Marvel grants more power to female characters, announces a Female Thor

ABC's The View made one of the most startling revelations this morning, Thor, a founding Avenger and one of Marvel's trinity will be retconned into a woman in the comics, later this year. The news will be a major shakeup to the Marvel status quo. Marvel's God of Thunder first debuted in Journey into Mystery #83 released in August 1962, making him one of the oldest superheroes in the Marvel universe. The change will be from October and will be penned by series writer Jason Aaron.

.@Marvel announces that Thor is no longer worthy of Mjolnir, and now a woman will be wielding the mighty Uru Hammer! #TheView

— The View (@theviewtv) July 15, 2014

The new Thor, will also wield Thor's hammer Mjölnir, leaving us to believe that the current Thor was deemed unworthy to continue possession of the magical weapon.

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This is not the first major change that Thor has seen in recent years, in a many issues Thor had lost his memories and taken on the identity of Donald Blake, a disabled powerless mortal man. It is only after he is reunited with Mjolnir for the first time that his powers return. 

Of course the change in character would be a major shake up in the Marvel Universe as a whole, affecting a wide array of characters including Loki, Tony Stark, Captain America, as well as the rest of the Avengers. Marvel have before introduced various female incarnations of famous super-heroes and villains, including the likes of Wolverine and his female clone X-23, Lady Bullseye, Jessica Drew and the rest of the Spider-Women, She-Hulk, She-Thing and various others; but this is taking a bigger step forward.

Marvel officiallly made the announcement on their website, explaining that they are all set for an all-new era for the God of Thunder. The point of the change is to shake one of Marvel's big three - Captain American, Iron Man and Thor.

"No longer is the classic male hero able to hold the mighty hammer, Mjölnir, a brand new female hero will emerge will who will be worthy of the name THOR. Who is she? Where did she come from and what is her connection to Asgard and the Marvel Universe?"

"The inscription on Thor’s hammer reads ‘Whosoever holds this hammer, if HE be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.’ Well it’s time to update that inscription," says Marvel editor Wil Moss. "The new Thor continues Marvel’s proud tradition of strong female characters like Captain Marvel, Storm, Black Widow and more. And this new Thor isn’t a temporary female substitute – she’s now the one and only Thor, and she is worthy!"

Series writer Jason Aaron emphasizes, "This is not She-Thor. This is not Lady Thor. This is not Thorita. This is THOR. This is the THOR of the Marvel Universe. But it’s unlike any Thor we’ve ever seen before."

“This is not She-Thor. This is not Lady Thor. This is not Thorita. This is THOR." - @jasonaaron

— Ryan Penagos (@AgentM) July 15, 2014

This female Thor will be the 8th title to feature a lead female protagonist and Marvel hopes to us this to speak directly to an audience that long was not the target for Super Hero comic books in America - Women.

- Who Will Be The New Thor? -

There is a major ongoing event right now that is part of Marvel NOW. The event entitled 'Original Sin' revolves around the murder of the all knowing-all seeing Watcher. Much of the Marvel Universe, including Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Captain America, and Thor himself are trying to solve the mystery of who killed the Watcher. While trying to uncover the killer, The Avengers confront one of the suspects which leads to the reveal of much of the hidden secrets in the Marvel universe. These secrets affect everyone from Daredevil, to Spider-Man, to Iron Man to the Hulk. In Thor's case, he has a vision of the sister he didn't know he had. In the final pages of Original Sins - Thor & Loki, it is revealed that there is a Tenth Realm that was sealed off. A realm that contained female warriors called Angels. One of the Angels took Thor's infant sister away, and while others believe her to be dead, Thor enlists his brother Loki's help and hopes to find her. Through an older Loki's eyes it is revealed that Thor's sister might just be Angela. The character of Angela was first introduced in Guardians of the Galaxy, and was said to be an all powerful Angel.

It seems the timing might be just right, the revelation that Thor has a sister. She might have survived death as an infant and would have been raised in the Tenth Realm thinking that she's an Angel. She's already proved to be pretty powerful, going toe-to-toe with Gamora, the adopted daughter of Thanos. And with Marvel's announcement of a female Thor, who better than his sister?

All Inputs via Marvel. H/T to The Verge