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comics - What religious effects did Thor's appearance have?


With Thor referred to as a god in the Marvel universe, what effect did the explicit appearance of a god (especially one not of their pantheon) have on mainstream religions in the Marvel universe?


Note: split out from Religion in the Marvel universe? to get a specific answer.




Answer



It's not Marvel Canon, but in Neil Gaiman's 1602 it affected a specific character.



Donal is a Templar - one of the last IIRC - guarding a powerful artifact. What nobody realizes due to in story events is that the artifact the Templars had been guarding for so long is Donal's walking stick, which is in fact a sort of counterpart to Mjolnir. Donal is forced to use the staff to defend people and this summons Thor. Eventually Mjolnir plays a major role in the story, setting the universe right. However, Donlan is devastated by this turn of events - the existence of Thor directly refutes one of the central tenets of his Christian faith. He falls to heavy drinking. There's this amazing line Thor says at one point, where someone asks him about Donal, when Donal/Thor is Thor. He says something to the effect of "he is inside me. I can hear him screaming still". It is implied that Donal/Thor will travel somewhere - I can't recall where - with the purpose of trying to reconcile the existence of Thor with God, whose existence Donal must now be calling into question (and loathing himself all the more for doing so).



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