Summary
- As the huge Thor vs Zeus fight begins, Thor turns aside the Skyfather's lightning with a single word.
- According to Thanos' ranking of the gods, Thor rising to Zeus' level puts him on the same level as Galactus and the Celestials.
- Thor has what it takes to beat Zeus. After becoming All-Father, his powers are now all but limitless, only restricted by his ability to act in concert with the natural world.
The Mighty the hierarchy of Marvel's gods is in upheaval. The cosmic wheel has turned, leading to new transformations in the gods as well as the return of the Utgard-Gods - a higher level of divine beings who act as the primordial archetypes for the gods of multiple different pantheons. Thor has been struggling against these emerging forces, leading to a confrontation with the leader of the Ancient Greek pantheon, Zeus Panhellenios.
In a preview of Immortal Thor #14, Thor begins his battle against Zeus, who was recently reborn in a dark new conqueror form. While Olympus' Sky-Father hurls a lightning bolt at Thor, Asgard's God of Thunder is able to turn it aside with a word. This moment shows that Thor is now able to sur the leader of Olympus' pantheon, who exists on the same power level as Odin and Galactus (at least according to Thanos.)
Thor recently became the All-Father of Asgard, officially unlocking the All-Power, previously known as the Odin Force. This is the raw power of a creator god, and has clearly put Thor on the same level as Zeus, who previously possessed ultimate control over all weather. However, Thor's recent adventures suggest he's gone even further, and is now more powerful than even this reborn version of Zeus.
In the MCU, Chris Hemsworth's Thor was able to beat Russell Crowe's Zeus by impaling him with his own Thunderbolt. In the comics, Zeus is a far more imposing presence, and has traditionally been far, far above Thor's level.
The image of Zeus hurling a lightning bolt only for it to 'choose' to obey Thor is a major symbol of both how and why Thor is now so powerful.
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All-Father Thor Is On the Same Level as Zeus
Thor's Odin-Level Upgrade Allows Him to Deflect Zeus' Lightning with a Word
Earlier in the series, Thor explained that his power over lightning doesn't stem from any ability to 'command' the weather. Instead, he is tied into the cosmic order and has a unique relationship - almost friendship - with the natural world. This is part of his purpose as a storm god, but also an effect of him being part Elder God as the biological son of Gaea. Thor generally portrays this as a relationship - the storm chooses to do as he asks - however it's also clear that the All-Power requires him to act in cosmic sympathy with natural forces. The more in-tune with the world around him Thor is, the more his power holds primacy over anyone else's.
Gaea is the embodiment of the Earth in Marvel lore, and recently warned Thor she plans to eradicate humanity due to their treatment of her. When Thor protested that she needed to give humanity a chance, she replied that she has - she's given them him.
Thor has long been on a lower level of godhood than Zeus, but that's no longer true. Thor's heroism has kept his mythology and worship alive not just on Earth, but across the galaxy. At the same time, he has now taken Odin's place as the All-Father of an entire pantheon. It's clear that Thor now understands himself as Zeus' equal, declaring that their fight will be "the business of Skyfathers." The Skyfather archetype denotes Marvel's mightiest gods, but thanks to Thor's new understanding of his limits, he's able to use his abilities in far more versatile ways. That's going to be essential in the fight against Zeus, who is more dangerous than he's ever been.
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Zeus' Olympians were recently killed and resurrected, returning in powerful new conqueror forms.
Zeus Was One of Marvel's Top Gods Even Before His Recent Rebirth
The Sky Father of the Greek Pantheon Even Crushed Hulk
Zeus has long been less interventionist in Marvel lore than Odin, though with a soft spot for his half-human son Hercules, who has long strode Earth as a hero. However, the Olympians were recently killed by the night goddess Nyx, and were then reincarnated in far more aggressive forms concerned with conquering the cosmos and forcing humanity to worship them. Star-Lord and the Guardians of the Galaxy took on the pantheon and, thanks to help from Athena, were able to banish Zeus to an alternate dimension - a dimension to which Loki just sent Hercules and Thor.
In Immortal Thor, Loki has taken on the symbolic role of Thor's honorable enemy. Loki keeps engineering situations that could kill Thor but which, if he finds a way to survive, teach an essential lesson he'll need to defeat the Utgard-Gods.
Before his upgrade, Zeus was unfathomably powerful, bending reality to his whim. Even the Hulk learned to respect Zeus' power when he confronted him on Olympus, where Zeus promptly doled out a beating that shattered the Green Goliath's ribs, collapsed his lungs, and left him vomiting green blood. In many ways, Zeus embodies the concept of raw power on a cosmic level. That's even more significant given the arrival of the Utgard-Gods, since the ideas that fundamentally define each god have renewed power, but also renewed influence over their behavior.
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It's a major win for fans of Al Ewing to see Zeus return. Ewing wrote several volumes of Guardians of the Galaxy, evolving Star-Lord's powers and backstory in character-defining ways. Many fans felt that Ewing's Guardians of the Galaxy ended too soon, and so it's a relief to see the writer able to continue the themes of that series by bringing back one of its big bads.
If Thor can not just equal Zeus' power but find a way to best the unhinged conqueror, he'll have done something even Odin never could.
Over in Guardians of the Galaxy, Zeus represented a patriarchal, traditional conception of power, with a single all-powerful god-king at the top, destroying and conquering everything in his path. In many ways, he's the perfect enemy to test Thor's new, more subjective form of power which hinges on a form of cosmic consent. The image of Zeus hurling a lightning bolt only for it to 'choose' to obey Thor is a major symbol of both how and why Thor is now so powerful.
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Thor's New Power Level Is Exposing the Magic of the Gods
Thor's Limitless Powers Are Governed by His Knowledge and Cunning
Immortal Thor is painting a new image of Thor's powers where his abilities are tied to his wisdom, just as they were for Odin. This means that Thor can do almost anything, but only once he finds the path that best works in accordance with cosmic order and his own principles. For example, when Thor fought the Utgard-God Toranos, he was badly outmatched. Toranos is also known as the Utgard-Thor, and is the original form of all the ideas that Thor embodies in a more human way. Because of this, Thor's strength and storm powers couldn't make a dent.
To win, Thor had to rely on his wisdom, choosing to declare Toranos worthy of Mjolnir. While this made his rival even stronger, it also bound Toranos to the concept of worthiness, forcing him to confront the moral dimensions of his actions and eventually surrender. Toranos was unquestionably more powerful than Thor - Thor's godhood is just one specific shadow of Toranos' - and yet thanks to his wisdom, the All-Power was able to deliver a major victory.
A win over Zeus in the same manner will truly drive home how influential Thor now is in Marvel's hierarchy of the gods. While Toranos is a relatively new threat, Zeus has been around as long as the Asgardians, and has always only had Odin as a godly equal. If Thor can not just equal Zeus' power but find a way to best the unhinged conqueror, he'll arguably have done something even Odin never could.
Thor Unveils Mjolnir's True Form, Changing Marvel's Cosmic Order Forever
As Thor faces Toranos, aka the Utgard-Thor, his iconic hammer Mjolnir is revealed to be the 'shadow' of the Elder God's gigantic wheel.
Thor turning aside Zeus' lightning with a word shows that he's reached the upper limits of godhood, previously presented as equal to Galactus and the Celestials, and lesser only to the Universal Abstracts like Eternity and the Living Tribunal. Indeed, if Thor can continue to dominate Zeus, he can easily be called Marvel's most powerful god. That will depend on Thor's continued ability to act from a place of wisdom and balance, continuing the journey he needs to take to vanquish the Utgard-Gods' terrifying plans for Earth.
The Immortal Thor #14 is coming August 14 from Marvel Comics.
