midgard on the Congress of Realms, so just because she isn’t Thor anymore, it doesn’t mean she isn’t going to be heavily involved with Asgardian affairs. Since the destruction of the Bifrost, the Asgardians are trapped in Midgard and so are the refugees of other realms displaced by The War of Realms. Jane is heavily involved with resettling those refugees in The Bronx along with former SHIELD agent Roz Solomon, but she also has a much more important role.
With no access to Asgard, no Uru and no Mjolnir, Thor has never been so vulnerable and when Asgardia was destroyed, Odin’s weapons vault was scattered across the cosmos, so in addition to preparing for The War of Realms, Thor has to hunt down these lost weapons. This is where Jane comes in, as she’s serving as a kind of mission control for Thor, helping him track down the missing items and cataloging them when they come in.
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She helped him find The Warlock’s Eye in the possession of The Cult of Cyttorak, which led to Thor coming into contact with the Juggernaut, who proved to be more than he thought he could handle. Breaking his brand new hammer on the Juggernaut's helmet, Thor was forced to call down all of the new hammers created for him by Screwbeard The Dwarf and only one of them survived the conflict.
When Thor returns, Jane shows a vested interested in learning all about his new hammer which defeated The Juggernaut, asking about the specifics of how it handles as if it were a high-end car. When Thor reminds her of her vow to not wield a hammer until she is cured of her cancer, she gives him an update on her condition, as the doctors say she is making great progress. With one artifact recovered, Jane already has a lead on another of Odin’s missing weapons, The Gem of Infinite Suns, which has been causing the ocean to boil and bubble.
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Jane’s intel is once again correct, and leads Thor to conflict with Namor as part of his quest to recover the item. Though the issue ends with Thor, Loki and Thor The Hel-Hound stranded in Niffleheim and cut off from their mortal allies, it’s refreshing to know that Jane’s story isn’t over just because she is no longer The God of Thunder.
Jason Aaron and Russell Dauterman took the character from semi-forgotten former love interest to a compelling leading lady in her own right, and Thor comics have been better than ever, largely thanks to her role in them. Though she may not wield a hammer in the near future, Jane Foster is still a hero and doesn’t seem to be going anywhere any time soon.