Thor Marvel Character: Thor Odinson in the MCU

Thor Odinson is the heir to the throne of Asgard in the MCU, a prince who starts out boastful and impatient and slowly learns to put his people ahead of his pride. Thor (2011), directed by Kenneth Branagh, introduces him as an Asgardian about to be crowned king when Frost Giants try to steal a relic from the vault. He answers by leading his friends and his brother Loki into Jotunheim against his father Odin's wishes, and Odin banishes him to Earth.

Chris Hemsworth plays Thor, and is billed first in Thor (2011), Thor: The Dark World, Thor: Ragnarok and Thor: Love and Thunder.

What is Thor's personality in Marvel? He begins as proud and hot headed, which is exactly what gets him exiled in 2011. From there he becomes loyal to a fault, since he keeps trying to bring Loki home even after Loki attacks New York in The Avengers (2012). Over later films he turns into a leader who grieves openly and carries his people with him.

What is Thor's superpower? His strength is tied to being worthy. In 2011 Odin strips his powers and sends his hammer Mjolnir after him, enchanted so that only a worthy person can lift it, and Thor gets his powers back when he offers his own life to save the townspeople. Hela later destroys Mjolnir, and the axe Stormbreaker, forged in Avengers: Infinity War, takes its place.

Thor's key relationships are with his parents, his brother Loki, Jane Foster and the friends who fight beside him.

Odin, played by Anthony Hopkins, is his father. They clash over the Jotunheim raid in 2011, and in Ragnarok Odin explains that his death will release Hela, his imprisoned first child. Frigga, played by Rene Russo, is killed in Malekith's raid on Asgard in The Dark World, and that loss pushes Thor to break Odin's rules.

Who is Thor's girlfriend? Jane Foster, the astrophysicist played by Natalie Portman, who meets him in New Mexico after he is banished. She returns in The Dark World when the Aether takes hold of her, and again in Love and Thunder, where Mjolnir reforges itself for her and she becomes the Mighty Thor. Jane dies in Thor's arms at the end of that film.

Who is Thor's worst enemy? Loki, played by Tom Hiddleston, is the most personal one. He opposes Thor in Thor (2011), The Avengers and The Dark World, where he seems to die and then takes Odin's throne. He also poses as Odin in Ragnarok, and the brothers make peace by the end of that film. Hela, Malekith, Gorr and Thanos are the other major villains Thor faces, and Thanos is the one who completes the Infinity Gauntlet and snaps his fingers in Infinity War despite Thor's blow.

His friends include Heimdall (Idris Elba), Sif (Jaimie Alexander), Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) and Korg, voiced by Taika Waititi. Heimdall sends the Hulk to Earth to warn the others in Infinity War, and he greets Jane at the gates of Valhalla in the Love and Thunder post-credits scene. Among the Avengers, Thor fights beside Tony Stark in Age of Ultron and next to Bruce Banner on Sakaar and in Asgard.

In my opinion, Thor's best moments are the ones where he gives something up, not the ones where the hammer flies.

The first is the climax of Thor (2011), when he offers his own life to save the townspeople from the Destroyer and, by doing so, becomes worthy again. It is a quiet beat for a Marvel film, and it sets the rule that every later Thor story tests. It also sits nicely beside the sacrifice Steve Rogers makes in the Arctic in Captain America: The First Avenger, since both heroes are defined by what they are willing to lose.

The second is Ragnarok, when Thor decides that the only way to stop Hela is to let Ragnarok happen, and Loki places Surtur's crown in the Eternal Flame to destroy Asgard. Losing an eye and a homeland in the same film could have turned him bitter, and instead he accepts that Asgard is a people rather than a place.

The third is the end of Love and Thunder. Thor shares his power with the Asgardian children at Eternity's altar so they can fight Gorr's monsters, and then he urges Gorr to wish for Love's return instead of the gods' deaths. It is the most generous thing the character does, and, as I see it, it is why the film lands emotionally even where the tone wobbles.

If you want to watch all of this in sequence, follow the Marvel movies in order guide, and keep Doctor Strange (2016) in the list for his mid-credits visit.