Marvel Writer Explains Why Thor Was Removed From a Major Upcoming Comic Event

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Marvel’s 2024 Storm series, written by Murewa Ayodele, has shown the Omega-Level mutant like never before as she becomes the avatar of Eternity in its never-ending battle with Oblivion. In a series solely focused on the storm Goddess, Ororo has already faced some of her biggest challenges yet and has even died in the process. However, Storm’s biggest challenge is yet to come with the upcoming Thunder Wars event, seeking to test the hero like never before against the original storm god, Hadad.

Revealed in Storm #8 (Murewa Ayodele, Lucas Werneck, Alex Guimarãs, and Travis Lanham), Hadad is set to be one of the most powerful villains in the entire Marvel Universe, being able to weave Eternity into his cloak and the Phoenix Force into his war armor. While Storm will have to confront Hadad and the other Storm gods for her place in the pantheon, she may not have to do it alone. In a recent interview with Agents of Fandom’s Comic Corner podcast, writer Murewa Ayodele spoke on his original plans for Thunder Wars to include Thor and other powerful Marvel characters to make the event unlike any readers have seen before. While these plans were shifted due to editorial reasons, Ayodele confirmed that readers may still see some familiar faces come to Storm’s aid.

The Storm Gods Come For Ororo

Storm isn’t the only one with power over the elements

While battling a giant anaconda in Brazil infected with Super-Soldier Serum in Storm #7 (by Murewa Ayodele, Luciano Vecchio, Alex Guimareães, Fernando Sifuentes, and Travis Lanham), Storm is ambushed by a pantheon of different storm gods from across the world.

After Storm barely escapes with her life, she is met by Thor, who tells her of the original storm god, Hadad, and the civil war brewing among the other Storm Gods. While Hadad first appeared in 1989’s Wolverine #12 (by Peter David, John Buscema, Bill Sienkiewicz, Glynis Oliver, and Ken Bruzenak), Ayodele spoke on how Donny Cates’s Thor series inspired him to re-imagine the character for this new event.

” I am a huge fan of Donny Cates and I completely loved the concept of the Black Winter introduced in his Thor run. When I was beginning to write Storm, I wanted to do something with this concept, so I thought what if there was more than one of them. I thought ok, this was brought into a Storm Gods book and Cates decided to call it Black Winter, meaning it’s a weather phenomenon. So I thought what if a Storm God had created them, a Storm God who could be that powerful would have to be the first Storm God.”

Ayodele further explained that this led him to Bal-Hadad, who was the oldest recorded Storm God, originating in Mesopotamia and spread across numerous cultures, such as Horas in Egypt or Zeus in Greece.

Seeing that Hadad didn’t have much history in Marvel Comics, Ayodele had the perfect opportunity to create his own history for the character to align with his roots in Mesopotamian culture. Envisioning a character powerful enough to stand against The One Above All to be the catalyst for the Thunder Wars, Ayodele had plans to put the original Storm God against Marvel’s most powerful players.

The Original Plans for Thunder Wars

Storm was originally going to have a lot more help

Making Hadad one of the most powerful villains ever seen in Marvel Comics, Ayodele originally envisioned this new threat facing off against Marvel’s most powerful heroes, including Thor, Scarlet Witch, and the Phoenix.

They would lead a massive crossover event that would bring together all three titles. Unfortunately for fans, they will have to wait a bit longer for the epic crossover as the plans for the event were forced to shift due to editorial interventions. Speaking on his original plans for Thunder Wars, Ayodele stated:

“It’s my bad. I’m still new to comics, so I think I should have reached out to the creators first before reaching out to the editors, but I was noticing little threads in the current continuity, such as Eternity showing up in Phoenix, the Never Queen being Eternity’s lover, and Thor having faced Oblivion. Everything seemed like we could make this saga similar to House and Powers of X, where each creator would tell a five-issue story of how each character had weakened Hadad across time, space, and dimensions and culminating in his defeat.”

Ayodele also explained that the basis of this pitch came down to creating an event that would be able to handle Marvel’s four most powerful characters, who are often left out of big-scale team-ups due to their power levels.

These characters were either being taken down immediately or having their powers hindered so they couldn’t just end the event before it started. Ayodele intended for Hadad to be the one to give these heroes their own event that could live up to their potential. While these plans were unable to happen due to where each character is currently in their respective titles, this created an interesting creative problem for the Storm writer, as Storm now had to face this massive threat alone.

Man plans, Storm Gods laugh

With Thor trapped in Utgard Hall and Phoenix busy in the cosmos, Storm finds herself alone in the Thunder War, but Ayodele assures fans that there will still be some who come to Storm’s aid, while be it in more minor roles. The Storm writer confirmed that while these original plans didn’t come to fruition, Phoenix, Scarlet Witch and Beta Ray Bill will all still be featured in the event to help Storm in her battle against Hadad and Oblivion.

While playing different roles in the event, Ayodele promised fans that these changes don’t make the event lose any intensity, but actually enhance it by making it more focused on Storm. Touching on how this pivot in the story was a creative challenge, the Storm writer explained:

“It made everything very interesting. I had created this monster with Hadad, someone powerful enough to beat all these abstract beings and who could only be beaten by The One Above All and now Storm has to be able to face him alone. There’s little I can say, Storm does get a little help, but all I can say is that it’s going to be grand, it’s going to be epic.”

The writer went on to tease that Thunder War will have massive stakes for the Marvel Universe, saying that Storm #11 will show Eternity abandoning the universe out of fear of Hadad and seeking the help of The One Above All.

When asked about the threat Hadad poses to the cosmos, the writer further teased the massive effects Thunder War will have on Marvel Comics, stating, “The bigger threat, I think, is the question of whether the One Above All safe.”

Thunder War Will Be Unlike Any Other Marvel Event

Murewa Ayodele promises fans an event worthy of the Storm Goddess

While not being able to say much, the writer promised that Thunder Wars will be unlike anything readers have seen. While praising his collaborators, Ayodele spoke about how the art for Thunder Wars really brought things together:

“When I finished writing it and got the pages from Lucas and Mario, I was screaming in my room. These are visuals you have never seen before. Things you never imagined you would see.”

In addition to bringing fans new and exciting visual concepts, Ayodele also revealed that the event will deal heavily with the abstract beings of the Marvel Universe and their relationship to the Storm Gods that will have lasting effects on the interworkings of the Marvel cosmos.

The Storm writer also further touched on how Storm will deal with these immense threats and what he hopes readers will take away from her journey.

“Storm is a character who has experienced so much heartbreak and yet when you hear her speak you feel she is a person who has never been heartbroken before. She is someone who has gone through immense hardship, but it’s never shaped her negatively. That is the goal with this series. We are seeing her go through all these turbulent things. Challenges after challenges and, at the end of everything, as much as you would expect all these things to push her in one direction, she is going to say no im going this way. That’s who Storm is.”

Thunder Wars kicks off in July with the release of Storm #10.

“}]] Storm Writer Murewa Ayodele reveals his original plans for Marvel’s upcoming Thunder Wars and how it’s an event unlike any that have come before.  Read More