Marvel's ‘What If..?’ Episode 7: “What If... Thor Were an Only Child?” Recap and Review

Thor’s party lifestyle becomes a problem for the people of Earth when his worldwide vandalism is picked up on S.H.I.E.L.D’s radar.

WARNING: Contains Spoilers

The latest instalment of Marvel’s inventive anthology series What If..? imagines a world where instead of being adopted by Odin, Loki is left to be raised by the frost giants and Thor grows up as an only child. The result of this unfamiliar situation is just as amusing as it is unpredictable - the absence of Loki’s influence on his brother means that Thor is never able to outgrow his boistrous hubris, and adopts a life of drinking and partying. The episode is one of the more lighthearted and comedic instalments so far, and takes a much lighter tone towards a concept that’s well suited to the quips and jokes that it uses. Although the stakes aren’t as high as the previous episodes, and the central conflict isn’t as compelling, it’s a greatly entertaining filler episode that explores the dynamics between plenty of characters that we already know and love.

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The Recap

This week’s episode opens with two fan-favourite characters, Jane Foster and Darcy Lewis, arriving at the scene of an imminent alien invasion that turns out to be the arrival of Thor - but his intentions aren’t quite what you might expect. A quick introduction from The Watcher teaches us that in this universe, Loki was never adopted by Odin and as such, Thor was brought up without his influence and has grown into a much more arrogant, hedonistic character that spends all his time partying and drinking with his friends. His arrival on Earth comes from an attempt to find a planet that would be out of sight from his parents and Heimdall, so he can host a worldwide party that matches the legendary nights he recalls to Jane, as she asks him his intentions with the planet. She’s clearly concerned about some cosmic anomalies that she believes have been created as a result of Thor’s universal partying. However, falling victim to his charm once again, she joins him as he invites characters from all over the universe to his party on Earth. We see Drax, Nebula, Korg and even the Grandmaster arrive to join the festivities, and they party late into the night. When Jane wakes up the next morning, she is approached by Maria Hill, who is currently acting as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D after Nick Fury was lost during the chaos of the party. She warns jane that Thor is a danger to the planet, and asks if she knows where he is. Wanting to protect him, she lies and sends Hill away.

In an attempt to put a stop to Thor’s dangerously irresponsible partying, Maria Hill calls for backup - Captain Marvel. Danvers arrives on Earth, interrupting a conversation between Thor and his estranged briother Loki, who has adopted the appearance of a frost giant in his time away from Asgard. When Danvers attempts to persuade Thor to stop the partying, his answer is an unsurprisingly firm no. A fight ensues, in which the duo fly across the world from Stonehenge to the Grand Canyon, before arriving back at party central unable to inflict any real damage on each other. Agent Hill then decides that the only way to take down Thor is to lure him to a secluded desert in Siberia and unleash Captain Mavrel’s full powers on him, blowing a crater in the planet. Overhearing Hill’s plans, Jane calls to Heimdall to bring her to Asgard so that she can warn Thor’s mother about everything that’s happening on Earth in the hopes of protecting him from this deadly plan. As Denvers lures Thor to Siberia, Jane is transported to Asgard and manages to find Frigga and warn her that her son is in danger. She projects herself to Earth and intercepts the fight, warning Thor that she is on her way. Thor comes up with the excuse that he’s on Earth to study their culture, and realises that he needs to end his partying and clean up before his mother arrives. Captain Marvel stands down, and even helps him with the cleanup when Frigga arrives. As Thor says goodbye to Jane, everything seems like it’s leading towards a happy ending - until an army of Ultron drones arrive led by their infinity stone-infused master, The Vision.

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The Review

It’s easy to tell from this episode’s concept alone that you’re not in for the same emotional, thoughtful journey that we’ve experienced from some of the previous episodes. There are no universal stakes, no real character development and very little implications for the MCU’s future going forward - but none of this means that this is a bad episode. The premise is fun, the visuals are great and the jokes often land really well. It’s a relatively contained story that I doubt we’ll ever hear from again, but in the spirit of those Saturday morning cartoons that the show is referencing and emulating, it’s a really fun time. It’s great to see all these characters returning in a familiar setting, and the cast does a great job (as always) of keeping their performances grounded to what we already know from the cinematic side of this universe. We get to see plenty of different versions of these characters - such as Loki’s frost giant appearance and Thor’s altered personality that make the episode feel fresh and new, without ever feeling over the top or unrelatable. There may have been a few moments where the pacing feels a little too slow for such a contained story, but for the audience that it’s pandering to, the show does a great job of keeping itself interesting and captivating. What If..? may not be the most revolutionary or innovative Marvel show out there, but it’s doing a great job of holding the fort until the MCU’s big players come in later in Phase 4 - and I would not be surprised to see some of these characters or situations return in the future, particularly in the show’s season finale.

GRADE: [B]