Old King (Phoenix) Thor: Origins, Abilities, Powers & More
There have been numerous characters in Marvel Comics that were hosts to the Phoenix Force – the amazingly powerful cosmic entity. However, I can’t think of any Phoenix more powerful than the Old King Phoenix Thor. It took millennia for Thor Odinson to get to that point. So, what are Old King Phoenix Thor’s origins, powers, or abilities?
Old King Phoenix Thor came to be in a distant future, after Thor became the only god still living, harnessing immense power as Old King Thor. After a fight against King Doom and Wolverine, the future Logan transferred the Phoenix Force from himself to Thor, creating Old King Phoenix Thor.
Old King Phoenix Thor is, in fact, Old King Thor, serving as host to the cosmic entity, the Phoenix Force. It made Thor unfathomably powerful enough to fight the most powerful Doctor Doom ever, King Doom, for 99 years before emerging victorious. Let’s see what exactly makes Old King Phoenix Thor one of the most powerful Marvel characters ever.
Who Is Old King Thor?
We all know Thor Odinson – one of the fan-favorite superheroes from Marvel comics and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The God of Thunder is incredibly powerful as it is, but there have been numerous occasions where he got an awesome power upgrade and became even mightier. Old King Thor is one of those versions.
We first encounter Old King Thor in Thor: God of Thunder #1, in a crucial battle against Gorr the God Butcher. Gorr is an incredibly powerful being of an unknown species with great resentment and hatred towards gods, planning to kill them all with the All-Black the Necrosword.
To stop Gorr, Thor had to seek help from his past self, known as Young Thor – a version of the God of Thunder that was still quite arrogant and without his faithful Mjolnir. Also, Thor followed Gorr into the distant future, where we meet Old King Thor, the third version of Thor entering the battle against the God Butcher.
Old King Thor refers to the “present” Thor as his past self. Therefore, if Thor from Earth-616 were to die, Old King Thor would simply cease to exist, as he’s the future version of the Odinson we know. So, what’s the difference between Thor in the present and Old King Thor?
As it turns out, Thor became King Thor during the War of the Realms #6, when he sacrificed an eye to learn how to defeat Malekith, who threatened the existence of the entire universe. As a result, Odin passed his powers down to his son, proclaiming him to be King Thor, the All-father.
Old King Thor also misses an arm but had one made from the remains of the Destroyer armor – the giant semi-conscious armor created by Odin, Zeus, and other powerful gods. The Odinforce is now known as Thor-force, and Old King Thor became even more powerful than Odin was.
He lived for thousands of years, enough to see the universe at its very end – there were no gods left but him, being the King of Asgard that was now in ruins. Still, Old King Thor possessed incredible power, stemming from so many years of experience, wisdom, and the combined power of himself with the All-father.
Long story short, Old King Thor is eventually the one to seemingly kill the God Butcher, taking the All-Black with him so that Young Thor doesn’t take it for himself out of arrogance.
Now, Old King Thor had the power of the God of Thunder, the All-father, and the Necrosword – one of the most powerful weapons ever. And that wasn’t the end of it.
Old King Phoenix Thor Origins
Years into the future, the Multiverse had been jeopardized and then restored. Old King Thor was still standing and traveled to the edge of the cosmos to watch, knowing that the end of the universe was coming. A new, huge threat was here, and the Old King tried to find a way to stop it. That threat was King Doom, who was nearly omnipotent at this point.
However, instead of a battle with Doom, Thor gets attacked by none other than Wolverine. As it turns out, the famous X-Men member had been resurrected and served as a host to the Phoenix Force. Thor was happy to see his old friend, but Wolverine didn’t share his delight.
They fought hard, the universe shook, but Phoenix Wolverine eventually won. Eventually, the Phoenix Force remembers that the All-father was its lover somewhere in the distant past and prevents Wolverine from killing Old King Thor.
Eventually, the two come to terms and decide to go back to Earth to try and stop Doom, who had been collecting the powers of the Prehistoric Avengers for a long time. The fight with King Doom ensues, and Doom uses Ghost Rider’s Penance Stare on Thor, incapacitating him on the spot.
At that moment, Logan decides to sacrifice himself to transfer the almighty Phoenix Force into Mjolnir and Thor, eventually creating Old King Phoenix Thor. Now, that’s the combined power of Thor, Odin, the remains of the Destroyer, and now, the Phoenix Force, one of the most powerful entities in the universe.
Still, King Doom had the power of dozens of superheroes combined, proving to be more than a worthy opponent to such a powerful version of the God of Thunder. Their battle lasted for 99 years, shaking the universe, causing volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and cosmic storms.
Eventually, Old King Phoenix Thor managed to defeat King Doom. Exhausted, hurt, and on the brink of death, Old King Thor separates from the Phoenix Force and collapses into his version of Odin-sleep to recover.
Old King (Phoenix) Thor Powers
As you might’ve noticed from the article so far, there are several versions of Old King Thor. Better said, there’s one version with different power levels. Let’s see what those powers are.
Old King Thor
The base for the future Thor Odinson. He’s an old guy with long white hair and beard, missing an eye, having an arm made from the Destroyer armor scraps, and still wielding his faithful Mjolnir.
Odinson became King Thor way back in time, during the War of the Realms. One might say that Old King Thor is a more experienced, matured, wiser version of King Thor, who was already insanely powerful after becoming the All-father.
Old King Thor wielded the powers of the God of Thunder and became so prolific with the Odinforce it was now called the Thor-force. With it, there’s not much he couldn’t do. His powers include matter manipulation, transmutation, energy absorption, manipulation, and projection, damage immunity (near-immortality), unfathomable strength, stamina, and much more.
Years of experience made him wiser and allowed Thor to master his powers completely, but one can’t ignore the Destroyer arm he has – it’s like having an enhanced version of Bucky Barnes’ metal arm. This basic version of Old King Thor is as tough as they come, but it gets even better.
Necrosword Thor
After Young Thor, Thor Odinson, and Old King Thor defeated Gorr the God Butcher, Old King Thor took the All-Black symbiote with him and wielded the Necrosword for a while. He was powerful enough and wise enough not to let the Necrosword corrupt him while using its unfathomable power to his benefit.
Remember, the Necrosword was created by Knull, the God of Symbiotes, out of eldritch darkness, also known as the Void. It was an empty void (as the name suggests) that existed in between two iterations of the universe, where Knull was the only being, just floating in it.
The Necrosword is an incredibly powerful weapon, capable of decapitating Celestials with one shot and killing every god in the universe – which was ultimately Gorr’s plan.
Give a weapon like that to someone as powerful as Old King Thor, and there’s almost nobody he couldn’t beat.
Old King Phoenix Thor
By this time, Old King Thor didn’t have the Necrosword anymore. However, I think that being host to the Phoenix Force more than makes up for it. Not only did Thor’s overall power grow, but he also gained new powers, such as resurrection, life manipulation, reality-warping, etc.
There are only two Thor versions I could see match Old King Phoenix Thor in power. Firstly, Rune King Thor, the guy who scared Those Who Sit In The Shadows into begging for forgiveness – who were said to be the Beyonders. And, second, Cosmic King Thor, who was the All-father, and then became a Herald of Galactus.
Old King (Phoenix) Thor Features
As Old King Phoenix Thor, Odinson fought the most powerful version of Doom ever. He spent years gathering the powers of all the Prehistoric Avengers, becoming even more powerful than the almighty God Emperor Doom. That guy collected the powers of the entire Beyonders race. And Yet, King Doom claimed to be the most powerful version of himself – ever.
And Thor still won. It took him 99 years, but Doom eventually lost.
Without the Phoenix Force, Old King Thor still had some awesome wins under his belt. He destroyed Old King Loki and knocked down a well-fed Galactus, matching his Power Cosmic with Thor-force.
Of course, Thor’s “normal” superhuman strength is up to par with the Hulk. As Old King Thor, it was so much more. The guy casually picks up three stars and tosses them like they’re paper.
I loved reading every page with Old King Thor, especially Thor Vol. 5 #1-6, where the epic battle with Doom took place. Seeing that Gorr the God Butcher will appear in Thor: Love and Thunder (portrayed by Christian Bale), I’d love to see the trio of Thor’s appear to fight him, just like in the comics.
I know, it’s far-fetched, and we already know that Jane Foster is becoming the Mighty Thor in the film. But, come on – we’ve seen Fat Thor – why can’t we have Old King Thor, right?
