Avenger, Reassembled!

 

Show of hands: Who was glad that Marvel brought back the merciless Thor-clone that Tony Stark unleashed against his fellow heroes?

...

Nobody?? Well, a few writers apparently thought this construct was worth another look.

Introduced in the pages of the Civil War series, the cybernetic Thor-clone was produced by the efforts of Henry Pym, Tony Stark, and Reed Richards in order to give their side of the conflict an edge while conveying the impression that the real Thor had chosen to side with them rather than Captain America. Held in reserve until needed, "Thor" went on to viciously cut down Cap's forces with swaths of lightning, only to then completely cross the line and make use of another bolt to kill Bill Foster (aka Goliath) without a second thought. Once the dust had settled, a shutdown code was then sent by Richards to deactivate the cyber-clone in order to investigate what had gone wrong--but the tragedy was enough to prompt both sides to reassess their methods, as well as their convictions.

In the final struggle, however, the Thor-clone was deemed fit for reactivation and once again joined the fight against Cap's forces--only to be made short work of by Hercules, who channels former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen in the scene.

But as anyone familiar with Ultron knows, anything busted up can be put back together in the realm of fiction. The question is, who aside from the mad Thinker would want to restore the Thor-clone to full functionality?

Or, for our purposes let's put it another way:

You'd be surprised at how often the Thor-clone is repaired to senselessly kill again.

Following its clash with Hercules, the Thor-clone was relocated to Camp Hammond, HQ of the Avengers Initiative which also served to offer training to new recruits. During the Skrulls' secret invasion, however, the facility was co-opted by the Skrulls--with Pym revealed as a Skrull being particularly relevant, in this case, as the real Pym later learns from his ex-wife, Janet.

(Since Jan was presumed killed during the final battle with the Skrulls, the woman we're seeing here is really Jocasta, the mechanized creation of Ultron whose mind shared Jan's brainwaves--who has obligingly changed her form to appear as Jan for this discussion, at Pym's request. Apparently, Jocasta can shape-shift. Who knew.)

Meanwhile, in the lab of the Camp's head scientist, Baron Von Blitzschlag, a secret Skrull program activates to ensure that the humans continue to fear the threat of the Skrulls.

With Von Blitzschlag having received quite the surprise upon waking from his nap, the Thor-clone proceeds to resume his misguided "mission"--now with a new name for himself, courtesy of the Baron's exclamation above. Anything else Von Blitzschlag has to say to this murder machine effectively signs his death warrant where "Ragnarok" is concerned.

From there, Ragnarok bursts into full view of the camp, and those daring to challenge him are fiercely dealt with--starting with Thor Girl, another of those who were replaced by Skrull impostors but have since returned to Earth. At one time, the power of "the Designate," as Tarene is known, exceeded that of the true Thor--but regrettably, no longer.

Following Tarene's defeat, a new grouping of disgraced heroes face their baptism of fire--and only later would we learn that the battle would prove fatal to one of their members.

Finally, the camp's faculty assembles to take out the threat--only to make it clear that apparently no one at this camp, including any of the old guard, has ever been prepared or equipped to deal with an assault by a barrage of lightning bolts (or whatever the darn hammer is shooting out), which has proven to be Ragnarok's preferred method of attack.

(I don't know what a rating of Class 10 signifies, but it would have to be a minimal class to include Tigra, wouldn't it? And probably a moot point, considering she literally turns tail and bolts from this fight.)

Fortunately, the Baron possessed a handy defense against an electrical attack--and words succeed this time, though they only redirect Ragnarok's rage to yet another unsuspecting target.

That takes us later to Oklahoma (and a warm-up battle between Ragnarok and--wait for it--Volstagg), where Thor and his comrades are picking up the pieces following Norman Osborn's attempted and unsuccessful siege of Asgard. One of those pieces turns out to be Ragnarok--face down among the ruins, but more than ready to resume his rampage and take this fight to the one he wanted to confront in the first place, as seen in beautiful renderings by artist Doug Braithwaite.

Osborn, of course, was carted off to prison--but since we all know how slippery the man can be, let's fast-forward to a point where he briefly tastes freedom again (if on the lam) and is looking to form a new team of Dark Avengers. Around the same time, A.I.M., which had hooked up with Osborn's reborn H.A.M.M.E.R. organization, and having recovered the pieces/parts of Ragnarok, gave Osborn the option of bringing a formidable new member to the team.

The opportunity to unleash Thor arose when Osborn had successfully turned public opinion against the New Avengers. The battle was predictably intense--but, realizing that Osborn had manipulated them, the Avengers withdraw, though not without leaving Osborn and his cronies with a parting gift.

From what I understand, the Dark Avengers eventually shift to becoming the new Thunderbolts, with Ragnarok appearing as one of them--then, a do-si-do shift back to the Dark Avengers. After their arrest, however, the team ends up in another reality, where Ragnarok is able to establish some measure of heroism for himself after recovering the hammer of the Thor who had died on the alternate Earth. Acknowledging that he is only a copy of the true Thor and is unsure of his own identity, grasping the hammer leads to a startling makeover.

Ragnarok goes on to be instrumental in the team's return to their own world, where you'd assume a comfy stretch of jail cells would be waiting for them; but all agree to reject sticking around to be taken into custody and, instead, attempt to establish a new and honorable reputation for themselves as fugitives. Whether that warped rationale actually worked out for them is, as far as I know, still waiting to be revealed.

BONUS! Two of the more noteworthy covers from the Ragnarok saga.