Welcome to a lighter episode, What If…” Thor Was an Only Child?” a story that breaks the trend of depressing and unhappy endings for this series, at least until the last five seconds.
Will it be good for you as well? Let’s break it down.
1. Do I Buy This Version of Thor?
One of the first hurdles that a What If…? episode has to overcome is believability. The show has made me buy T’Challa as Starlord, failed to convince me that Christine’s death would make Dr. Strange go mad, and had me wondering why Killmonger let King T’Chaka live.
Does Thor work a party god? I’m only halfway there. Thor maintains his empathy, though it’s hidden. There is also no malice in this Thor, only selfishness and indifference. And, yet, since this version of Frigga would have been able to devote all her parenting to Thor instead of negotiating a brotherly rivalry, how did her only son become so spoiled?
Loki, appearing as his frost giant self, is changed by the experience of growing up with his people. He seems a more centered, less resentful god now. A Thor who is oblivious to the problems of others is too similar to the MCU Thor. This story shows little sign of how being an only child changed him.
2. Jane Foster Has a Type
I get it. Some people are so handsome they can leave you starry-eyed. Thor does that for Jane and, as a fan of the first Thor movie, it’s delightful seeing their first meeting again, especially as Jane is voiced by Natalie Portman herself. Jane falls hard and fast. Thor, not so much, because he’s too busy chasing the next adrenaline rush. But he’s still intrigued by her intelligence, and that was a nice nod to our world’s Jane.
As for Jane’s companion, Darcy remains a delight. She’s cut a path of her own in the MCU, especially with her appearance in WandaVision. In this story, Kat Demings brings her trademark quips to an encounter with Maria Hill, then with her crush on Captain Marvel, and, finally, her very odd marriage to Howard the Duck. I guess their snark bound them together.
3. My Mother Is Coming.
My thoughts are all over the place on this development. On the one hand, Frigga was underused in the Thor movies and it’s great to see her again. But on the other hand, her role in this episode plays so much to the ingrained and often problematic stereotype of the mother who’s always coming in to clean up the mess of her younglings. But the whole setup plays like the oldest and hoariest of sitcom episodes.
On the good side again, Frigga is shown having a life of her own, heading off for a break while Odin is in the Odinsleep.
4. The Rumble Answer: Captain Marvel
As Thor and others party across the Earth, wreaking havoc, Maria Hill calls in Captain Marvel.
Carol is voiced by Alexandra Daniels, who sounds so much like Brie Larson that I had to double-check the credits. I love how the animation mimics the live-action Marvel’s moves, as Carol is self-assured and collected even in the midst of battle.
It’s not a contest about who’s stronger. In another nice touch, Carol reveals she’s been holding back when fighting Thor because she doesn’t want to cause massive collateral damage to Earth.
5. The End: Ultron/Vision Arrives With the Infinity Stones
It’s a nice sight gag but it doesn’t make sense.
Ultron grew out of Tony Stark’s trauma from the invasion led by Loki. In this timeline, Loki obviously didn’t invade at the behest of Thanos. Without that, there’s no need for Tony to create a suit of armor to protect the world. That means no Ultron. That would mean no Vision either. I suppose there’s a timeline where this happened but I can’t follow the logic of it happening in this particular story.
All in all, this is a fun but slight episode. MCU fans could easily entertain themselves by spotting all the cameos, from Coulson to the GrandMaster, the Guardians, and others more obscure.
Yet I keep waiting for this show to shift from decent to great. Instead, What If…? remains annoyingly inconsistent.
