Marvel fans know the original Thor isn't the only hero to wield the magical hammer Mjolnir... but he also isn't the person who will be lifting it in the distant future of Marvel 2099 when the alternate universe is revisited this November.
The most notable subtitutions are easy to list, with Jane Foster becoming The Mighty Thor after the original Odinson was proven to be unworthy--a storyline that will be adapted in the upcoming MCU film Thor: Love and Thunder. More recently, Dani Cage became Thor in the post-apocalyptic future world known as the Wastelands... but that was the future of the Old Man Logan universe. You can never have too many gods of thunder, so a new champion will wield Mjolnir in the future of 2099. But it may be the last hero fans expect.
Marvel Comics is bringing a slew of comics for the return of Marvel 2099 (first launched in 1992), promising to permanently shake up the future of the Marvel Universe. One of these titles is the one-shot 2099 Alpha #1 by Nick Spencer and Viktor Bogdanovic. In a preview released by Marvel, fans are teased with the new hero to lift the mighty hammer of Thor... but it's a child, not a man. The preview shows a boy looking at Mjolnir, resting among debris. The child grips the handle of the mighty weapon attempting to lift it, but the reader isn't shown if the child is successful in the preview. But with Mjolnir laying alone in a pile of rubble, where is Thor in the future of 2099?
The original timeline of Marvel 2099 was a future without heroes, forcing a new group of costumed crime-fighters to begin a new era of heroes. This isn't to say the heroes of old are forgotten, however. When Thor and the other Asgardians no longer visit Earth, there is a revival of Norse worship telling stories of their former glory. This became a mixture of Norse mythology and stories of the Heroic Age, which leads to the Church of Thor, a major recognized religion in 2099. The true Thor never returned to the 2099 timeline, and Miguel O'Hara (the Spider-Man of 2099) was hailed as the "Harbinger of Thor" due to the connection between the original Spider-Man and Thor.
With the original 2099's fate being changed forever through Miguel O'Hara's actions (and classic comic book time travel), fans will have to wait and see what the new future threat to Marvel 2099 really is, and if Miguel will be teaming up with a pint-sized Thor to save the world.
Marvel's 2099 Alpha #1 arrives in your local comic book shop on November 20th, 2019.