In the far future, after the death of his physical body, Thor will take on an epic new form, wielding a new weapon that makes Mjolnir look quaint.
Even for gods, nothing lasts forever, and while Thor is known for wielding the mighty hammer Mjolnir, there will come a time in his future when he trades in his trademark weapon (and his human form) for something even mightier.
Marvel has indicated many times that Thor will be one of its last characters to die, ruling over the universe as one of its final gods after a cataclysmic battle with Loki and Gorr the God Butcher, accompanied by his granddaughters, the Goddesses of Thunder. However, the journey to his final form as King Thor will be a rocky road, and while he'll eventually end up in a form similar to that of his father Odin, there are going to be some surprising stops along the way.
In King Thor #4 (by Jason Aaron and a host of talented artists including Esad Ribić, Gabriel Hernandez Walta, Andrea Sorrentino, Chris Burnham, Nick Pitarra, Aaron Kuder, Olivier Coipel, Russell Dauterman, Michael Del Mundo, Chris O'Halloran, Dave Stewart, Nathan Fairbairn, Michael Garland, Laura Martin, and Matthew Wilson), fans get a look at some of these forms, and none are more impressive than Thor the Thunder World. It's revealed that in the far future, a chaotic time known as the '1000 Nights of Ragnarok' will arrive, and the universe's gods will go into a deep hibernation. In their absence, new threats will take prominence, including a race of apocalyptic demons capable of possessing suns. Though at this point 'dead' in the human sense, Thor will take a startling new form to combat them - that of a superpowered planet.
With his energies now stored within a vast, planet-sized sphere, Thor will continue to do battle with evil, wielding new weapons to replace his trusted hammer Mjolnir. These are entire moons made of solid uru - the same substance as his traditional weapon - and empowered by mystical runes. It's made clear that rather than a single bludgeon, Thor will be orbited by a throng of moons, each capable of plunging through possessed suns as if they were nothing. Weird as it is, Thor the Thunder World is a true step up from the lone Thunder God wielding his enchanted hammer. Strangely, it's not the first time writer Jason Aaron has shown a Marvel character evolving into a planet. Astonishing Spider-Man and Wolverine (by Aaron and Adam Kubert) shows a future in which Doctor Doom has likewise become a living planet, with later stories showing him in combat with Thor's granddaughters.
Past comics have dealt with the fact that a god's lifespan is measured in the lives and deaths of worlds, meaning that Thor's time with the Avengers is just a brief period in his long and storied life. While he'll always remember his closest friends, Thor the Thunder World reminds fans that the God of Thunder isn't human, and as new threats emerge in the endless eons before the death of Marvel's current reality, he'll likely be along for the ride, taking whatever form allows him to do good and revel in the thrill of battle.
Thor is a deeply human character despite his divine perspective, and King Thor is a melancholy journey that communicates the toll the many thousands of years of his life will take on the once carefree hero. However, it also confirms that whatever form he may take - and even after his death - Thor will continue to fight on as a protector of the universe, whether he does so wielding the mighty hammer Mjolnir or a coterie of sun-smashing moons.
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