The MCU Finally Fixed The Biggest Problem With Thor’s Family

Warning: Spoilers ahead for episode 7 of What If…?

The MCU finally fixed a problem with Thor’s family in episode 7 of Marvel’s What If…?, which asked the question: “What If… Thor Were An Only Child?” In this universe, Odin returned Loki to his Frost Giant parents, and without his adopted brother’s presence in his life, Thor grew up to be much more concerned with partying than his responsibilities as the future ruler of the Nine Realms.

In order to party as much as he desired, Thor had to wait for his parents to be preoccupied. He found his chance when Odin entered the Odinsleep and his mother Frigga went on vacation. She enjoyed a relaxing getaway, tasting wine with her friends, until Jane Foster pleaded with her to visit Earth and stop Thor’s destructive partying. Frigga’s annoyance at her son’s disobedience, and desire to unwind away from her family, finally started to fix a lingering issue from the movies, namely Frigga’s lack of development.

This What If…? episode was the closest the MCU has gotten to fleshing out Frigga’s character. It’s true the episode didn’t execute it with any depth, but most MCU parents exist solely to help further their child’s growth. Still, Frigga is a prominent example of existing only to redeem her sons. In the past, she has expressed disappointment when Thor and Loki did not live up to their potential, praised Thor when he did the right thing, and gently challenged Loki on his lack of self-awareness. In Thor: The Dark World, Frigga’s death motivated her sons to defeat the Dark Elves in revenge. Although many Thor characters remained disappointingly one-dimensional throughout the MCU, Frigga has been wasted the most egregiously. Even if it didn’t exactly make up for her lack of character development before, What If…? at least allowed her to possess her own goals independent of her family.

She is not the only MCU parent to suffer from this problem. Parents are virtually nonexistent in the MCU. Either they have died to darken their child’s backstory or influence their motivations, like with Tony Stark and Peter Quill, or they were never really present in the first place, like with Steve Rogers and Carol Danvers. Even Peter Parker, who is young enough to still need his parents in his daily life, lost all but one parental figure. Marisa Tomei’s Aunt May gets little to do other than being a concerned and supportive parental figure, even if she is arguably one of the most fleshed-out of any MCU parent. Even when parents are shown having their own interests and pursuits, such as Howard Stark’s obsession with inventing, it’s still only framed through how it affects the child. In What If…? Frigga is finally able to desire something that in no way revolves around or affects her sons.

Of course, expressing an inclination for relaxation and fine wine is not much in the way of character development. The audience is not left knowing all that much about the Queen of Asgard by the end of the episode, despite the rich mythology inspiring the character, such as Frigga sharing her magical abilities and knowledge with Loki. But it’s just part of a larger issue with parents in the MCU who never really get a chance to exist on their own. Hopefully, as the MCU continues to introduce younger characters in its movies and TV shows like Marvel’s What If…?, parents will start to become more prominent and varied.

Marvel’s What If…? releases new episodes Wednesdays on Disney+.