WARNING: The following contains spoilers for What If...? Season 1, Episode 7, "What If... Thor Were An Only Child?," streaming now on Disney+.
The latest episode of What If…? finds new and odd corners of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to observe in different ways, which is part of the fun. The MCU has always had a bit of a “science bro” vibe for many of its characters, combining social conviviality and technical genius as a strand of the Avengers’ identity. However, What If...?'s journey into another reality upends all of that by bringing Thor into the science bro club.
The prime MCU Thor was never anyone’s idea of a genius. He’s the Avengers’ secondary powerhouse, a literal god who makes up for his slight inadequacy against the Hulk with the ability to remain rational while he fights. He has never claimed nor presumed to be the smartest member of the team, an extension of the seasoning and maturity he has undergone in the Prime MCU. What If…?’s “Party Thor” is an entirely different matter, and yet in a weird way, he ends up as a member of his universe’s science bro club.
The MCU started with a science bro. Tony Stark, conceived in the '60s as a kind of Howard Hughes industrialist, was reimagined as a California tech genius who combined his ingenious military designs with a playboy’s lifestyle and a not-insignificant drinking problem. His moral awakening in the original Iron Man set him on the hero’s path, but he never gave up the dudebro persona. When married to his status as the MCU’s resident genius, the MCU’s science bro contingent came baked in.
Bruce Banner is cut from a similar, though distinctive cloth. When not turning into a green rage monster, he’s a leading expert in gamma radiation and a number of other brainy fields. His status as Professor Hulk in Avengers: Endgame made a fun counterbalance to Tony’s flash-and-sizzle theatrics. With Tony gone, Banner has become the go-to science bro for the MCU. Although it should be noted that Shuri sits in her lab in Wakanda the entire time, quietly eating their collective lunch.
What If…? makes a funny running joke out of Thor’s addition to the science bro club. Season 1, Episode 7, “What If… Thor Were an Only Child?,” presents the God of Thunder as a prince behaving badly: ever eager to destroy entire planets in the name of a good time. He arrives on Earth when his father slips into Odinsleep, and his mother is away on a well-earned rest, using the lack of supervision to party hard on Midgard with disastrous results. It takes Jane Foster and some quick thinking to summon Frigga back from her respite and set things right.
In the process, Thor becomes a science bro, though the emphasis is almost entirely on the “bro.” He can barely spell his name, but the sight of Jane fills him with love, as it did in the prime MCU, and the combination of her physics mastery and convenient computer pad has him ensnared. It’s not enough to make him brilliant overnight, but it prompts him to get a “science” tattoo with her during their memorable party in Las Vegas. After Frigga arrives and the party ends, he visits her again, suggesting that the combination of her brilliance and his fascination with technology can actually put some education into his empty head.
The episode is a lark, and frankly, What If…? needed one because the last few episodes have been on the grim side. The reversal of Thor’s nominal humility makes a terrifically funny gag -- helped, as always, by Chris Hemsworth’s willingness to make fun of the character -- but it’s the notion that he might join the MCU’s pantheon of science bros that really clicks. It leaves hope that the hero he could be is still in there and yet might emerge in this world's darkest hour.
To see how different Thor's life is without Loki growing up, the latest episode of What If...? is streaming now on Disney+.
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