Season 1 / Episode 7: What If... Thor was an only child?

[Dave McFly]

that would make a GREAT avatar!

 

[HammerDown]

This was clearly a “calm before the storm” sort of episode. Not too dissimilar to the context of how Ragnarok worked before Infinity War.

Of course Ragnarok dealt with loss, history, rediscovery… but it also managed to disarm the audience going into IW and Thor’s journey in particular was pivotal to achieving just that. Its why that 1-2 combination worked so well and had so much more impact in IW. I feel like they could be pulling the same trick in this series with Thor’s extremely lighthearted and “happy go lucky” nature which could be used to great dramatic effect in the upcoming episodes.

We had a tiny glimpse a more serious version of this Thor and I can’t wait to see more of that coupled with some Thor badassery in the battlefield.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

What I liked:

Hemmsworth as Thor. He's really been a find in the part, even if them leaning into Meathead Dude Bro is NOT how I see Thor in any way shape or form.

Carol Vs. Thor. Fun and they didn't punk either.

Tom as Jotun Loki was amazing. Correct me if I am wrong but wasn't this more or less the design seen in one of the files of Loki Variants seen on that show?

Other than that... Meh.

People seem to love this humor thing but with the MCU for me it's really like someone literally elbowing you in the ribs every time they tell a joke. Even if it's a good joke... that ****'s gonna get old fast.

 

[Batmannerism]

Regarding the Thor vs Captain Marvel fight.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that when everything is said and done Thor is more powerful than CM. Even though the MCU isn’t the comics, its still heavily based on those books and Thor is simply more powerful. They’ve just bumped up CM level in the MCU.

Regardless even in this battle, we basically see base Thor vs CM and they seem more or less evenly matched. She claims her full power would create craters and apparently Thor destroyed planets. Also Thor’s power level is constantly evolving and he’s far superior in Ragnarok and IW for example.

Hey mate, think about this......Carol isn't worthy.
If that alone isn't a win for Thor ( and Captain America) IDK what is.

 

[HammerDown]

Hey mate, think about this......Carol isn't worthy.
If that alone isn't a win for Thor ( and Captain America) IDK what is.

The worthiness thing has been played so much over the years, both in the comics and the MCU and while the worthiness is a defining trait of Thor, the character itself is much more than Mjolnir.

 

[Pennywise]

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Hey mate, think about this......Carol isn't worthy.
If that alone isn't a win for Thor ( and Captain America) IDK what is.

See that was an oversight of the episode... The hammer didn't have the worthiness inchantment this go around as Thor was never banished to Earth by Odin.

 

[Batmannerism]

See that was an oversight of the episode... The hammer didn't have the worthiness inchantment this go around as Thor was never banished to Earth by Odin.

Fair point. The worthiness requirement has given Thor a tactical advantage on several occasions. But in this case given that Carol is OP as ****, she should be able to lift it easily.

Man, that fight was even less interesting than Superman v Zod in Man of Steel, just 2 indestructible beings hitting each other with very little effect. Marvel's storytelling skills have really fallen off since Endgame.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

@Batmannerism

See... I wouldn't take that as some kind of point about Thor's power or the hammer... Just that as SOP in the MCU as long as it's for a "joke" they don't give a crap about anything else.

Which... Is a fine formula for comedies.

However, in choosing to consume super hero stuff... I've made it clear my interest in watching that stuff ISN'T for comedy. If I wanted a comedy I'd see a ****ing comedy, y'know? And this issue predates Endgame by A LOT.

 

[Batmannerism]

@Batmannerism

See... I wouldn't take that as some kind of point about Thor's power or the hammer... Just that as SOP in the MCU as long as it's for a "joke" they don't give a crap about anything else.

Which... Is a fine formula for comedies.

However, in choosing to consume super hero stuff... I've made it clear my interest in watching that stuff ISN'T for comedy. If I wanted a comedy I'd see a ****ing comedy, y'know? And this issue predates Endgame by A LOT.

Yeah, I hear you. Humour is a delicate thing in of itself and also something that needs to be balanced carefully in an action film, in order for the audience to believe that there are actually stakes.

The flipside are films that take themselves deadly seriously but end up being pretentious or unintentionally funny.

I was rewatching Raiders of the Lost Ark yesterday, a film with plenty of action and comedy, but also scenes of real tension and supernatural dread and even moments of horror.

To me, Raiders struck a perfect balance ( not so much for the sequels) between moments of levity and weight.

Anyway, I'm very much on the same page with current MCU stuff and its devolution into sheer comedy, and not very clever comedy at that ( don't get me ****ing started on Loki )

As far as What If goes, I liked the Dr Strange episode a lot, didn't mind Captain Carter but could take or leave everything else. I mean Tchalla talked Thanos out of genocide, because that's a thing that's totally in Thanos' character you know, that after centuries of mass murder he just needed someone to explain it to him ....and hey its hilarious right !

Yeah, stuff like that makes me scream obscenities.

 

[HammerDown]

See that was an oversight of the episode... The hammer didn't have the worthiness inchantment this go around as Thor was never banished to Earth by Odin.

Yeh you’re right. At this point in time there really shouldn’t be any worthiness enchantment.

I wouldn’t say it was an oversight though. They know that if CM where to lift Mjolnir people would probably riot so they probably choose to bend the logic a bit in order to avoid unnecessary backlash.

 

[Bren]

Or Odin, seeing a sibling-less son going close to off the rails decides to enchant the hammer in case he goes too far. shrugs

 

[Donner]

Animated Darcy is a hell of a lot more likeable than movie Darcy so props for that.

I loved this episode. Lighthhearted and fun and pulled me out of a funk I've been in for 2 weeks since a ****ty ending of another tv series. Thanks, Frat Boy Thor.

 

[HammerDown]

I freaking love Thor’s drunk hype man!
- “Crowned Prince Thor”
- “Yeahhh”
- “Yeah goats”
- “Ha Ha Ha Ha”

That’s just gold.

 

[Iceman]

So they went all out dumb comedy with this one! Plenty of laughs and plenty of cringe at the same time. The Thor Cap Marvel fight was done well. I think that might have been the best of the hero confrontations if it had been on film.

 

[HammerDown]

Marvel Argues Captain Marvel May Not Be Stronger Than Thor

I mean people should just watch how the fight progressed to figure out why Thor is more powerful. As he should be.

First of all he clearly wasn’t taking the fight seriously until later on, they traded massive blows from one country to the other and he soaked all that CM had to give, even when he unintentionally powered her up with a massive boost from his lightning, Thor still managed to came back up, a bit wobbly for sure but still in it, they then took to the skies and CM was still giving him problems, she was dead serious and he then started to take it serious too until they went into the clouds and we then saw the lightning and thunder intensifying

And both came out of that and landed back in Vegas. Thor clearly unscathed was the one with the upper hand by immediately pinning CM down with Mjolnir. If anything this battle shows that young Thor is at the very least at the same power level as Captain Marvel.

 

[C. Lee]

My wife and I just watched this episode......PARTY ON DUDES!!!!

We both thought it was Frigga hilarious.

 

[ComicChick]

now that the finale has happened

Spoiler

we know the planet exploding plot point kinda faded, especially since it wasn't thor who did it but...was it the evil Ultron? maybe he came to that universe and that planet because he sensed the power, kinda like he did on that one planet in the finale. it was shown where he destroyed many planets in the last ep.

maybe i'm thinking too hard?

 

[Venom 1988]

now that the finale has happened

Spoiler

we know the planet exploding plot point kinda faded, especially since it wasn't thor who did it but...was it the evil Ultron? maybe he came to that universe and that planet because he sensed the power, kinda like he did on that one planet in the finale. it was shown where he destroyed many planets in the last ep.

maybe i'm thinking too hard?

No that didn't have to do with Ultron. Thor mentioned that planet was already on its way out, they just sped up the process with all their partying lol.

 

[ComicChick]

I didn’t want to rely on his intelligence in that regard lol. Party Thor doesn’t seem like the intellectual type

 

[Spider-Aziz]

Marvel Argues Captain Marvel May Not Be Stronger Than Thor

I mean people should just watch how the fight progressed to figure out why Thor is more powerful. As he should be.

First of all he clearly wasn’t taking the fight seriously until later on, they traded massive blows from one country to the other and he soaked all that CM had to give, even when he unintentionally powered her up with a massive boost from his lightning, Thor still managed to came back up, a bit wobbly for sure but still in it, they then took to the skies and CM was still giving him problems, she was dead serious and he then started to take it serious too until they went into the clouds and we then saw the lightning and thunder intensifying

And both came out of that and landed back in Vegas. Thor clearly unscathed was the one with the upper hand by immediately pinning CM down with Mjolnir. If anything this battle shows that young Thor is at the very least at the same power level as Captain Marvel.

That might be true about comics version of both characters, but the movies defined their strength difference as Thor without a weapon is at the mercy of Thanos, and Captain Marvel can hold him with a choke grab. I wonder why this episode did not choose to make them consistent with the movies.