As one of the few Marvel characters to exist in every phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (and with his own solo film in each one), Chris Hemsworth‘s Thor is already in a league of his own. From the original (and horribly underrated) Kenneth Branagh film to Taika Waititi‘s upcoming sequel take on the Norse God of Thunder, the self-proclaimed “strongest Avenger” shows no signs of slowing down. As we eagerly anticipate Thor: Love and Thunder (which sounds like the title of an amazing ’80s metal album), it seems like an appropriate time to talk about Thor’s greatest nemesis, which just so happens to also be the source of his greatest strength — failure.
Out of all the MCU’s mightiest heroes, Thor has arguably been through the most. In Thor, he was stripped of his powers, which taught him what it meant to be a hero, only to be forced apart from the woman he loved. In Thor: The Dark World, he lost his mother and brother (temporarily) to the dark elf Malekith (Christopher Eccleston), and in Thor: Ragnarok he lost his father, his best friends, and his homeworld. This isn’t even to mention Avengers: Infinity War, where he lost his brother, most of his own people, and ultimately the battle with Thanos (Josh Brolin), which proved to be devastating for the entire universe. And how could we forget about all the heartbreak that Tom Hiddleston‘s Loki put him through over the years? While Thor might be one of the first Avengers to toss out a smile in the midst of tragedy and danger, it’s clearly a mask to hide his own pain.
Thor’s experience with failure has been a key part of his journey in just about every single one of his in-canon MCU appearances (minus his Doctor Strange cameo). What’s most notable about this is his resilience and how he chooses to respond in the midst of failure. For the most part, Thor doesn’t accept defeat, and that’s especially true for the vast majority of his MCU journey. When Odin (Anthony Hopkins) cast him to Midgard in Thor, deeming his son unworthy, Thor immediately went back to Mjolnir and attempted to reignite his power. Of course, he fails, but, in true Thor fashion, that doesn’t keep him down. These events forced him to become something more than just a mighty warrior, and he goes from being a spoiled-rotten crown prince to giving up his own happiness to save the Earth from his brother’s cruel reign. His initial failure to live up to Mjolnir’s code turns out to be his greatest salvation when he stands up to the Asgardian Destroyer sent by Loki and gives his own life to save Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and the small New Mexico town he’d arrived in. This selfless act proved Thor’s worth, allowing his powers, and his hammer, to be restored to him.
This wouldn’t have been possible without his own personal failure. Thor was clearly not ready to take the throne from his father, and Odin knew it. Be it his unruly pride, his obnoxious boasting, or maybe his inability to see beyond himself (not to mention his love of violence), it became abundantly clear that Thor needed a reality check. His initial failure to prove his worth to Odin resulted in the greatest gift the Allfather could’ve ever given to his son: perspective. Without his experience as a mortal on Earth, Thor might have never become the hero we know from The Avengers, the same hero who fought side-by-side with Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) and Captain America (Chris Evans) against Loki, Ultron, and other powerful foes. Nor would he have stayed on Earth from The Dark World to Avengers: Age of Ultron, especially with so many intergalactic threats out there. Yet, Thor saw protecting our world as part of his responsibility, and unlike some other versions of the character, see What If…?, he clung tightly to his duty as protector of the Nine Realms.
Odin recognized this and in The Dark World he offered Thor the throne once more, but he rejected it. Not because he was afraid of the responsibility, he had wanted to be king his entire life, but because he felt the need to fulfill his own duties to the people of Earth. Thor’s initial failure to understand what it meant to be a king became the natural catalyst for his own shift into becoming a full-fledged superhero, and molded him into a better king than he could have ever hoped to be on his own. Even after losing his mother Frigga (Rene Russo) and Loki (who wasn’t really dead), Thor took his responsibility to protect the Nine Realms incredibly seriously. It was only when he recognized that Thanos was collecting Infinity Stones and manipulating events behind the scenes that he left Earth to investigate, forgoing his own happiness with Jane once more. While many things could be said of early MCU Thor, it was clear that he was one of the most selfless heroes of the bunch. It’s no wonder he and Steve Rogers were both worthy of Mjolnir…
But it’s not until Thor and Loki lose their father that things begin to shift in the way that the Odinson responded to failure. Odin’s death opened the door for their sister Hela (Cate Blanchett) to take over Asgard, kill Thor’s best friends (the often forgotten Warriors Three), and ultimately destroy their homeworld. While Ragnarok‘s humorous tone contributes to its status as “the best Thor movie” (though this author would disagree, but that’s a different topic entirely), it actually contains some of the heaviest content in any MCU film, just with a big smile on it. Thor’s life is completely turned upside down. He’s orphaned, enslaved, and beaten. His hammer is destroyed and thus most of his power has vanished, and he has nowhere to turn for help. His Asgardian friends are dead (besides Jamie Alexander‘s Sif, who remains AWOL) and most of the Avengers are off-world, yet the God of Thunder takes these abysmal circumstances and crafts them into a compelling attempt to take his home back from the Goddess of Death, choosing to continue his mission.
But it is worth noting that, unlike his appearances in the first and second phases of the MCU, Ragnarok‘s Thor is a bit more arrogant regarding his status as a superhero. His past failures seem to have warped his understanding as to what a hero is supposed to be, at times turning his duty to the Nine Realms into some sort of game. His “that’s what heroes do” line might produce a few laughs (and it should, it’s pretty funny), but it feels a bit cartoonish based on what we know of Thor previously. An easy explanation of this is that Thor’s two years of searching for Infinity Stones caused him to become something of a cynic, trying to bide his time by cracking a few extra jokes, but a more accurate take might be that the weight of his previous losses and failures has finally caught up to him. Between the second Avengers flick and his third solo film, Thor has to deal with the deaths of his mother and his brother, not to mention his breakup with Jane. Realizing that he’s failed to save or keep the people he loved in his life, Thor tosses a blanket of humor over his own frigid despair.
This multiplies itself a hundred-fold throughout Ragnarok after Mjolnir is destroyed, Odin’s death, and the destruction of Asgard by Hela and the fire demon Surtur (Clancy Brown). Thankfully, this final failure to protect his home doesn’t immediately end in tragedy. Rather, Thor and Loki finally become brothers in the way they’d always hoped to be, with both of them acknowledging Thor’s rightful place on the Asgardian throne, leading their people to a new world. These final moments at the end of Thor: Ragnarok bookend the God of Thunder’s story nicely, with him finally accepting what his father had hoped for him all these years, understanding the true weight of Odin’s crown. It’s almost a shame that Avengers: Infinity War completely un-does all that progress in its opening moments, but there’s a clear and distinct reason for all of that too.
Infinity War‘s opening moments chronicle the harsh end to Thor’s short-lived victory. While some Asgardians managed to escape, many died in Thanos’ raid, including Loki (the Loki variant not-included) and Heimdall (Idris Elba), and Thor himself is left in space to die. In the aftermath, Thor explains to Rocket (Bradley Cooper) that taking out Thanos is his only goal. “What more could I lose?” he asks, though he’d never have anticipated the answer. It’s here that Thor’s approach to failure begins to really change. Rather than simply dealing with his grief via humor while still pursuing superheroics, Thor is consumed with rage and thoughts of revenge. After building Stormbreaker, he attempts to kill the Mad Titan, but only after taunting him first. Distracted by his own vengeance, Thor watches helplessly as Thanos snaps his fingers, resulting in disastrous consequences for the entire universe. Even after tracking Thanos down weeks later, and killing him for good, Thor couldn’t undo what had been done. He failed, and this time he knew there was no going back, so he didn’t even try.
While the Avengers couldn’t change what Thanos did, they were able to reverse it by working together. In Avengers: Endgame, Thor faces his fears and learns that he can’t do everything on his own. He learns that even though he’s a “failure,” his grief and despair make him “just like everyone else,” and he’s still worthy in spite of it. While some have criticized the “Lebowski Thor” and others (including this author at one time) claimed that it completely disregarded his entire MCU character arc, it’s actually quite a natural progression. Thor had been buried under all his past failures. For years, he had held in his anger, his grief, and his hurt, choosing instead to ignore his trauma rather than confront it. In the five-year “Blip,” Thor succumbed to these emotions, and only after being pulled out by his friends (and confronted by his mother) did he recognize that, just as before, he was still a hero worthy of his name. Only by failing to stop Thanos was Thor able to deal with his grief so that he could better himself for the future, finally accepting failure as a natural part of life.
Compared to Captain America, Iron Man, Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), and multiple Spider-Men (Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, Tom Holland), Thor sometimes gets lost in the Marvel shuffle. Aside from the critical success of Thor: Ragnarok, his contributions to the MCU have often been ignored when compared to Tony Stark or Steve Rogers, who each had their own successful solo films and headlined each Avengers flick, which usually saw Thor as a supporting character (maybe barring Infinity War). In any case, Thor’s MCU journey is just as compelling, if not more so, than Iron Man or Captain America, and while he might not have the same spotlight as other Marvel heroes, he’s easily one of the greatest. After everything, he’s gone through, and helping stop Thanos’ plot for good, there’s no doubt that he is the mightiest hero in the MCU!
With Thor: Love and Thunder set to release this week, it will be exciting to see how Thor’s strength and storyline continues evolving in this new installment. Thor: Love and Thunder debuts in theaters July 8, 2022.