The Norse deity Thor is regarded as one of the most powerful beings in Marvel Comics. A mighty warrior who commands the skies themselves, the Odinson is also currently enhanced with the mantle of the Allfather. Yet, all of this pales before the true power of Thor.
Immortal Thor #5 by Al Ewing and Martin Coccolo found the Odinson in a battle like no other. Faced with the Elder God of Thunder, Toranos, Thor knew he could not win the battle alone. This led him to call upon several allies, all of whom had wielded his power in the past. This included his brother, Loki, Beta Ray Bill, Jane Foster, and the mutant Storm.
The five heroes kept trading the hammer Mjölnir between them, as the battle continued. So long as they did not let go of the hammer for more than a minute, they could all continue to wield the power of Thor. Things seemed lost when Toranos, who sought the power of Thor for himself, caught Mjölnir and lay claim to it. However, this was all part of the Odinson’s plan.
Thor’s power is based on wisdom, not strength
Once armed with Mjölnir and declared worthy, Toranos found himself racked with psychic pain. With a wicked grin, the Odinson asked him if he truly knew what the power of Thor was. He then explained that when people prayed to him, they did not ask him to call upon the power of storms, but asked him to hold them back.
This, the Odinson claimed, is his true power. Any deity could call upon nature to destroy, but true power lay in taming it. Thor added that for all his skill in battle, his greatest strength lay in the knowledge “of how to use my power well. With compassion, restraint, nobility, hard-won wisdom, and, most of all, with humility.”
In short, “the power of Thor is the power to be worthy.” This truth, coupled with the knowledge of his own lack of worth, caused Toranos to release the power and flee the field of battle.
Immortal Thor #5 is now available in comic shops everywhere.
