Marvel has just totally rewrittenAvengerslore, introducing a new founding hero to its flagship franchise. But is this the right hero to add to 62 years ofAvengershistory, or a disastrous missed opportunity that could have increased the profile of a more deserving hero? We’re looking at the three reasons Marvel made the right choice, and the three reasons it should have beenanyoneelse.
Avengers Makes Beta Ray Bill a Founding Hero
Thor Is Officially Replaced by the Alien Superhero
InThe Immortal Thor #25- Al Ewing, Jan Bazaldua, Justin Greenwood, Pasqual Ferry, Matt Hollingsworth, Romulo Fajardo Jr and Joe Sabino -Thoris killed by Loki while classic villain Skurge shatters the Rainbow Bridge. As a result, Thor is erased from Earth’s history, with the timeline being rewritten so he never joined the Avengers. Thor’s adventures will continue inThe Mortal Thor, as he takes on thehuman identity of Sigurd Jarlson, but what about his replacement?
Beta Ray Bill is all about vengeance - just ask Galactus, who almost died from Bill’s vendetta.
As Thor is erased from history,Immortal Thor #25reveals that when it comes to his place with the Avengers,he’s been replaced by his blood brother and longtime ally Beta Ray Bill. Bill is now considered a founding Avenger, with the same ties to the team as co-founders Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America, the Wasp and Ant-Man. So… did Marvel pick the right hero for the job?
Pro: He’s an Actual Avenger
The Team’s Name Means More If Beta Ray Bill Is Attached
The Avengers gained their namefrom Janet van Dyne’s Wasp, who pitched it at the conclusion of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’sAvengers #1. As Wasp reflects in Al Ewing and Kasia Nie’sWasp, she landed on the word because she had recently become a hero out of her own need for vengeance, following her father’s death at the hands of an alien menace.
However, the name doesn’t hold true for the other founders. Iron Man is seeking redemption for his misdeeds, Thor is on Earth to learn humility, and Ant-Man is an academic who joins reluctantly at the Wasp’s insistence. Even when Captain America joined the team, anyone he might want vengeance against was already dead or at least in a retirement home.
While Marvel’sAvengerscomics have spent years justifying (and at times mocking) the Avengers name, Beta Ray Bill is anactualAvenger. Bill is an alien warrior who sacrificed his humanity to fight the demonic Surtur, who sought to destroy his homeworld. Bill was transformed into a cyborg warrior through painful experimentation which disconnected him from his own body, ultimately losing his people anyway and becoming the last of his kind.
Indeed, whenGalactus eventually destroyed his homeworld, Bill hatched a plan to kill the Devourer-of-Worlds for good, destroying entire planets to starve the cosmic being. Like the Wasp, his heroism is tied to loss - he’s absolutely someone who would have shaped the ethos and identity of a group called the Avengers.
Con: He’s Not Different Enough from Thor
If We’re Changing the Avengers for 2 Years, Why Not Go Bigger?
Ewing’sImmortal Hulkran for fifty issues, and he’s described it as the Old Testament toImmortal Thor’s New Testament. That suggests the two series will be the same length, meaning fans will likely have two years ofThe Mortal Thorbefore Thor regains his godhood and his place inAvengerscontinuity. That’s a significant amount of time to explore what it means for the Avengers to be founded by a totally different hero.
Unfortunately, fans aren’t likely to get that. While Beta Ray Bill is unique in some interesting ways, his outlook is almost identical to Thor. There’s a reason Bill is one of the few people who has been able to lift Mjolnir - he’s an honor-bound warrior with godlike powers and a tendency to swing his hammer first, ask questions later. In every iconic situation Thor has found himself in, Beta Ray Bill would likely make the same choice.
Because of the similarities between Thor and Bill, it’s probable that the Avengers will stay pretty much as they always were, wasting the opportunity to use this twist to show the team in a new light.
Pro: He Brings the Thunder
Few People Could Fill Thor’s Boots, But Beta Ray Bill Is One of Them
Thor is one of Marvel’s most powerful heroes, and it’s difficult to find anyone who could equal his godlike influence onAvengerslore… difficult, but not impossible. Beta Ray Bill’s original powers come from cybernetic augmentation, but he was later gifted his own enchanted hammer by Odin. This grants him the same godly physique and control over the weather as Thor.
The recentStorm #11- from Murewa Ayodele, Carlos Fabian Villa, Mario Santoro, Alex Guimarães, Fernando Sifuentes and Travis Lanham - confirmed that in a world without Thor,Beta Ray Bill is considered a literal godby the likes of Zeus.
Logically, a world where Thor never joined the Avengers should beverydifferent, but that kind of ambitious change is usually only seen in the context of event storylines. If Marvel wants to alter the timeline without totally rewriting it, Beta Ray Bill is powerful enough to fill the Thor-shaped hole in continuity.
It’s way past time the Avengers had a major alien hero, giving them a perspective on the galaxy they’ve often lacked.
Con: His Lore Doesn’t Make Sense Without Thor
Who Is Beta Ray Bill Without the Asgardians?
Beta Ray Bill is an interesting character in his own right, but a huge amount of the character’s backstory and powers is bound up in Asgardian myth. WithStormdepicting Beta Ray Bill as a storm god, fans are forced to ask how an alien cyborg achieved that status in a world where he never met Thor or Odin.
Beta Ray Bill draws his powers from Odin, is best friends with Thor, and is in love with Sif. All of those elements of his comic characterization were just dropped, leaving fans scratching their heads as to who exactly Beta Ray Billiswithout his Asgardian connections.
Ewing promises that some issues ofThe Mortal Thorwill check in with side characters, so it’s possible the comic can justify Beta Ray Bill’s journey without Thor in the picture. However for now, it’s an unsatisfying question mark hanging over the character, and one that hampers longtime fans from enjoying the character’s moment in the spotlight.
Pro: He’s Different from Every Other Founding Avenger
While Thor won’t be erased from Marvel canon forever, it’s possible that some changes from the new timeline will stick. Beta Ray Bill becoming a founding Avenger isn’t an illusion - time itself has changed to make him one of Earth’s most important heroes.
Even when memory of Thor returns, it’s possible the Avengers willalsoremember the version of reality where Beta Ray Bill had their backs down the years. This may be the start of a new relationship between Beta Ray Bill and the Avengers -he could even be awarded honorary founder status, like Captain America before him.
With that in mind, it’s a great choice to select an alien as the new founding Avenger. The Avengers were designed to pull together heroes from across the Marvel Universe - the fantasy of Thor, the hard sci-fi of Ant-Man and the Wasp, and the pulp action of Captain America. Earth’s Mightiest Heroes go up against extraterrestrial threats all the time - even meddling in galactic politics - and yet they often lack an alien perspective.
The closest the Avengers get to a major alien member is Captain Marvel - a half-kree, half-human who was raised on Earth and only discovered her otherworldly heritage in adulthood. If Beta Ray Bill is going to have a special relationship with the Avengers, it will be interesting to see the team interact with an influential hero who doesn’t see Earth as the center of the Universe.
Indeed, Beta Ray Bill is now one of the only Avengers who didn’t sit out Annihilus' Annihilation Wave - arguably the biggest event in the Marvel Universe in living memory, and one the Avengers basically skipped because Iron Man and Captain Americawere busy withCivil War.
Con: The Modern Avengers Don’t Need Him
With Storm on the Roster, Will Beta Ray Bill Be a Footnote?
In 2024’sAvengers #18- from Jed MacKay, Valerio Schiti, Bryan Valenza and Cory Petit -Thor asked Storm to serve as his replacementon the team as he addressed false accusations of murder. Fans now know that Marvel was preparing to erase Thor from franchise lore, giving the team a new God of Thunder in his place.
But if the modern Avengers already have a storm god on their roster (and one who isalsoworthy of Mjolnir), how relevant can Beta Ray Bill’s new founder status actually be? With Storm named as Thor’s successor and bringing godly might to the roster, it’s unlikely we’ll see Beta Ray Bill ‘return’ to serve as a founding member. That lessens the ways in which fans can see Beta Ray Bill interact with the team as a founder, or explore the ways in which he’s shaped the team into a different entity from the start.
Ultimately, Beta Ray Bill offers a new way to see the Avengers, lifting Thor out of canon and replacing him with an alien warrior who has helped shape the team from the very beginning. However, that promise will only be realized if Marvel actually tells relevant stories, and so far all signs point in the opposite direction.
It seems like Marvel may have chosen Beta Ray Bill as the person who can take Thor’s place with the least disruption to the Marvel Universe. That’s not an unreasonable choice, but it’s one that wastes the potential of another hero replacing Thor throughout Avengers history - a concept we’re not likely to see repeated anytime soon. Hopefully,The Mortal Thorwill dive deep into what it means for Beta Ray Bill to replaceThoras a foundingAvengershero, because it’s an idea whose potential deserves to be explored.
