Summary
- Thor's connection to the Eternals explains why he never became the leader of the Avengers.
- Thor's mentality as a warrior, which sees him focus on his own battle prowess rather than a big picture plan, makes him unfit to be a team leader.
- Thor's Eternals mistake proves his decision to pass on the mantle of Asgardian King was the right choice for his character arc.
Chloé Zhao's Eternals effectively explains why Thor (Chris Hemsworth) wasn't the Avengers leader in the MCU. The God of Thunder is arguably the most powerful among the original Earth's Mightiest Heroes roster. He's definitely stronger than Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) and Captain America (Chris Evans), and he was even poised to be King of Asgard after Odin (Anthony Hopkins). Yet, he was never considered to be the head of the Avengers. As Marvel Studios moves forward from the events of the Infinity Saga, the MCU timeline has focused on bringing new heroes and villains to its world.
This began with MCU's Phase 4, which introduced a string of new roles that are expected to play a major role in the franchise moving forward, including the Eternals — a group of near-immortal beings sent to Earth by the Celestials centuries ago to protect mankind from Deviants. Zhao's Eternals tackled the superhero team, learning the truth about themselves and their true mission. While the movie was largely its own independent endeavor, it featured several references to the bigger universe, including some that confirm that the Eternals have been silently keeping an eye on the Avengers. However, there's one member of the MCU team's roster who actually has personal ties to the cosmic beings — Thor.
Every Upcoming Marvel Movie: Full MCU Phase 5 & 6 List (& Beyond)
Between Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment, here is every upcoming Marvel movie release date and what we know about the projects so far.How Eternals Changes Thor's MCU Story
As revealed by Kingo (Kumail Nanjaini), the God of Thunder used to follow him around when Thor was still a little boy. But since growing up and joining Nick Fury's (Samuel L. Jackson) team, the Asgardian Prince has been brushing him off. Given Thor's connection to the Eternals, it's curious why he never considered calling them as the Avengers geared up for the fight against Thanos (Josh Brolin).
Regardless of the reason, this proves why Thor isn't fit to be a leader. Instead of gathering people to join the battle, Thor's first course of action was to make himself more equipped to kill the Mad Titan himself by acquiring Stormbreaker. Thor has the mentality of a warrior, and not the chief decision-maker of a team. This helps fully conceptualize why, despite being significantly more powerful than Tony Stark and Steve Rogers, he was never even considered to be the Avengers' leader.
Thor's Eternals Mistake Proves He Was Right To Not Become The Next Odin
This aspect of the MCU's overall plot also helps establish why Thor would've been a less effective Asgardian King compared to his dad, proving Thor was right with the later decisions he made in his character arc. Initially, the God of Thunder was invested in the idea that he would be Odin's successor — so much so that he intentionally antagonized Loki (Tom Hiddleston), knowing that he had the advantage over him when it came to taking on the role of King. This was before Thor was sent into a self-reflection journey in the MCU, where he realized that being king wasn't really what he wanted to be, and also not a role that inherently suited his skill set.
By Thor: Ragnarok, Thor was almost shying away from the idea of being Odin's successor, but was forced by the situation with the sudden death of his father and Hela's (Cate Blancett) attack. Luckily, after everything Thor had been through - including a heart-to-heart conversation with his mom, Frigga, thanks to Avengers: Endgame's time heist - he finally came to terms with his identity. Instead of trying to be what he isn't, Thor ultimately decides to pass on the mantle of Asgardian King to Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), as he believes that she can do a better job than he would.
For what it's worth, it didn't seem like Thor had any issues about not being the leader of the Avengers. While he had qualms about not being universally dubbed as the strongest of Earth's Mightiest Heroes, he's more than ready and willing to follow orders from Tony or Steve. Moving forward, it's curious if the God of Thunder will eventually reunite with Kingo or his other fellow cosmic beings — that's if they survive the wrath of Arishem who abducted them at the end of Eternals.
