"What If... Thor Were an Only Child?" is the seventh episode of Marvel's Disney+ series What If...?. It premiered on September 22, 2021. It is directed by Bryan Andrews and written by A.C Bradley. This episode is based on Thor.
Synospis[]
Thor, who never learned to be a good hero, throws an out of control intergalactic party on Earth.
Plot[]
Somewhere in New Mexico, Jane Foster and her intern Darcy Lewis have detected an anomaly. She tries to contact the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. about an alien invasion and believes it to be the same force that decimated Alpha Star several months prior. Meanwhile, Thor and the Asgardians arrive in Las Vegas to throw a party.
Opening narration[]
- âMore than battles won or lost, it's relationships that truly define a hero. The people who shape them, their stories. Thor and Loki, a brotherhood so strong and pivotal, it would change the fate of a universe. Their childhood taught Thor many lessons. But in another universe, instead of raising the Jotunheim prince, Loki, as his own son, Odin returned him to his people. Without his trickster brother to keep things, let's say, lively, Thor grew into a very different prince.â
- ―The Watcher
As the Watcher watches Thor from the skies above, he explains how Thor and Loki's brotherhood changed the fate of the universe. In this alternate universe, Odin returned the lost Loki to the Frost Giants. Without his mischievous adopted brother, Thor became an only child.
In a flashback, Thor's father, Odin, enters the Odinsleep. Thor's mother, Frigga, decides to visit her sister for the Solstice, leaving Thor in charge of Asgard. Frigga instructs her son to study up on the Nine Realms in preparation for becoming the king of Asgard and reminds him not to have a party. She warns Thor that Heimdall will be watching him while she is away. Despite his mother's request, Thor gathers the Warriors Three and plans to host a party on a planet so backwater that not even Heimdall pays attention to it.
In the present, Jane and Darcy arrive in Las Vegas, where Thor's party is already in full swing. Jane detects Thor is the first non-terrestrial being to arrive and goes to make first contact with him. When Jane questions Thor about Alpha Star, Thor confirms that was one of his parties, but then becomes fascinated by Jane's scientific knowledge and the two become enamored with one another. Thor and Jane spend the evening with one another, while Darcy decides to get some nachos with Howard the Duck (and later winds up having a Vegas wedding to him).
The next morning, Jane wakes up in a hotel room with Thor, the Warriors Three and Rocket Raccoon, with S.H.I.E.L.D. knocking on their door. Maria Hill is now acting director of S.H.I.E.L.D., after Nick Fury was accidentally knocked unconscious by Korg when Fury attempted to talk to Thor the night before. Jane and Darcy are brought to the Helicarrier, where Agent Coulson reports that Thor's party is spreading to an international scale and Thor has already taken flight to Paris. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents then present Acting-Director Hill a beeper, which she uses to summon Captain Marvel.
In Paris, Frost Giant Prince Loki arrives to Thor's party, showing that the two have a much more affable relationship in this universe. Thor suddenly sees a shooting star, telling Loki to make a wish, but it turns out the shooting star is actually Captain Marvel arriving. She asks Thor to stop the party, but Thor refuses, calling Carol a "party pooper". Eventually, the two begin physically fighting, with Thor knocking Carol all the way to Stonehenge. She warns Thor to be more careful, but Thor deliberately knocks over Stonehenge to taunt Carol. This causes her to punch Thor all the way across the Atlantic and into the middle of the American desert. Thor attempts to use his lightning powers on Carol, but she just absorbs it. Their battle continues across the World, until the two arrive back in Paris, where Thor uses Mjolnir to pin Carol, surrounded by other partygoers taunting her.
Back on the Helicarrier, Hill berates Carol for being unable to restrain Thor, but Carol explains that she was only fighting Thor as a fraction of her power, because she did not want to risk civilian causalities if she fought Thor at her full power. Jane gets a call from Thor, asking to see her again. Jane once again asks Thor if he really destroyed a planet with his Alpha Star party, and Thor assures her it was a deserted asteroid that was breaking apart any way and that everybody got home safely. Jane gets called away but before she hangs up, she lets Thor know that she loves him.
S.H.I.E.L.D and Captain Marvel decide on a new plan: Carol will pull Thor to Siberia, where she can exert her full power on him, with minimal collateral risk. Jane objects, stating that Thor may be a frat boy, but doesn't deserve to be killed for it. However, S.H.I.E.L.D. is done listening to Jane, and proceed to drop her and Darcy back in Vegas. Jane attempts to call Thor again, but Loki picks up and accidentally drops the phone, breaking it before he can give it to Thor. Darcy comments how similar the entire thing is to a college fratboy film, bringing up how they often feature someone calling the parents. Jane realizes that since there's a Thor and a Loki, that means that there is also an Odin, Frigga and Heimdall.
Meanwhile, Thor's party is growing more and more chaotic, with Surtur accidentally melting an arm off the Statue of Liberty as he tries to flirt with it, as well as knocking out power across the East Coast of America by trying to limbo under some power lines. The Frost Giants have placed ice beards on Mt. Rushmore, and accidentally knock a Ferris wheel off its hinges. In Australia, Thor is about to slide down the Sydney Opera House, but is grabbed by Captain Marvel, who takes her to Siberia. However, not content with using Carol, Hill also plans a missile barrage on the area.
Back in Vegas, Jane and Darcy are able to hook up a frequency which allows Jane to call Heimdall. She is brought to Heimdall, who then sends her to Frigga, where Jane explains what Thor is doing.
In Siberia, just as Thor & Carol are about to fight, Frigga sends a projection of herself that gets between them, asking Thor what he is doing. Thor tries bluffing that he is on a study trip, so Frigga says she is coming to Earth to see for herself. Happy with this, Hill tells S.H.I.E.L.D. to stand down while Carol flies off despite Thor begging her to help him clean up.
Thor returns to Australia, where he tries telling Loki that they need to clean up, but the other party-goers are upset by this, with Drax calling Thor a "party-pooper", and Loki commenting that Thor is starting to sound like Odin. Desperate, Thor uses his powers to announce to everyone that Frigga is coming, which quickly gets everyone to help clean up.
Frigga arrives in Italy, where she finds Thor doing a group study. Carol also arrives, giving Thor a tablet full of information on Earth. Frigga thanks Carol for helping educate her son and tells Thor that it is time to head back to Asgard. Thor tries to grab Mjolnir, only to find they had forgotten to clean that up too, much to Frigga's annoyance.
Later, Thor visits Jane, thanking her for calling his mother and admitting that while it was not the cool thing for her to do, it was the right thing to do. The two agree to go on another date with one another, and Thor happily walks into the desert to prepare for his date.
Closing narration[]
- âA world restored, love blossoming. As children both human and Asgardian say, together, they lived happily ever after.â
- ―The Watcher before Ultron arrives in Thor's universe
Thor then notices a portal opening up, and through it marches an army of Ultron Drones, led by Ultron wielding all the Infinity Stones.
- âWait, what? Oh, dear. Perhaps I spoke too soon.â
- ―The Watcher
Cast[]
Starring[]
- Jeffrey Wright as The Watcher
- Chris Hemsworth as Thor
- Natalie Portman as Jane Foster
- Tom Hiddleston as Loki
- Kat Dennings as Darcy
- Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury
- Jeff Goldblum as Grandmaster
- Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill
- Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson
- Frank Grillo as Brock Rumlow
- Taika Waititi as Korg
- Karen Gillan as Nebula
- Jaimie Alexander as Lady Sif
- Seth Green as Howard the Duck
- Alexandra Daniels as Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel
- Rachel House as Topaz
- Josette Eales as Frigga
- David Chen as Hogun
Guest stars[]
- Fred Tatasciore as Volstagg and Drax
- Max Mittelman as Fandral
- Clancy Brown as Surtur
- Kimberly Bailey as Additional Voices
- David Jordan Chen as Additional Voices
- June Christopher as Additional Voices
- Terri Douglas as Additional Voices
- Robin Atkin Downes as Additional Voices
- Michael Ralph as Additional Voices
- Kaitlyn Robrock as Additional Voices
- Kari Wahlgren as Additional Voices
- Matthew Wood as Additional Voices
- Shelby Young as Additional Voices
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- This is marks the first episode of the series that doesn't feature any character deaths.
- This is the first episode whose ending directly connects to the next episode. In other words, this is the first episode which ends on a cliffhanger.
- According to Marvel Studios: Assembled, the episode initially began under the idea of "What If... Thor Was Never Banished?". Character designer Ryan Meinerding sketched a "more evil" Thor, but A.C. Bradley thought the sketch made Thor look less "evil", and more like "a douchebag", which ultimately led to the premise evolving from "Evil Thor" to "Party Thor".
- In this timeline, Loki and Thor have a less problematic relationship. Since Loki wasn't adopted by Odin and raised with Thor as a rival for Asgard's throne, Loki has no reason to feel jealous of Thor or betray him.
- Since Loki wasn't adopted by Odin, his birth name might have been given by Laufey in this universe.
- This episode has Loki in his Frost Giant form, as Odin never used his magic to disguise him as an Asgardian. His Frost Giant appearance was seen before in the Thor film and the Loki series, but this is the first time that it is shown in his giant size.
- Loki calling Thor his "brother from another mother" is a reference to Tom Hiddleston's saying the same about Chris Hemsworth as they both joke about Tom being adopted into the Hemsworth family.[1][2][3][4]
- Jane is aware of S.H.I.E.L.D. in this universe but had never heard of it in the film.
- Jane's star chart shows constellations including Ursa Minor, which she mentioned in the film, which was missing.
- The man that marries Darcy and Howard the Duck is an Elvis Presley impersonator, which is very common in Las Vegas.
- This marks the first time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe where Howard the Duck is referred to by name.
- When the Watcher observes Thor's party at the start, it looks like he is watching Thor and the guests through a pane of glass, similar to the barrier he moved to the other side of when he didn't help Strange Supreme. The next episode shows that this is part of the Nexus where he observes these universes from.
- After Odin falls asleep, Thor walks inside the palace alongside the Warriors Three when an Infinity Gauntlet with all six stones is seen behind him, which Hela pointed out was fake in Thor: Ragnarok.
- In the film, the fake Infinity Gauntlet was right-handed, while the one seen in this episode is left-handed.
- Skrulls, Yondu Udonta, Mantis, Valkyrie, and Skurge as well as others, all make cameo appearances.
- Thor claims that the beer is magical and never runs out, which is a reference to Doctor Strange magically refilling his beer in Thor: Ragnarok.
- A couple of the ships in the sky look like the ones seen in the Collector's vault in "What If... T'Challa Became a Star-Lord?". There are also some Asgardian ships that were seen in "What If... The World Lost Its Mightiest Heroes?".
- When Jane notices Thor for the first time, he does the same hair flip he did in "What If... The World Lost Its Mightiest Heroes?".
- Jane and Thor's magic and science tattoos reference his line in the film, "Your ancestors called it magic and you call it science. Well, I come from a place where they're one and the same thing".
- Loki calls Thor "son of a witch" because Frigga is a witch.
- Darcy mentions the film Top Gun and the protagonist Maverick when Carol says her cat's name is Goose, because of Maverick's sidekick and best friend, whose call sign is Goose.
- Darcy says she thought Carol would be a male captain. This is a reference to the comics, in which Mar-Vell, the original Captain Marvel, is male.
References[]
- â "Tom Hiddleston's audition for Thor - The Graham Norton Show: Episode 2 - BBC One". Youtube (October 2, 2015).
- â "Tom Hiddleston - Best Villain - MTV Movie Awards 2013". Youtube (April 17, 2020).
- â "Thor 2 Chris Hemsworth & Tom Hiddleston EXCLUSIVE Interview (2013)". Youtube.
- â "Tom Hiddleston Becomes a Hemsworth at Thor Premiere Video Library Action Reporter Media". Youtube (October 23, 2013).
External links[]
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