Warning: This article contains spoilers for Marvel’s What If...? episode 7.
Earlier, it was understood that Captain Marvel is stronger than Thor, but their big fight in Marvel’s What If…? suggests that the opposite may be true. While Marvel never proved on-screen that Carol Danvers is on a level above the God of Thunder, comments about her power level indicated that she’s the stronger of the two. Before Scarlet Witch claimed the title, Marvel referred to Brie Larson’s MCU character as its most powerful hero.
The MCU is currently loaded with powerhouses, such as Thor, Captain Marvel, Scarlet Witch, and Hulk. Two of them were pitted against each other in Marvel’s What If…? episode 7, which saw Carol Danvers come to blows with Party Thor in an epic cross-country fight. Though Carol entered the fight clearly feeling quite confident about her chances of winning, the slugfest didn’t exactly go her way. In fact, their first fight ended with a triumphant Thor pinning her to the ground with Mjolnir in What If...?. As for the rematch which came later, it didn’t receive a proper conclusion.
Captain Marvel defended her initial loss to Darcy by explaining that she was holding back to avoid unnecessary destruction on the planet, but that doesn’t take away Thor’s win, nor does it mean she would have won if she was fighting at full strength. After all, there’s no confirmation that what Carol said was the truth, as it could have just been an excuse for losing. Furthermore, an argument similar to Carol’s could also apply to Thor. To him, there were no real stakes to their fight. Since Thor wasn’t fighting seriously, he too could have been reserving his strength. There's no telling how his approach would have differed if he was defending the world from a threat.
Another factor worth considering is the idea that Party Thor’s full power hasn’t been unlocked. In the MCU movies, Thor received a significant upgrade in Thor: Ragnarok, but this version of him hasn’t reached that point yet. What that means is that the present-day incarnation of the character in the main timeline would be able to give Carol an even tougher challenge than Party Thor did. Against him, it could be that Carol wouldn't be in a position to hold anything back.
Ultimately, Marvel’s What If…? episode 7 didn’t provide a clear answer about which hero is superior to the other, but it certainly cast doubts on previously held assumptions about their power levels. Before the episode, it was perceived that Captain Marvel is second only to Scarlet Witch in the MCU, but that may not actually be the case. Regardless though, any gap that exists between Captain Marvel and Thor is obviously a lot smaller than originally thought, if it exists at all. This makes sense, considering that it would bring the power structure of the MCU a bit closer to the comics, where Carol is notably weaker than MCU heavyweights like Thor and Hulk.
Marvel’s What If…? releases new episodes Wednesdays on Disney+.
No comments:
Post a Comment