Top Five Substitute Super Heroes

4. Eric Masterson as Thor

Marvel has had its share of Everyman heroes over the decades, but Thor isn’t one of them. The God of Thunder has also seen everything, so he’s never fazed or worried about being in over his head in any situation. So how do you present readers with a relatable Thor who’s occasionally unsure of himself? Replace him with a human, of course.

Masterson had real life problems a la Peter Parker, like his worries about how dangerous playing Thor would be for his son Kevin. Tom DeFalco managed to have him grow into his role pretty nicely, and he was actually the Thor of record during both the “Operation: Galactic Storm” Avengers crossover epic and the classic Infinity Gauntlet mini-series.

That’s not bad for a mortal who started out his stint with Mjolnir as a rank amateur. Certainly, he had the heart of a hero, and we’ll even forgive him for the whole Thunderstrike business. It’s not like he asked to be made into a poor imitation of Thor after spending some time as sort of the real thing, right?

R.I.P. Eric. You earned it.