‘What If… Thor Were An Only Child?’

The great thing about this series (well, one of many great things…) is that even if you have a dud episode, you get to start all over again the following week with a clean slate. No worrying about where the story is going to go next because they’re all stand-alone 😊 Last week’s ‘Killmonger’ episode was a dud, for me anyway, but no worries, this week I got to find out what happened if Thor had been an only child… Wait, what? It’s not exactly the most inspiring, or intriguing, title ever, is it? Give it a chance though, this could very well be the best ‘What If…?’ episode yet…

Obligatory spoiler warning time. The big clue, as ever, is in the title so I’m not going to be too fussy about avoiding spoilers here. If you want to go and watch ‘What If…?’ first, that’s fine. In fact, you should watch it first because, well…

Odin has begun the ‘Odinsleep’ and Frigga is spending some time with friends, that leaves Thor to rule Asgard all by himself until his Mum gets back. What is a Norse god to do in the meantime? Rule wisely… or throw the biggest party that Midgard has ever seen…? Well, what do you think? 😉

‘What If… Thor Were An Only Child?’ shows us how Thor might have turned out if he hadn’t had to deal with Loki’s tricks all the time. And do you know what? I think this episode is spot on with the guess work. Thor has always been the god of loud revels, and getting raging drunk, so it makes sense that this is the way he would go here if he didn’t constantly have Loki all in his face. Where ‘What If…?’ really comes alive is not only having the whole of Earth as the party venue but making into one those sitcoms (and we all know the ones) where the teenage child is having a massive house party and trying to keep their parents from finding out. That approach lends a real irreverence to things here and after the last two or three episodes, we really need some of that. And Thor has always been the character to deliver on that score (Exhibit A being ‘Thor Ragnarok’). What we get then is a gently comedic episode where the fate of the world is secondary to the fate Thor will suffer if his Mum finds out what he has been up to. I loved it, especially the timing around that final moment with Frigga… Well played ‘What If…?’ Well played. It’s funny the whole way through actually, even down to Rumlow sulking about not deploying the nukes and Darcy (Darcy!) just being Darcy really. I like to think of this world as the ‘Comedy Timeline’… 😊 And it’s kind of sweet that no matter what trick Thor pulls (or where his fights with Captain Marvel end up), Miojnir always comes back to him. Thor may be a little rowdy but inside, he’s worthy and that’s a nice constant to stick to

What I also loved is the excuse that this approach gave the writers to wheel out just about every single ‘interplanetary guest’ you can think of to really get the party started. Honestly, think of a character and if you don’t blink, you’ll see them. My personal favourite has to be the Grandmaster DJ’ing (‘release the foam’). Not everyone gets a talking part but you still get a really good idea of just how big the MCU can be once you step off Earth and into the stars, just by who’s at the party.

I’ll be honest, I had a tooth out this afternoon and the numbing is starting to wear off so I’m going to stop here and take some paracetamol. In the meantime though, watch ‘What If… Thor Were An Only Child?’ if you haven’t seen it already. If you have seen it already, watch it again because it’s just the best thing you’ll see today. You’re welcome 😉