Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Marvel's What If...? Season 2, Episode 7.
Summary
- Hela's return in What If...? confirms that Odin held back all of his children in the MCU.
- Hela became the Goddess of Peace in What If...? season 2.
- Odin's children have become their best versions without him, finding inner peace and fulfilling their potential.
Hela has returned to the What If...? season 2, episode 7, in particular, focusing on a very different version of Hela.
Blanchett first played Hela in the MCU in 2017's Thor: Ragnarok. The actress delivered an exhilarating performance that made Hela one of the MCU's best villains, with the character proving itself to be menacing, with the power to back up all of her threats. The high level of quality of the MCU villain helped make Thor: Ragnarok the best Thor movie so far, and Blanchett's return as Hela in What If...? continues to make the MCU better, with her new appearance also cementing a dark truth about the MCU's version of Odin.
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Odin Held All Of His MCU Children Back
Hela's new What If...? season 2 episode has confirmed that Anthony Hopkins' Odin held back all of his children in the MCU. Tom Hiddleston's Loki has dealt with the feeling of not being good enough/not fitting in for most of his time in the MCU due to the impossibly high standards set by the All-Father. Despite being an Avenger and a savior to the Asgardians and countless others, Chris Hemsworth's Thor also suffered from issues of trying to live up to his powerful father, which led to Thor almost losing himself in the process of looking worthy in Odin's eyes.
While he has physically not yet appeared in the MCU, Disney+'s Loki season 2 featured a statue of Balder the Brave, with Loki and Mobius briefly talking about the character. In Marvel Comics, Balder was another of Odin's sons, and with the MCU confirming he exists, the lack of an appearance so far could be due to Odin messing with another of his kids, with Hopkins' character having never even mentioned Balder. Finally, Hela was created as a weapon for Odin and discarded after he had no more use for her, both in Thor: Ragnarok and What If...? season 2, which makes Odin a reasonably bad father.
2023 Confirmed Odin's Children Are All Better Without Him
Odin's children have become the best versions of themselves away from him. Thor: Love and Thunder saw the latest step in the God of Thunder's journey of finding inner peace, with Thor becoming a protector of the galaxy and a father at ease with himself after having started as a spoiled character. Loki went from the MCU's God of Mischief to its God of Stories, with Loki season 2 seeing the character abandon any selfishness in order to protect the multiverse at the expense of his own happiness. Finally, What If...? season 2 saw Hela ditch her bloodthirsty ways and become a Goddess of Peace, liberating worlds across the galaxy.
All 9 episodes of Marvel's What If...? season 2 are now available on Disney+, with a What If...? season 3 teaser released.
