Comic Book Spoilers: Female Thor's Secret Identity Revealed

Since last year, a female Thor has been tearing her way through the pages of the Marvel comic book universe. But the heroine's true identity has remained a secret — until now. She finally reveals herself in Thor #8, released this week. Click through to find out the female Thor identity. Obviously, major comic book spoilers abound after the jump. Team Hellions (and other websites) leaked, and Marvel has now confirmed, that the female Thor is none other than... drumroll please...Jane Foster!

To rewind, the old Thor (you know, the Chris Hemsworth-looking one) was deemed unworthy of Mjölnir following an as-yet-unexplained incident last year. Jane picked up the hammer instead, and the world got a new Thor. Whom Marvel Comics has gone out of their way to emphasize is "the Thor," not "She-Thor" or "Lady Thor."

But it's not all good news for Jane. The character (who is played by Natalie Portman in the Thor movies) has been battling breast cancer in the comics. And as Thor writer Jason Aaron reveals in an interview with Vulture, while Jane-as-Thor is basically a god, plain Jane is still sick. In fact, the magical transformations may be making her even sicker.

Although fans have been kept in the dark about the new Thor's identity, Aaron says behind the scenes, "we only ever really talked about Jane" as a possibility:

Nah. I mean, it was never just about the surprise or the mystery. Clearly I've had fun playing with that part of it over the course of these eight issues [since we introduced the new Thor]. But that's really all just setup for the real story. And Jane was the one I had a story with, whose story I wanted to tell. [...]

Jane's been a part of Thor's universe going back almost to the very beginning. She was the initial love interest for Donald Blake, who was Thor's alter-ego [in early Thor stories]. She was the nurse to his doctor. She's grown and changed and evolved a lot over the years, become a doctor in her own right. So this to me is not just the next step for her character, but really the next evolution of the core promise that has always been at the heart of Thor's mythology.

One major question raised by this reveal is what it'll mean for the movies. In the direct short term, the answer is nothing. The Marvel comics exist in a separate universe and timeline from the Marvel movies. Hemsworth is still Thor in the MCU, and will be sticking around at least through Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Avengers: Infinity War – Part One (2018), and Avengers: Infinity War – Part Two (2019).

In the long term, though, it's hard to say. Hemsworth's contract will end eventually, and it's not hard to imagine Marvel considering a new Thor once he departs. (There's been similar speculation surrounding Captain America: The Winter Soldier's Anthony Mackie, as Sam Wilson took over as the new Cap last year.) If Jane Foster proves to be a popular incarnation of the character in the comics, maybe they'll consider letting Portman swing Mjölnir around for a change.