Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Blood Hunt #1! Thor is one of the most powerful heroes in the Marvel Universe, something that’s put on full display in the ongoing Immortal Thor series, which shows him flexing his All-Father might like never before. However, even Thor’s seemingly unparalleled power does have its weaknesses, and one villainous group just capitalized off of Thor’s greatest shortfall in regard to his All-Power.

In Blood Hunt #1 by Jed MacKay and Pepe Larraz, the heroes of Earth are fighting hordes of vampires after the sun gets mysteriously blocked out around the globe. Eventually, it’s revealed that the darkness that has overtaken the world is actually from the darkforce dimension summoned through every Marvel character with access to darkforce energy by a vampire cult called Bloodcoven. Obviously, the Avengers jumped into action immediately, though each of them were quickly subdued by the elite members of the Bloodcoven itself – including Thor.

The members of Bloodcoven – who are all Cenobite-esque super-vampires – trick the Avengers into granting them access to their hidden base called the Impossible City, where Bloodcoven completely demolishes them. Captain America is the only one who makes it out, and while the others experience grisly losses, none were as gruesome as the defeat suffered by Thor, who had a spike driven through his skull.

Thor Has Faced Far Deadlier Than Bloodcoven – Why Did He Lose?

Thor defeated the elder god Toranos in The Immortal Thor by Al Ewing and Martin Coccolo

Thor’s loss in this issue does come as quite a surprise, not just because of the R-rated nature of it (though that is a contributing factor), but because he’s tangled with entities way more powerful than these mutated vamps – by a lot. For instance, at the start of The Immortal Thor, the God of Thunder is battling an elder god called Toranos, also known as Utgard Thor. Toranos was a direct creation of Demiurge Primordial, not simply a descendant of its offspring like so many other gods in the universe, making Toranos’ power incredibly old, immensely strong, and viciously fierce.

As powerful as Toranos was, however, he paled in comparison to Thor when the God of Thunder tapped into the All-Power. Though it wasn’t Thor’s might as the new All-Father that defeated Toranos, but Thor’s tactical brilliance that he divined by channeling the All-Power through his mind, which sharpened his focus and offered him the ‘wisdom of the All-Father’. It was at this point that Thor realized he could do anything with the All-Power. He can beat any villain no matter how cosmically powerful – under one condition: Thor needs time to think and focus.

Bloodcoven Took Advantage of Thor’s All-Power Weakness

With the wisdom divined through the All-Power, Thor can beat any foe, but it takes time for that wisdom to materialize in his mind before he can apply it. Thor is a relatively new All-Father, and has yet to master the full capacity of his awesome power. The Immortal Thor is doing an exceptional job showing that process, though Blood Hunt has arguably done an even better job at highlighting its limits. Thor may be capable of defeating any villain he encounters, but only if he has enough time to think and focus – something Bloodcoven did not grant him.

Limits to seemingly unparalleled power are necessary for characters like Thor, as it still needs to make sense that he’d be fighting with the Avengers at all, as opposed to simply tapping into the All-Power and obliterating whatever comparatively trivial enemy Earth’s Mightiest Heroes find themselves against. However, it’s also important to ensure Thor doesn’t get de-powered every other story, as that would become repetitive and tiresome. What Marvel Comics has accomplished truly rides that thin line perfectly, as shown with Thor’s latest R-rated injury, which settles the limits of his new All-Father powers.

Blood Hunt #1 by Marvel Comics is available now.