Review: Marvel’s What If…? “What If…Thor Were an Only Child?”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Thor, who never learned to be a good hero, throws an out-of-control intergalactic party on Earth.

Our Take:

The relationship between Thor and his mischievous adoptive brother, Loki, has been one of the essential elements that made the Thor trilogy highly enjoyable, mainly the third film, Ragnarok. In a different universe, however, that brotherhood appears to be nonexistent. This week brings us another alternate scenario in which the God of Thunder is the only son of Odin. Knowing that Loki was one of the main parts that drive Thor’s coming-of-age journey, it would be interesting to see how Thor’s growth would be affected by his brother being with his real family.

The episode showcased that Odin actually returned baby Loki to his Frost Giant family, resulting in Thor growing up without Loki’s guidance and having a boisterous personality. It begins with Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Sif (Jaimie Alexander), and the Warriors Three arriving on Earth to throw the wildest party in the universe. This caught the attention of Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings), who wound up joining in on the activities. They were later joined by S.H.I.E.L.D, led by Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), who plans to save the world from Thor’s vandalism using Captain Marvel (Alexandra Daniels). When all else fails, Jane and Darcy resort to the one person who will set the God of Thunder straight: his mother, Frigga (Josette Eales).

This might be the most light-hearted episode I’ve seen in Marvel’s What If. Following the previous chapters that involve dark themes and many characters dying, it’s nice to see an episode that focuses more on comedy than a life-or-death situation. Besides, I think we had enough with seeing Tony Stark die for one day. While the episode doesn’t do anything too special with Thor’s growth, it still provided a fresh and hilarious take on the “teenage party” scenario. Not only that, but it also featured a much different representation of the relationship between Thor and Jane.

This was another episode that featured most of the main actors reprising their roles from the MCU films, including Hemsworth and Portman. Chris Hemsworth has done wonders in portraying the God of Thunder in the films regarding his performance. Here, he had the opportunity to portray Thor as a hard-headed, party-loving teen, and he played that part pretty well. After her successful comeback in WandaVision, Kat Dennings continued her winning streak in making Darcy more relevant in this episode, thanks to her entertaining vocal performance. It also featured some brief appearances from the characters from Thor: Ragnarok, including Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum), Korg (Taika Waititi), and even Surtur (Clancy Brown), all of which delivered some solid comedy.

Speaking of comedy, I didn’t think I would find an episode that would make me laugh that much until now. There were plenty of moments that succeeded in providing some joyful chuckles, including Korg knocking out Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Surtur flirting with the Statue of Liberty. It’s like the writers took the comedy pages right out of Ragnarok and injected them into the first Thor movie. My favorite moment has to be the fight between Thor and Captain Marvel, which had the proper mixture of Marvel action and comedy. However, if you’re still not a fan of the humor in the MCU films, this episode may not do you any favors.

Overall, the Thor episode is a wild and humorous departure from the seriousness of the previous stories. From its delightful voice cast to its proper use of comedy, this is a party that’s worth attending. I should know because it has a surprise guest at the end that could lead to something even more significant later on.