All 11 Thor’s “Deaths” in the Comics Explained
The world of Marvel has had its fair share of different comic book characters who are godlike in terms of their abilities. Of course, Thor stands out the most because he is the Norse God of Thunder. While Thor may be incredibly strong and almost invulnerable, he can still get hurt or even die.
Thor has died ten times in the comics
While it may be true that Thor is incredibly resilient and durable, he can still die. That’s because there were versions of Thor that died in the comics. But in most of the times that he died in the comics, he was in an alternate universe different from the standard Earth-616 that has always been the main Marvel universe. So, with that said, let’s look at all of Thor’s deaths in the comics.
Thor’s deaths in the comics
1. ‘Marvel Zombies: Dead Days’
In ‘Marvel Zombies: Dead Days,’ it goes without saying that there were going to be a lot of different deaths. However, instead of Thor dying as a zombie, he was torn apart by the zombified version of the Fantastic Four. Of course, this also turned him into a member of the undead horde that had started to overwhelm the world.
This is one of the most bizarre moments in the comics, and, oddly, Thor died off-page in this storyline, as we didn’t even get to see the Fantastic Four killing him. Still, this should be one of the strangest Marvel storylines in the comics, and you’ll certainly love all of the insane events that happened in this storyline.
2. ‘New Avengers’ #32
This storyline involves the incredibly and insanely powerful Beyonders, who started entering the universe to wipe out all life. That means the strongest heroes Marvel had to offer had to charge right into the Beyonders. Thor was one of them as he took on a Beyonder together with Hyperion and Starbrand.
However, a single Beyonder defeated Thor and his allies with little to no effort at all. Nevertheless, Thor died a true hero because he charged into an insanely powerful opponent he probably knew he couldn’t defeat even if he tried his best. And it’s no surprise that a nigh-omnipotent being like a Beyonder would be able to defeat Thor.
3. ‘X-Men: End of Days’
This is one of the least popular deaths of Thor because there weren’t a lot of people who were aware that he died in this comic. Of course, his death came during a fight with a much weaker character named Mikhail Rasputin, who wouldn’t be able to defeat Thor under normal circumstances.
The thing here is that Thor didn’t have Mjolnir this time and was yet to regain his superpowers. Given that he is much weaker in this comic, he didn’t have the durability that would have allowed him to survive attacks or damages that would normally kill regular people.
Thor, desperate to defeat Mikhail, launched himself toward him as they were both launched out of a window. They both died, but there is no doubt that Thor would have survived this event had he had his normal godly powers.
4. ‘The Infinity Gauntlet Saga’
While we all know that Thor was one of the survivors of the ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ movie, that wasn’t exactly the case in the ‘Infinity Gauntlet Saga’ in the comics because Thanos was able to defeat Thor in a very unsettling way for fans of the God of Thunder, and his death was actually kind of hardcore when compared to normal standards.
In this storyline, Thor was still the normal human being named Donald Blake. He would return to his normal human form whenever he was away from his hammer for a few seconds. While he did regain his hammer and tried to defeat Thanos, the Mad Titan turned him into ice and shattered him. The good news is that he did get revived at the end of the saga, just like most of the other heroes Thanos killed.
5. ‘Thor Disassembled’
In ‘Thor Disassembled,’ Thor chose to die in an incredibly heroic way after finding out that the destruction of the world tree, Yggdrasil, was the only way to prevent the destruction of the universe during the events of Ragnarök. And the destruction of Yggdrasil meant the end of his life as well.
So, in that regard, Thor chooses the needs of the many instead of his own life as he chops the world tree down to destroy it. His mortal form died after the destruction of the world tree, but he was summoned back from the Void, suggesting that his immortal form as a god was still very much alive but was merely resting.
6. ‘Mighty Thor’ #705
The ‘Mighty Thor’ storyline, much like the movie, actually follows the story of Jane Foster instead of Thor Odinson. But while we know that Odinson has died quite a few times in the comics by being heroic, Jane also understands that she needs to be a hero in the truest sense possible. This means that she may need to sacrifice her life as well.
This happened when she threw Mjolnir into the sun while the hammer was attached to the evil and almost indestructible Mangog. Jane killed the villain but died in the process because the hammer was the only thing keeping her alive the entire time. As such, Jane succumbed to breast cancer immediately after the destruction of the hammer. The good news is that Thor and Odin brought Jane back to life using the energy of the storm trapped within Mjolnir.
7. ‘What If’ #66
We know that the ‘What If’ storylines aren’t exactly canon, so Thor’s death in this comic isn’t counted. What we know is that Rogue plays a big role in the events of this comic, and she is able to get to the peak of her powers in this comic book.
Rogue has always been known for her ability to steal powers, but the extent of her abilities hasn’t always been stated. In this comic book, however, Rogue was able to steal Thor’s powers and become the new God of Thunder.
However, while Thor survived after getting his powers stolen, his existence was absorbed into Rogue’s psyche, and he decided to remove himself from existence after realizing that Rogue was now the new God of Thunder.
8. ‘Thanos Wins’
The ‘Thanos Wins’ series in the comic book allows us to see the Mad Titan taking his place as a ruler after winning against the heroes. In this series, he killed just about every hero that the Marvel universe had to offer. Of course, this included Thor himself, who saw his death at the hands of the Mad Titan.
Thor’s death happened in a dramatic way when the Mad Titan blasted him to death using his powerful energy attack. Thanos didn’t even have any trouble when he killed Thor here, as the comic showed just how strong Thanos had become. Killing one of Marvel’s strongest heroes set the pace up for Thanos as he spent the series killing all of the other heroes as well.
9. ‘Fear Itself’ #7
‘Fear Itself’ is one of the most recent Thor storylines in the comics, as it features Thor’s uncle, the god of fear. In this storyline, Thor had to go up against the ancient archrival of the God of Thunder, the world serpent known as Jörmungandr. Of course, we know in Norse mythology that Thor’s death also came at the hands of this mighty serpent.
In this comic book series, Thor had to fight the World Serpent. He ultimately died defeating him, thus following the mythology wherein both of these powerful beings could take each other down during the events of Ragnarök. While Thor did indeed die in this storyline, he could return to life when Loki and the Silver Surfer rescued him from the Demogorge, the realm where all gods go to after death.
10. ‘The Infinity Finale’
We all know that Thanos is the one character who has killed Thor quite a few times in the comics, and the thing is that he dies again in ‘The Infinity Finale.’ This time, however, Thanos wasn’t responsible for killing the God of Thunder. That’s because they had to work together against a common enemy named Annihilus, the Lord of the Negative Zone.
Annihilus spent the entire storyline killing most of the heroes and villains who tried to stop him. As such, Thanos and Thor had to work together to defeat the villain, only for them to struggle against their common enemy. Odin, of course, sacrifices himself by exploding so that they can defeat Annihilus. His death was undone by Adam Warlock destroying and rebuilding the entire universe, as Thor wasn’t even aware of his heroic sacrifice.
11. ‘King Thor’
This death happened to ‘Old King Thor,’ who was, at one point, one of the only deities left in the Universe. After battling Loki and Gorr, the God Butcher, Thor entered the Thor-Sleep to recover as the Universe faced destruction, with Midgard at its center. Gods, stripped of their conventional existence, were forced to work like humans. Loki sacrificed himself to reignite the sun, haunting Thor and filling him with sadness every time Thor would look upon the sun shining over Midgard.
Despite the universe’s restart, an unstoppable entropy threatened Thor’s creation. He entrusted Midgard to his granddaughters, who became the new “Gods of Thunder,” while Old King Thor sacrificed himself to stop the encroaching entropy.
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