SPOILER WARNING for The Unworthy Thor #5
Three years ago, in the pages of Original Sin, Nick Fury whispered something into Thor’s ear that made the Odinson unworthy, and incapable of wielding his hammer, Mjolnir.
In The Unworthy Thor #5, which released in comic shops today, the words Nick Fury said were finally revealed.
“Gorr was right.”
Three simple words that undid the God of Thunder. Those words go all the way back to Thor: God of Thunder, where Gorr the God Butcher, who committed countless acts of deicide, declares all gods were unworthy.
But that wasn’t the only major reveal in Unworthy Thor #5. ComicBook.com spoke to writer Jason Aaron about the momentous issue.
You’ve stated before that the words that made Thor unworthy were in your notebook from the beginning. If the words have remained the same, how has the journey towards revealing them changed since then?
Jason Aaron: I don’t think it has changed other than just kind of figuring out the timing of everything. I think that when we made that change, made Thor become unworthy and brought in Jane Foster, we had no idea what the reaction would be, so if sales had tanked and everybody had hated it that kind of would have determined how long that story lasted. But thankfully the response to that was great.
I’ve never had a shortage of ideas for stories with either one of those Thors. It’s always just been a matter of figuring out when to do this one, when do we do that one, how does everything fit together, how much time do we have for this and that. That’s the only thing that’s really changed or morphed along the way.
Can you talk a bit about what changed in Thor to make unworthy after hearing Nick Fury’s words?
JA: I don’t know if I’m going to answer or try to explain things that are already in the book. I’d certainly much rather somebody pick it up and get what I wanted them to get from the page. I would just say that it should be clear. Like I’ve said all along, it’s all part of the same story, so clearly this revelation goes back to the very beginning of my run on Thor. Thor’s encounter with the God Butcher continues to have a profound effect on him. I’ve said this whole time that everything that’s been happening with Thor becoming unworthy, with another Thor stepping in, it was never derailment. They’re scenes in the story I’ve been telling. It’s all still the same story. Hopefully, that’s even more clear now.
Would hearing those same words from somebody other than Nick Fury have had the same effect on Thor? Does this say something about Thor’s relationship with Fury?
JA: It’s not necessarily about that. It’s more the fact that it wasn’t just normal Nick Fury who was whispering those words. It was the Nick Fury who was imbued with the power of the Watcher, so it was a Nick Fury who could see things he couldn’t see before. He could see things that most people can’t see. He could see the truth in all things. The fact that it was that Nick Fury that was whispering in his ear had a very different effect than if it was just the two of them sitting around over beers a month earlier.
You can argue with regular Nick Fury, but its hard to argue with cosmically aware Nick Fury?
JA: Exactly.
Now that we know how Thor was made unworthy, what’s next for the Odinson?
JA: Well, that’s a good question. You see from the end of Unworthy Thor that Odinson chooses not to even try to pick up the hammer of the Ultimate Thor but you know, the hammer’s still sitting there, sitting on Odin’s garden. Odinson has taken it upon himself to try and keep an eye on it and the story of the hammer and what happens to it next will continue in the pages of The Mighty Thor. We’ll see Odinson shift over to there as well as his story is becoming intertwined with Jane Foster’s.
We get another surprise in this issue when the hooded figure is revealed to be Hela. What can you say about her relationship with Thanos and exactly it is she mean when she promises him “death”?
JA: We all know about Thanos’ particular fixation on death so it makes sense that we would see this alliance forge with Thanos and Hela, who has long been the queen of the underworld in Norse mythology, but recently she’s been dethroned and so she’s lost control of her kingdom. This is her trying to get that back. As to where that goes, I definitely expect to see the two of them getting up to no good together in the coming months.
And the other big surprise is the tease for the “All-New Ultimate Thor” or the “War Thor,” who appears to lift the Mjolnir of the ultimate universe. What can you say about this character? Would this be a good time for fans to go back and re-read the Thors series from Secret Wars?
JA: Of course I’d encourage you to go back and read my old stuff, but this will be a new story that will kick off in the pages of The Might Thor after we wrap up “The Shi-ar-Asgard War.” This is the same hammer we saw come over from the Ultimate Universe through the events of Secret Wars but it will be a very new a very different sort of Thor. We meet over the course of that story.
Given the success of “Magneto Was Right” and “Cyclops Was Right” as t-shirt slogans, have you given any thought to making up some “Gorr Was Right” shirts?
JA: I’ll probably be disappointed if somebody doesn’t show up at a con wearing one of those.
Before you go, do you have any thoughts on Chris Hemsworth stealing the Odinson’s new look for Thor: Ragnarok?
JA: (laughs) It looks great, I’m excited to see the images. They look pretty cool and crazy. I’m excited to see what they do.