WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Avengers #54, now on sale from Marvel Comics
In the history of the Marvel Universe, the Dark Phoenix has been held as one of the single most dangerous forces in creation. Capable of destroying stars for sustenance and wiping out planets with ease, someone corrupted with that much power is a universal threat — and now, Thor might be on the path towards such a corruption.
Thor’s battle with his Hound-variant in Avengers #54 by Jason Aaron, Juan Frigeri, David Curiel, and VC’s Cory Petit revealed that Thor can indeed access the power of the Phoenix Force — and set the stage for him to one day become a new version of the Dark Phoenix.
The Avengers have been facing off with multiversal-level threats thanks to an invasion of Earth-616 by the Masters of Evil. Among their most terrifying members was the Dark Phoenix, a seemingly corrupted version of the Phoenix Force that had taken the appearance of Destiny. Using her psionic abilities, the Dark Phoenix had seemingly corrupted numerous heroes from across the multiverse into her Hounds — including one version of Thor, who found himself in a 1-on-1 duel with the Earth-616 incarnation of the character. Echo does her best to combat the Dark Phoenix, but Thor increasingly finds his brute strength and thunderous abilities not to be enough to stop his villainous variant.
Notably, this Dark Thor was seemingly one who embraced his heritage with the Phoenix Force, a currently contentious point for Thor, given the lingering family drama he has with his father Odin and Frigga (who raised him as her own). Luckily, Echo was there to force Thor to confront the truth — that the only way to defeat a Phoenix-empowered Thor was to embrace the cosmic flames of the Phoenix instead of relying on the lightning of Asgard. Forced to accept he’s the “son of the Thunderbird,” Thor summoned a blast of cosmic flames in the shape of a lightning bolt. The attack is enough to fatally wound the evil Thor and force Dark Phoenix to retreat. But as she does, the entity gloated that Echo has made the greatest mistake she could, noting that this was apparently similar to how the Dark Phoenix first corrupted Thor as well.
It’s an interesting prospect, as this suggests Thor’s connection to the Phoenix Force could come with some serious perks and dangers. As not just the King of Asgard and lord of lightning but the God of the Firestorm, Thor might be more powerful now than he’s ever been before. Thor has enough strength within to confront cosmic entities and hold his own. With the power of the Phoenix Force potentially at his disposal as well, he could only grow more powerful from here on out. But with that power comes serious danger, as the universe has been endangered multiple times over the years by the Dark Phoenix. Coupled with recent upgrades, this could set up a Dark Phoenix Thor to be Marvel’s single most destructive person.
The Phoenix Force has been shown in the past to be a corrupting element if not controlled — with longtime heroes transformed into murderous threats by the power. Thor’s experience as a God likely gives him an easier time dealing with these potential corruptions, but he’s not impervious to such dark directions. One version of the Asgardian already eventually turned against the world and conquered Midgard. It’s possible that Thor’s newest power boost sets him on the path to become even more powerful and dangerous than he already is — especially if he also proves susceptible to the corrupting influence of the Dark Phoenix.
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