Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Thor #30
In the latest issue of Marvel Comics’ Thor, the God of Thunder encounters a massive horde of Draugr alongside Runa’s Valkyrie, a collection of Norse zombies who exist as pure nightmare fuel. Likewise, it’s revealed that what the undead monsters wish to consume is far darker and more disturbing than flesh. Instead, they seek to consume pieces of their victims’ very souls.
In the new Thor #30 from Torunn Grønbekk and Nic Klein, Thor and Valkyrie are in the middle of a rescue mission to save the God of Thunder’s little sister Laussa. Having been kidnaped by Corvus Glaive, the former member of the Black Order seeks to use Laussa’s blood to unseal a vault within a mountain, located in a forbidden region of Niflheim that was once a battlefield where Thor’s grandfather Bor fought Thanos the Mad Titan himself as Bor and his sorcerers likely created the Seventh Infinity Stone capable of controlling life and death itself. However, Thor and Valkyrie must first face a horde of undead soldiers who fell during this battle, having become dark Draugr seeking to feed on so much more than their physical bodies.
As Valkyrie reveals to Thor following their grisly battle with the Draugr, these Norse zombies are driven to consume thoughts, feelings, and memories. Essentially, they feed on all the pieces that linger behind when a soul dies. As such, this makes them a far darker and arguably more disturbing kind of zombie than undead walkers seen elsewhere.
It’s possible that Marvel’s version of Draugr were created by the Seventh Infinity Stone and its “power over life and death”. Interestingly enough, the dark vision Thor received from the Black Winter does feature Thanos wielding this new black stone while being surrounded by undead versions of Thor’s friends and allies. As such, perhaps Marvel’s heroes will soon become Draugr as well, just like all these fallen Norse warriors who likely became undead thanks to the stone’s twisted power.
At any rate, Thor ends up opening Bor’s vault after facing the Draugr and defeating Corvus Glaive in his desire for answers, hoping to prevent the future he’s never stopped seeing in his nightmares. However, it looks as though he instantly wished he hadn’t. As such it certainly seems as though Thor is about to unleash a massive Norse zombie apocalypse in the issues to come. Thor #30 is on sale now from Marvel Comics.
