Thor: God of Don’t Call It a Comeback

Poor Thor.  For decades he has always been the black sheep of the Marvel universe.  Thor has never had his own Saturday morning cartoon, never had his own video game, and he’s never been optioned for a motion picture.  Marvel even cancelled his monthly comic book for a while.  But the God of Thunder doth not go gently into that good night.  For the past few years the wielder of Mjolnir has slowly been gaining momentum like a perfect storm on the horizon.  

The first sign of Thor’s renaissance came in Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch’s epic comic The Ultimates.  In this universe Thor is a political activist who can be found drinking pints at the local pub.  The world at large isn’t sure if Thor is really the son of Odin or just some crazy new age hippie holding a gigantic hammer.  He doesn’t trust the US military backed Ultimates group and only agrees to help out Nick Fury if the President doubles America’s foreign aid budget.  And Thor doth make a grand entrance, powering up with lightning and putting the beat down on a rampaging Hulk.  After reading these books I started to believe.  Maybe this Thor guy is cooler than I thought?
 

Further evidence of Thor’s returning greatness can be found in the recently released Hulk Vs DVD.  I have to admit, I only bought this because I thought it was a Hulk vs Wolverine movie.  But much to my surprise there was also a Hulk Vs Thor animated feature as well.  I was skeptical at first, after all Thor’s only other animated appearance worth noting was a cameo in Spider-man and His Amazing Friends.  The concept was simple and original: Odin must rest for 1 week a year and it’s up to Thor to protect Asgard from it’s foes during that time.  When a Loki possessed Hulk knocks on the gate, the battle between Hulk and Thor is on!  I promise you will get goose bumps when Thor yells “For Asgard!” while trying to summon enough strength to bring down the Green Goliath.  

Need more proof that Thor is primed for a triumphant return?  Marvel Studios recently announced that Chris Hemsworth has been cast to wear the Winged Helmet in the live action Thor film.  Who the hell is Chris Hemsworth you ask?  Well, none other than Capt. James T. Kirk’s daddy in the new Star Trek film.  (And to those of you who haven’t seen Star Trek yet, what are you waiting for?  Go out and see it right now!  As a die hard Star Wars fan I can tell you that it is sickening how good Star Trek is.  George Lucas should be ashamed of himself . . . but that’s a whole different topic.)  Mr. Hemsworth’s short screen time as captain of the Enterprise should be enough to convince all of geekdom that he is the right guy for the part.  Besides, the last time Thor was even mentioned in a live action film that I can remember was in Adventures in Babysitting.  

The time for The Odinson to get the respect he deserves is finally upon us!  Thor is about to take the comic book world by storm, and he’s just getting warm!  And do all the people who still don’t believe . . . I SAY THEE NAY!!!!