Thor has gone through more than any character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
All of the heroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have been through a lot. Captain America was frozen in ice for decades and had to fight his best friend. Tony Stark lost his parents and even found himself trapped in space. Nebula was painfully taken apart and rebuilt with robot parts. And Black Widow had her ability to have kids taken away from her.
It’s almost like it’s a right of passage for someone to go through a great deal of trauma in order to be a great superhero. That said, no one has gone through more consistent tragedies or suffered more consistent trauma than Thor.
In Avengers: Endgame, Thor didn’t look like himself anymore. He had turned into a hermit that only left his house for alcohol, gained a ton of weight, and hadn’t done anything remotely heroic in five years. The God of Thunder had been put through the wringer – and you don’t have to look hard to see how that happened.
In every single one of his movies, it seemed like something bad was destined to happen to him. Not just that, things consistently went from bad to worse. So, upon reflection, it’s no wonder he let himself go. It looks like even gods have a breaking point.
With that in mind, let’s look back at all the horrible things that have happened to him since his first movie.
Thor
This is where Odinson’s journey to become a hero all began. But first, he had to lose two things that he valued more than anything in all the Nine Realms.
Hi father, Odin, took away his godhood and his hammer Mjölnir for being arrogant. While this ultimately worked out for him, there were consequences. Not only was he on Earth when his father was in a coma, he tried to lift Mjölnir while there and found out that he was no longer worthy – almost dying in the process.
To top it off, he discovered that his own brother, Loki, was a major contributor to his recent misfortunes – especially the fact that he was almost killed.
Thor: The Dark World
Thor’s time with the Avengers in the 2012 film may have been exhausting, but it wasn’t tragic. The newly-formed team of heroes won the day and the God of Thunder made new friends along the way. It’s too bad that things were about to go from good to terrible.
Thor: The Dark World was full of sad moments. First, the Odinson was helpless as Malekith and his army invaded Asgard and killed a plethora of Asgardians who were trying to protect the Aether (the Reality Stone) – not to mention the love of his life, Jane Foster. Tragically, one of those deaths happened to be his mother Frigga.
Despite leaving Malekith scarred, Thor couldn’t stop him from escaping. However, it didn’t end there. After breaking Loki out of the Asgardian dungeon, Thor watched his brother get killed in front of him. Or so he thought…
Thor: Ragnarok
The hits just kept on coming for the God of Thunder.
After mourning his brother for years, Thor discovered that Loki had actually been alive the whole time. If that wasn’t bad enough, his trickster brother had also been impersonating Odin and ruling Asgard. Unfortunately, when he and Loki eventually found Odin, their ailing father died shortly afterwards.
Things would only get worse for the pair as, after Odin faded away, their long-lost sister Hela appeared. A sibling Thor didn’t even know he had, Hela destroyed his hammer with ease and before he could get away, he ended up landing in Sakaar. The Odinson was immediately captured and forced to fight his long-time friend, the Hulk.
While the movie does end with Thor triumphing over Hela, the only way to defeat her was to let Surtur destroy Asgard. And thus, he was forced to watch as his home was demolished before his very eyes.
The God of Thunder and the rest of the Asgardians were without a place to live. And then things got worse. Oh, they got a whole lot worse…
Avengers: Endgame
Avengers: Endgame opened with Thor already in Thanos’ clutches after being beat down while he and the Black Order killed half of the Asgardians. That included his best friend Heimdall who was murdered while he was shackled and unable to defend himself. And then, he had to watch while Loki – who had slowly managed to kick-start a journey of redemption – was killed by Thanos’ hand.
Thankfully, the Odinson survived by crashing into the Guardians of the Galaxy’s ship. With Rocket and Groot, he found his way to Nidavellir. There, he had Stormbreaker forged by the dwarf Eitri. Now, he was ready to face Thanos one more time.
Stormbreaker was exactly what he needed. It was powerful enough to withstand the power of the Infinity Gauntlet – even with all the stones intact. He stabbed Thanos in the chest and said, “I told you… you’d die for that.” We all know how this went. Thor really should have aimed for the head.
Of course, the God of Thunder eventually got his revenge by decapitating Thanos. However, it was too late. The Odinson felt like he failed. He left Thanos’ cabin and started his downward spiral.
The question is, having saved mankind one more time, and with Thor: Love and Thunder on the horizon, has Thor found his way back to the hero that he once was? Or will all of this trauma that he has suffered continue to resonate with him going forward?
What do you think? Did anyone else in the MCU have it worse than Thor? Let us know in the comments below!