Endgame's Original Fat Thor Plan Would've Made The Character Worse

The original plan for Fat Thor in Avengers: Endgame would've made the character and his arc worse. Avengers: Endgame was, of course, the climax of over a decade's worth of MCU storytelling, and as such was full of surprises. One of the biggest of those was the inclusion of so-called Fat Thor, with the God of Thunder gaining weight after the failure to stop Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War and then not being able to reverse things at the beginning of Endgame.

This version of Thor made for a remarkable difference. Boasting a look and attitude that, as Tony Stark notes, is more in keeping with The Dude from The Big Lebowski rather than Odinson, it was not only a stark contrast, but a divisive one. While some argued that it was a fitting exploration of his character's PTSD, others were against the notion of Fat Thor because of how it seemingly made the character into a joke because of his weight gain.

There are understandable points of view on both sides of that debate, but either way it would have been damaged by Avengers: Endgame's original Fat Thor plan, which would've seen him revert back to his old self in the middle of the movie. Chris Hemsworth fought to keep Fat Thor for the duration of Endgame, and it's a good job that he did. While it can still be argued that Thor is made into a joke because of his size, the movie at least sees the character's arc through to the very end. He isn't just a figure to be laughed at, but instead viewers get to see the impact Infinity War and his own failures had on him in a lasting, tangible way, which would've been vastly reduced had he simply changed back earlier, because there wouldn't be that sense of payoff or the transformation being earned.

Fat Thor sits in New Asgard drinking beer in Avengers Endgame (1)

The point of Fat Thor is not only to explore his PTSD, but also to strip him off some of his defining features: not just his appearance, but also his arrogance. Avengers: Endgame needed to make drastic changes to Thor's character for that journey to really land, and so having him go back in the middle would have meant that didn't feel fully developed. Instead, it's likely he may have gone back to his old ways and re-gained some of that arrogance, rather than following through on changing, seeing himself in a new, more positive light, and being prepared to go off on a journey of self-discovery. Thor hits rock bottom in Endgame, but by the end he's given a new lease on life and a renewed sense of happiness with who he is, and that comes from being Fat Thor for the duration.

It seems as though Hemsworth will transform again for Thor: Love and Thunder, with the actor getting into the best shape he's ever been in to play the character. That means that Fat Thor will eventually be left behind, but it can do so because Avengers: Endgame saw it through to the end, with his emotional interaction with Frigga, key role in the final battle, and greater knowledge of who is truly is all packaged in there. Even still, it needs to respect what came before and do justice to the transformation, but it's a much better place for it to happen than partway through Endgame.

Next: Endgame: Tony Stark's Fat Thor Reaction Confirms It Was Never Just A Joke