Summary

• Thor's power, the All-Power, has been retconned in the Immortal Thor series to be tied to Asgardian myth, and now relies on the God of Thunder's ability to explain what he's doing.
• The new origin of the All-Power is tied to Odin's sacrifice on the World Tree, which gave him knowledge and power.
• The new origin of the All-Power weaves it into Asgardian mythology and gives it thematic resonance, as well as understandable rules and limitations.

Contains Spoilers for The Immortal Thor #1-5!

Thor’s father, Odin, always had a near-infinite source of power in the Odin-Force. Now that Thor has taken Odin’s place as All-Father, this power has been retconned, tying it closer to Asgardian myth and the themes of the hero's newest saga, Immortal Thor. This power could potentially do anything, but it now relies on Thor's ability to conceive and explain exactly what he’s doing in order for it to work.

The Immortal Thor – written by Al Ewing, illustrated by MartÍn Cóccolo, colored by Matthew Wilson and lettered by VC’s Joe Sabino – has transformed readers’ understanding of the All-Power by retconning its origin and reframing how it works. The series' second issue includes a flashback showing Odin receiving his famous knowledge by taking out his eye beneath Yggdrasil, the World Tree.

As the narrator explains, knowledge is power, and therefore, the ‘All-Knowledge’ granted to Odin and ed to Thor is also the All-Power. This significantly empowers Marvel's God of Thunder in a way not seen previously – heralding an exciting new era for the character.

The Asgardian All-Power Has An All-New Origin

Thor (Vol. 1) #349 – written and illustrated by Walt Simonson, colored by Christie Scheele and lettered by John Workman Jr. – was released in 1984.

The All-Power, previously known as the Odin-Force or Odinpower, is the power of the Asgardian All-Father, and has seemingly limitless potential. As recounted by Odin himself in Thor (Vol. 1) #349, the Odin-Force was created when Odin’s brothers Vili and Vi died in the realm of Musphelheim, gifting their own power to Odin. The only downside to the All-Power is that it requires its to undergo a deep ‘All-Sleep’ afterward, a time of rest in which they’re vulnerable to physical or magical attacks. Writer Al Ewing clarified his understanding of the All-Power in Immortal Thor #5’s letters column, writing:

My understanding is that the All-Power is part of the knowledge granted to Odin by his sacrifice to himself on the World Tree. Odin was able to bequeath that power to his son along with the title of All-Father, but as we’ve often seen in the past, the cost of the Odin-Power is the occasional Odinsleep. Since Odin had centuries to get to know the power, he only had to Odinsleep every so often, but as Thor is less experienced with it, it makes sense that the All-Sleep is harder for him to hold back.

This is a new origin for the All-Power, one that ties into one of Immortal Thor’s main themes.

This theme is the power of stories. Immortal Thor #1 called gods themselves "creatures of story", and the series has subsequently shown how narratives power Asgardians. In Immortal Thor #2, Thor used the idea of the God of Thunder metaphorically ‘opening the sky’ to literally open a space portal, and in Immortal Thor #5, he uses the tautology of Thor’s power being "worthiness" to gift the Thunder God Toranos with the morality that comes with such a distinction. The All-Power now literally works via Thor having the knowledge and wisdom to make an argument for something.

The All-Power's New Origin Weaves It Into The Tapestry of Asgardian Myth

The previous origin of the Odin-Force wasn’t bad per say, but it didn’t tie directly into what makes Odin or the Asgardians special. By linking the All-Power to Yggdrasil, it now ties it directly into the very roots of the Asgardians. It also gives Odin gaining knowledge, a holdover from real Norse mythology, a much more specific purpose in the Marvel Universe, where before it just meant that he would have general ‘knowledge’ depending on a story’s needs. This is the perfect way to reframe Thor’s new power, giving it thematic resonance as well as understandable rules and limitations on how it works.

Immortal Thor #5 is on sale now from Marvel Comics.