The Flickering Myth writing staff weigh in with their thoughts on Marvel’s change to Thor…
It was announced yesterday that Thor would be getting quite the make-over and a female will be taking over the mantle of The God of Thunder. As tweeted yesterday by Jason Aaron, this is not “She-Thor” or “Lady-Thor”, this is the new look for Thor.
But what did our writing staff make of the change?
Tom Roach: Changing the gender of a beloved character such as Thor is a bold move for Marvel, but it is worth trying out. This is still only happening in the medium of comic books and will not be shown on the big screen for some time. However this will likely show the love for female characters and could lead to development of female marvel characters such as Ms Marvel. Whilst some may hate the fact this has been done it simply allows Marvel to have more female characters and encourage female readership of comic books. This may still flop though which will be unfortunate but if this goes well it may allow other major male characters to have their gender swapped on the pages of the comic books would admittedly would be interesting to see. This proves Marvel is willing to take risks which is something that I want to see.
Ray Willmott: I’m really in two minds about this. On the one hand, it’s fantastic that one of the biggest roles in the Marvelverse is being given to a woman and I think there are some interesting, exciting stories to be told because of that. It’s almost certain to refresh and rejuvenate the comics and I am all for women having a stronger, more prominent role as lead characters in major series. On a wider scale, however, it could create some confusion and long-term problems. Let alone the fact that the God Thor has always been seen as a man in the history books long before he became a comic book character, there are other conflicts.
Please make new, strong female lead roles and give them greater, more significant purpose in the Marvel world. The world needs more female heroes, but don’t forcibly piggyback on all that has come before. It could do more harm than good.
Vilordsutch: To be truthful I have no real issue with it, however both comic and film buff may have difficulty swallowing this “stuck for an original idea” pill. To calm the storm before it even begins Marvel could look at the plenty of mighty female Nordic, Celtic and Germanic warriors; weave their tales out.
Paul Risker: Re-imagining is a prickly issue. The question this decision confronts is whether these characters are defined by their gender? It will be an interesting experiment and it will be equally interesting to see the response. The only question is whether Marvel are making the mistake of trying to do something that is interesting only for purposes of discussion (or theory) rather than practice?
Gary Collinson: I just wonder how they’ll tie it into the continuity of the comic books if it is meant to be *the* Thor. Is he just going to wake up one day female? How will the other characters react? How will he/she react? Are they just going to ignore the previous male incarnation and his history? I guess that’s a good thing, as it has me curious, but if she just appears from an alternate universe and takes 616 Thor’s place, well that’s a bit crap in my opinion.
However, I can’t see this being more than a short term thing. I’m guessing Thor will be male again by the time Avengers: Age of Ultron is released, or Thor 3 at the very latest.
Luke Owen: Re-imagining characters is one thing, but this does feel like a cheap move by Marvel to try and bring in a female audience. It’s the same thing as they did with Ms. Marvel. They’re not re-imagining the characters to breathe new life into them, they’re doing it to tick boxes and make headlines. I’d much rather they introduce *new* female characters into the Marvel Universe than just take an old one and stick tits on them.
Steven K. Leadbetter: Not sure it will bring more women to see Thor movies. Most women I have spoken to like Thor just as he is.
Luke Owen: This change will affect the comics and nothing else I’d have thought. As Gary said, it will change back by the time Avengers: Age of Ultron hits cinemas so they have some synergy with the comics and movie.
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So, is this a bold move by Marvel? Or just a marketing ploy? Let us know your thoughts below.
Originally published July 16, 2014. Updated April 12, 2018.
