There will always be more Thor stories.
King Thor is a four-issue miniseries by Jason Aaron, with art by Esad Ribić; running from 2019 to 2020. Serving as a grand finale to Jason Aaron's tenure as the writer of Thor, the series is closely tied to the comic that started it all—Thor: God of Thunder.
In the distant future, Midgard has been repopulated but Asgard is empty save for All-Father Thor and his granddaughters, the Goddesses of Thunder. Having been forewarned about the return of the primordial symbiote All-Black the Necrosword, the Goddesses of Thunder search the ruins of Omnipotence City for anything that could help their grandfather. Meanwhile, Loki—who has bonded to the All-Black symbiote—attacks Thor seeking to finish their sibling rivalry off for good... only for a small wrinkle to complicate that plan: the return of Gorr the God Butcher.
King Thor includes examples of:
- Abstract Eater: After merging with All-Black, Gorr uses it to attempt to consume the universe itself, corroding the space-time continuum.
- The Ageless: Despite hundreds of thousands — if not millions or even billions — of years having passed, the Goddesses of Thunder look the same as they when they first fought Gorr in Thor: God of Thunder. However, in the And the Adventure Continues/Distant Finale flash-forward where they're shown leading the Avengers, they sport different appearances — Frigg having an eyepatch like her grandfather, and Atli sporting a mohawk.
- And the Adventure Continues: The miniseries ends with the present-day Lord Librarian showing his apprentice Shadrak some of Thor's future adventures leading up to him becoming All-Father Thor, as well as some of the future adventures of the Goddesses of Thunder.
- Back from the Dead:
- Initially subverted and then played straight with Gorr. He is seemingly resurrected by Loki to kill him after he kills Thor, but reveals that his body is actually a simulacrum manifested from the All-Black symbiote, which his consciousness has merged with and is controlling. After All-Black is destroyed, he's resurrected in full and left to live the rest of his mortal life on Indigarr.
- In the glimpse the Lord Librarian shows Shadrak of the far future, the Goddesses of Thunder establish a new version of the Avengers with a resurrected Phoenix-Logan as one of its members.
- Book Ends: The first villain Thor faced in Jason Aaron's run is Gorr the God Butcher, and thus he returns at the near-end of the universe to vex Thor yet again.
- Brick Joke: Back in Godbutcher and Godbomb, King Thor asks Avenger Thor if he'd become a Space Cop living in the sun yet. We finally get to see what that looks like in this miniseries.
- Call-Back: At the end of the "God-Butcher" arc of Thor: God of Thunder it's mentioned that Thor brought several of the gods abducted from across time and space by Gorr to replace the slain Sky-Lords of Indigarr. In King Thor #2, the Goddesses of Thunder travel to Indigarr looking for backup to help their grandfather fight Loki and come across these gods in a dormant state, having terraformed the once-desert world into a verdant paradise.
- Came Back Strong: Gorr returns even more powerful than he had been prior to his death in Thor: God of Thunder, though it's revealed that this is due to his consciousness piloting the All-Black symbiote rather than him being restored to a flesh-and-blood body. Fittingly, in this state he's called the God of God Butchers.
- Continuity Nod: Shardak recalls how All-Black was once the weapon of Knull, God of the Symbiotes, as written by Donny Cates in his Venom run.
- Elderly Immortal:
- All-Father Thor is every bit the surly Grandpa God he was in Thor: God of Thunder, with the added dose of a few extra millennia's worth of bitterness and despair at seeing Asgard once more decline into a ruin populated only by himself and his granddaughters.
- Shadrak, the God of Bombs from Thor: God of Thunder, is revealed to be the last remaining inhabitant of Omnipotence City in the far future, having become the Lord Librarian's apprentice and eventually taken over the position.
- In the present-day, the geriatric Lord Librarian of Omnipotence City's Halls of All-Knowing appears, showing Shadrak the ropes in the hopes of ultimately retiring.
- Eldritch Transformation: Merging with All-Black enables Gorr to unleash the primordial symbiote's full power, using it in an attempt to consume what's left of the universe. This lets him create monstrous "Berserker Moons" in an attempt to devour the gods, conjure cosmic storms of Necro-Power, and snuff out stars just by existing.
- Enemy Mine: When Gorr returns, Loki decides to join his last living relatives in stopping the God of God-Butchers from destroying what's left of the universe.
- Grand Finale: The miniseries wraps up Jason Aaron's tenure as the writer of Thor comics, and brings back the main players of the Far Future Saga for one last battle to determine the fate of the universe.
- Heel Realization: After being mocked, blinded, and maimed by Gorr, Loki admits that the God-Butcher was right about the gods being unworthy of existence and that his one regret is that he won't be able to watch Thor die. However, he's cajoled into an Enemy Mine by the prayers of some mortals.
- Heroic Sacrifice:
- Lord Librarian Shadrak sacrifices himself by blowing up the ruins of Omnipotence City to save the Goddesses of Thunder from Loki's Necro-Ravens.
- Having been convinced to embrace his role as the God of Stories once more, Loki sacrifices himself to rekindle the Sun after it's blackened by Gorr.
- Thor departs to sacrifice himself holding back the Entropy destroying what's left of the universe for as long as he can, leaving the Goddesses of Thunder in charge.
- Hope Spot: Just as it appears Gorr is about to kill Loki and Thor, the Goddesses of Thunder and the Sky-Lords of Indigarr arrive to rescue them and turn the tables — Atli even decapitating Gorr with Jarnbjorn. And then it's revealed they weren't really fighting Gorr at all, but the All-Black symbiote with Gorr's consciousness in the cockpit, and that while they were fighting the simulacrum of his mortal body he was busy devouring what was left of the universe.
- I Lied: A benevolent version. Thor spitefully tells Loki as he tries to kill him that Frigga died heartbroken by Loki embracing his villainy and rescinding her motherly love for him. As the two are consumed by All-Black and seemingly on the verge of death, Thor admits that he lied, and confesses that Frigga never lost faith in Loki and pleaded Thor with her dying breath to save him.
- Mind Rape: Loki uses his power as the God of Stories to inflict this on Gorr, which coupled with Thor God-Bombing the All-Black symbiote into oblivion leaves Gorr utterly broken and unable to say anything except "Thor is Thor." Even the gods he once sought to annihilate take pity on him and let him live out the rest of his restored mortal life in peace.
- Natural End of Time: The comic is set millions — if not billions — of years into the future, where Thor, his granddaughters, and the inhabitants of New Midgard are almost all that's left in a dying universe.
- Omnicidal Maniac: The resurrected Gorr decides that rather than just killing all the gods, he's going to wipe out all life by destroying the universe itself and start it over without gods.
- Planet Destroyer: Both Thor and Gorr tear apart planets and even stars over the course of their cosmic battle.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: The first thing Gorr does upon being resurrected is berate Thor and Loki for squabbling while the universe slowly dies around them. He then scathingly mocks Loki for not having the guts to kill Thor himself even with All-Black's power, as well as Thor for ultimately having failed to protect life throughout the universe.
- Scatterbrained Senior: As an Elderly Immortal, Lord Librarian Shadrak's mind isn't as sharp as it once was and it takes him a while to even remember what he used to be the god of.
- Space Cop: One of the potential future outcomes for Thor we see is the fulfillment of King Thor mentioning how Avenger Thor would eventually become a God Cop whose sheriff's office is in the sun, policing the cosmos and punishing various wayward deities after the "Pantheonic Wars."
- The Stars Are Going Out: After Atli decapitates Gorr, the gods celebrate their victory only to notice the stars are disappearing... and Gorr to reveal that he's eating them.
Amen.
