Marvel Comics purchased by evil megacorporation, Thor relaunching as "defender of big business"

It's official: the rights to Marvel Comics are now owned by the notoriously evil Roxxon Energy Corporation. The rights to the metafictional version of Marvel Comics that actually exists within the Marvel Universe, that is, which, much like the real world Marvel Comics, tells the tales of superheroes such as Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, and of course Thor.

That news actually broke back in 2023's Immortal Thor #4, but Marvel (the real world Marvel) has now announced when and how Roxxon's purchase of the fictional Marvel Comics will first start to make waves, with April's Roxxon Presents: Thor #1 by writer Al Ewing and artist Greg Land, introducing Roxxon's revamped version of Thor, Chad Hammer, a pro-AI spokesman who also moonlights as The Roxxin' Thor, a "defender of big business and the sanctity of shareholder value."

Roxxon Presents: Thor #1 also ties into April's Immortal Thor #9 also written by Ewing with art by Ibraim Roberson, which will delve further into why Roxxon is focusing its efforts on Thor, specifically because the company is run by his old enemy Dario Agger who has teamed up with Thor's perennial nemesis the Enchantress. 

It's all leading into what Marvel is billing as the "Roxxon Age of Marvel Comics," an apparent event starting in May, as announced with a piece of promo art by Nick Bradshaw, seen here along with the cover of Immortal Thor #9 by Alex Ross and the cover of Roxxon Presents: Thor #1 by Greg Land:

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"Roxxon's hostile takeover of Marvel Comics is the worst thing to happen to the industry in decades just what comic books needed! I was horrified jazzed beyond words when I saw how the so-called Roxxon Entertainment Standards Committee had gutted improved my work, methodically stripping away every iota of poetry, symbolism and metaphor junk no one cares about," Ewing was "forced" to say in a tongue-in-cheek statement. "The result is a comic that can best be described as an act of unforgivable violence against the medium I love a rollicking good time for the whole family! May God forgive Roxxon, for I never shall! Make Mine Roxxon!" 

Immortal Thor #9 goes on sale April 3, followed by Roxxon Presents: Thor #1 on April 18. 

Learn about the most worthy characters ever to wield Thor's hammer.