Today, the MCU re-introduces us to Jane Foster, now flying high with thunder in her veins as the one and only Mighty Thor. Jane’s tenure of the Goddess of Thunder is a highlight of Asgardian comic book action in recent years, so to celebrate, here’s a few of the moments big and small that made us fall in love with her in the first place.
Writer Jason Aaron, artist Russell Dauterman, colorist Matt Wilson, and letterer Joe Sabino’s three-year journey with Jane in the pages of Thor and then The Mighty Thor is packed with amazing moments — perhaps too many to condense into a couple-hour movie appearance. But these 10 points across her tenure as the Thor of the Marvel Universe while the Odinson was wracked with doubt all serve as a basis for the kind of Jane we want to see sitting down with Love and Thunder this weekend. Got your own favourite Mighty Thor moments? Let us know in the comments!
10) You’ll Have to Speak Up, I’m Wielding a Hammer (Mighty Thor #3)
Jane’s first encounter with Loki as Thor is far from her first encounter with the God of Mischief in her life — so she understandably uses her newfound power to beat the snot out of him in catharsis. The first thing she does is cleave his head straight off with Mjolnir, but this moment right after is even better.
9) Re-Writing Mjolnir (Thor #1)
It’s not the first time the oath on the side of the legendary hammer has been tweaked like this, but one of our first encounters with Jane as Thor, before we even knew it was her, gave us chills just from this little magical moment.
8) Telling the Odinson to Calm His Tits (Thor #4)
OK ok ok: so in the original panel Jane does not tell Odinson to relax is considerably sizeable pectorals. But they do have a brutal fight when the jealous former wielder of Mjolnir confronts his “replacement,” only for Jane to humble him and tell him he needs to back the hell down and calm himself. The fact we got a great meme out of it too is just a cherry on the top.
7) Becoming One With the Storm (Mighty Thor #3)
One of Jane’s first selfless acts in the War of the Realms comes after her indulgence of beating the snot out of Loki for a bit — flying high into a bombardment of missiles set to destroy a Light Elf city filled with thousands of refugees by summoning a storm in its midst.
6) Hammer (Clone) Time (Mighty Thor #10)
In order to hide that she’s the new Thor from a SHIELD interrogation, Mjolnir shows its love for its new wielder by unleashing a surprising power: transmutating itself into an illusion of Jane’s cancer-stricken human form so she can appear alongside the actual Jane when she’s transformed into Thor, throwing the organisation off her scent.
5) Facing Down the Phoenix Force (Mighty Thor #19)
Look, I’m not going to lie: a lot of these moments involve Jane decking someone or something in the face with Mjolnir. But it’s not every day one of those someones is the goddamn Phoenix Force, one of the most unfathomably powerful cosmic entities in the known universe. And she just… smashes it? In the face? And hurts it? Goddamn.
4) Dying for Love (Mighty Thor #705)
Jane’s climactic battle with the Mangog — a horrifying being of rage intent on wiping out every god in Asgard — is burdened with the weight of the fact her transformation into Thor to subdue the beast has killed her human self, her body no longer able to tolerate the cancer or chemotherapy her transformations have been playing havoc with. So yes, this is another big punch moment, but the weight of Jane’s final rallying cry — that she dies for love, while Mangog dies for nothing but hate — is what makes it so mighty.
3) The God of Lightning (Avengers #9)
There was a lot to dislike about Secret Empire as an event, but at least this side story explaining why Stevil Rogers was waving Mjolnir around and Jane was nowhere to be found during the event in the pages of Avengers reminded us what a boss she was as Thor. No hammer in sight, Jane grabbles with a lightning-breathing demon named Yod, taking his breath in her hands literally and then using it to beat Yod to near-death. Once again: god damn, Jane.
2) Smashing Odin in the Face (Mighty Thor #4)
Odin spends much of The Mighty Thor run being kind of a massive jerk… well, even more than usual thanks to all of his misogyny over a female deposing his son as Thor. Jane quickly grows tired of this and decides the best way to deal with Odin’s whining is to promptly beat the snot out of him. Her first charging smash to the face in their duel across the cosmos opens a brutal fight which also includes her opening up one of Jupiter’s anti-cyclonic storms on the All-Father and tossing a moon at him. Thanos who?
1) Convincing Odin She Shouldn’t Die, Despite Having Smashed Him in the Face (Mighty Thor #706)
So yeah, beating up Odin because he’s a sexist pig is pretty great. But, many issues later — having kicked so much arse, defeated the greatest threat to the Asgardian’s very existence in generations, and nobly sacrificed yourself in such a profoundly powerful way in the process that you get entry into Valhalla — that that same sexist pig is actually now like “well shit no you should live, this sucks”? You go, Jane Foster. You goddamn go.