Thor Will Receive a Golden Arm & Hammer in Marvel's Relaunch

CBR

Thor's Golden Future Is Part of Marvel's Fresh Start

By Ian Cardona

Published Feb 20, 2018

Marvel has just revealed its plans for the next big relaunch, which will feature Thor's future living up to the promise of the seminal Issue #700.

Marvel Comics has announced a "fresh start" for 2018, a line-wide relaunch of its entire line of titles that will focus on the company's core characters, starting with all-new #1 issues. Though details are scarce for now, we have one image to give us a hint of the new direction. The announcement's promo art, illustrated by Jim Cheung, puts Spider-Man front and center, with characters like Black Panther, Iron Man, Ant-Man and the Wasp all highlighted as well.

Marvel's fresh start promises to be a return to its classic lineup of characters, and nowhere is this more clear than a return to prominence of the God of Thunder, Thor Odinson. But while most characters are featured in their classic, original looks, the God of Thunder exhibits a pretty noticeable change: a golden arm, and a golden hammer.

While this appears at a glance to be a massive change out of nowhere, it actually indicates the future course for Thor has long been established. This golden-arms version of Thor was first glimpsed in Thor #700, when the Dark Elf Malekith and his forces invaded the Nornkeep. The threads of the Norn, who weave the future, showed us the future of Asgard, Jane Foster and Thor, complete with his new golden hammer and matching arm. The gold-scheme was strikingly different, indicating the Odinson will once again embark on a righteous and hopeful new path after years of being relegated to his shaven, unworthy self since the Original Sin event in 2014.

Currently, in Jason Aaron's Mighty Thor series, the Odinson remains unworthy, and armed with an ax. He is less god and more barbarian fighter. But now, we know that the future glimpsed in Thor #700 is imminent, not a tease for a development that will never come. It was a true look into the future, and perhaps the first sign of Marvel's relaunch.

The golden-armed Thor has also been confirmed to be among the core cast of Jason Aaron's new Avengers series with artist Ed McGuinness, which will spearhead the relaunch. In the Mighty Thor series, as well as his Marvel Legacy #1 one-shot, Jason Aaron has been establishing an overarching story that involves a sentient Mjolnir, Odin, the Avengers 1,000,000 B.C. and the Celestials, and all of that will be coming to a head in Aaron and Ed McGuinness' new Avengers #1. With Thor at the center of this story, it appears that Aaron's plan for the character, which have been in motion ever since the writer's Original Sin event, are finally coming to fruition. Thor reclaiming his status as an Avenger -- now, we it just remains to be seen how he will come in possession of a new arm and hammer.

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