Thor (comics)
Thor, a founding member of the superhero group the Avengers, often battles his evil adoptive brother Loki, a Marvel character adapted from the Norse god of mischief. He is among Marvel's most powerful superheroes. Many recurring characters in his stories are based on Norse Mythology. Apart from this main superhero, Marvel features a number of characters based on him.
Old Norse religion
In mythological accounts, the deity most closely associated with death is Oðinn. In particular, he is connected with death by hanging; this is apparent in "Hávamál", a poem found in the "Poetic Edda". In stanza 138 of "Hávamál", Oðinn describes his "auto-sacrifice", in which he hangs himself on Yggdrasill, the world tree, for nine nights, in order to attain wisdom and magical powers. In the late "Gautreks Saga", King Víkarr is hanged and then punctured by a spear; his executioner says "Now I give you to Oðinn".