When Marvel’s Thor came out in 2011, every metalhead on earth thought the same thing: where the hell is the Viking metal? Kenneth Brannagh’s shiny, upbeat take on Marvel’s god of thunder felt entirely devoid of what really makes the character cool, namely that he’s, well, an ancient Viking god! Thankfully, the comics company has apparently recognized the error of its ways, as made apparent by a new image in which Thor is seen rocking an Amon Amarth T-shirt.
The panel in question comes from Heroes Reborn, a new Marvel series that takes place in a world where the Avengers never really happened — Tony Stark never built the Iron Man suit, Captain America was never discovered in the ice, and Wakanda continues to be perceived as a mythical place. The only hero who remembers the Marvel Universe as we know it is vampire hunter Blade. And when he tracks down Thor, he finds a hard-boozing atheist who dislikes hammers and wants nothing to do with some past that doesn’t exist.
Here’s the image of Thor repping Amon Amarth:
The reference didn’t escape the band either, who shouted out the issue in a tweet reading, “The God of Thunder himself, Thor wearing a familiar shirt in @Marvel’s issue #1 of Heroes Reborn! Skål!”
https://twitter.com/AmonAmarthBand/status/1391813538641973248
Congrats to Marvel for finally getting their shit together and giving Viking metal some love.
This version of Thor would undoubtedly agree with Amon Amarth’s placement on our list of the 40 greatest metal drinking songs of all time, in which the band’s “Raise Your Horns” came in at #4.
“Not all Viking drinking metal can be banjos and mouth harps,” wrote The Pit’s own Chris Krovatin. “Amon Amarth keep it crushing with their tavern anthem ‘Raise Your Horns,’ hailing the Northman’s way of life to a steady death metal grind. But if anything the song’s commitment to extremity inspires even harder drinking than some of the folkishness of its pagan peers; the song commands that beers be poured for both world-battered warriors and those who fell in battle, and summons listeners to “meet where the beer never ends.” If you don’t own a drinking horn, now’s the time to throw down.”
