Thor and his iconic hammer, Mjolnir, are almost inseparable and it is difficult to dissociate the image of the God of Thunder from his main artifact in Marvel Comics. However, in recent years, Odinson, who is now king of Asgard, has faced challenges that require a wider repertoire of weapons. And that’s exactly what he needs now, to overcome a challenge proposed by Loki.
Warning for spoilers for Immortal Thor #3!
First of all, we need to recap how this new epic phase of Thor began. Commanded by Al Ewing, who has already reformulated the Hulk mythology in Immortal HulkOdinson finds himself faced with the return of powerful Elder Gods, such as Toranos, a titan who controls storms — and he is the first of several others who are resurfacing from a mysterious place beyond the Ten Realms.
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To temporarily defeat Toranos’ invasion of Earth, Thor had to use the All-Power that only the king of Asgard has — just as Odin had for a long time. Odinson managed to open a hole in reality to push Toranos to the edge of existence, but then suffered the consequences of using the All Power: every time this incredible force is triggered, the king of Asgard enters the deep sleep known as the All-Sleep.
In the state of All-Sleep, the king of Asgard is completely vulnerable, so he needs to be protected by his allies and subjects, in a place far from enemies. And that’s when the reveal of a new epic weapon forged by Thor begins.
What is Thor’s new legendary weapon?
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In Immortal Thor #3recently released, Thor is trapped in an unknown dimension, where Loki commands the actions, now in a version like Marvel’s Tale Teller — let’s leave this characterization of Odinson’s half-brother in detail on another occasion.
Throughout the narrative, we see the traditional relationship of love and hate that the two have for each other, while Loki keeps Thor trapped in this dimension, where Mjolnir does not have the same effects as in other realities. Little by little we come to understand that, in fact, the riddles proposed by Loki have the function of protecting and preparing Odinson, who needs to overcome the challenges and complete his journey to return better able to face the Elder Gods.
That’s when Thor thinks about some solutions and comes to the conclusion that he needs a new arsenal of epic weapons, more precisely three artifacts. The first of these is Tormod, an ax forged with the powers of the All-Father that Odinson now possesses due to his status as king of Asgard. There are no details yet about this new piece, but you can see that it has an extremely sharp blade and is imbued with immense energy.
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At first glance, it is possible to even confuse Tormod with the Stormbreaker seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). But it is worth mentioning that, in the comics, there is not an ax called Stormbreaker, but rather a hammer, which is actually used by the alien thunder god Beta Ray Bill — the closest Thor has ever used an ax like the MCU Stormbreaker in the comics was the ax Jarnbjorn.
The name Tormod is particularly important because it translates as “the mind of Thor”, something especially relevant to the plot of this edition, as Odinson is trapped in a trap by Loki that depends on solving riddles. It appears that the new weapon will not only be one of the sharpest blades in the Marvel Universe but will also concentrate the wisdom of the All-Father, All-Knowledge — writer Al Ewing follows the tradition of Norse epic tales, in that normally the hero needs to gather certain special artifacts throughout his journey.
As said before, Tormod is the first of three epic weapons that Thor must still forge to face Toranos, and everything indicates that he should not use them alone, since Storm, from the X-Men, appears on the last page as a possible member of a “Thor Troop” being assembled against the Elder Gods.
