Thor Just Unleashed Marvel’s Best Twist Of 2026

The God of Thunder just presented the strongest candidate for Marvel’s best twist of 2026 with the reveal that Thor is still dead and nowhere to be found. Marvel shook Asgardian history with Thor’s death in Al Ewing’s The Immortal Thor, where Loki stabbed his brother with a dagger at the end of the hero’s most grueling challenge. Thor, supposedly durable and strong enough to live long enough to become King Thor millennia down the line, died a seemingly definitive death just like any mortal.

Death isn’t definitive in the Marvel Universe, and there are countless ways a god can come back from the dead in Asgardian mythos. However, Marvel doesn’t leave it easy for the hammer-wielding hero. Al Ewing’s immediate continuation to The Immortal Thor, The Mortal Thor, sees the God of Thunder reincarnate in the body of the mortal Midgardian Sigurd Jarlson, who must learn how to be a hero with none of his divine powers, none of his memories, and absolutely no way to revisit his Asgardian origins due to the absence of Norse mythology on Earth.

While difficult, Sigurd Jarlson’s journey to regain his Thor identity seems to be on track. That’s what Marvel wants readers to think, anyways, as The Mortal Thor #12 flips Thor’s story upside down and changes the meaning of the whole series.

The Mortal Thor’s Sigurd Jarlson Is Donald Blake, Not Thor

The Mortal Thor #12; Written By Al Ewing; Art By Jesus Saíz And Matt Milla

Sigurd Jarlson has accomplished increasingly grueling feats and defeated numerous supervillains, including the Radioactive Man, Mr. Hyde, Grey Gargoyle, and more recently, Dario Agger. Now, Sigurd meets face to face with the Serpent of Midgard, the villain who kept Donald Blake imprisoned and pushed him to the brink with an identity crisis, which led to Blake becoming a ruthless villain. Before revealing its true appearance, the Serpent reveals to Sigurd that he’s the reincarnation of Donald Blake, unconsciously desperate to build an original identity of his own.

Sigurd being Donald Blake’s first fully developed and fully independent human body makes a lot of sense in retrospect. As soon as Thor dies and Donald breaks free from his prison, Sigurd Jarlson begins to follow the exact steps to become a human version of Thor. There’s little Donald Blake knows beyond being a shadow to the God of Thunder, so becoming a human Thor is all he could do when granted freedom. If what the Serpent says is fully accurate, Donald Blake’s story could end even more tragically than expected, as Sigurd Jarlson may completely erase any semblance of individuality Donald Blake may have had.

The Mortal Thor’s Donald Blake Twist Raises A Huge Thor Question

Where In The Ten Realms Is Thor?

The Mortal Thor #12’s revelation transforms the premise of Al Ewing’s saga and raises perhaps the biggest unanswered question in the entire series: if Sigurd is not Thor, then Thor’s whereabouts are a complete mystery. Thor’s death at the end of The Immortal Thor can no longer be interpreted as a god’s symbolic transformation into a humble human being. Somewhere beyond Midgard’s rewritten history, beyond the forgotten pathways to Asgard, and beyond the knowledge of the gods themselves, the true Thor Odinson remains unaccounted for. In a franchise built on constant resurrections, the possibility that Marvel has concealed Thor’s actual whereabouts in plain sight is refreshing.

Ironically, the most satisfying resolution for both characters may be the one that superhero comics pursue least often, which is allowing both Thor and Donald Blake to receive exactly the life they have earned. After suffering imprisonment and existential horror, Donald Blake now possesses the genuine human existence he has longed for, even though he isn’t aware of it. Meanwhile, Thor’s absence raises the unexpectedly simple possibility that Thor is in Valhalla. After all, Thor died a warrior’s death. The notion that he’s currently feasting among fallen warriors, reunited with lost friends and family, would be brilliantly straightforward.

Where do you think Thor is if Sigurd Jarlson is Donald Blake?

The Mortal Thor #12 is now available from Marvel Comics

First Appearance

Journey into Mystery

Alias

Thor Odinson, Eric Masterson, Kevin Masterson, Beta Ray Bill, Thordis, Throg, Red Norvell, Jane Foster

Alliance

Avengers, Warriors Three, Thor Corps, God Squad

Race

Asgardian, Human

Franchise

Marvel