Marvel’s Taika Waititi brought the Thor franchise more credibility with the poppy, hilarious Thor: Ragnarok. Waititi is returning for the next film in the series, and some fans are hoping he will make up for Odin’s regretfully brief death.
Odin went missing at the end of Dark World after Loki (Tom Hiddleston) secretly dethroned him. By the time Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Loki found him on Earth in Ragnarok, his time was nearly up. After warning his sons about the imminent threat of their estranged sister, Hela (Cate Blanchett), Odin fades away in a golden mist. The scene has its merits: the scenery and score are both beautiful. However, instead of giving a satisfying conclusion to the character’s three-film arc, Odin’s final appearance does little more than provide exposition.
An alternate Odin death scene from Thor: Ragnarok had Thor finding his father living as a drunk homeless man on the streets of New York. The deleted scene gives Hopkins room to chew scenery while still providing the needed exposition, but it does something even more important: it gives Odin a worthy death. When Hela appears in this version, Odin approaches her and does his best to intervene in her destructive plans. Before doing so, he es his power as king of Asgard onto Thor. When Hela kills Odin, he is completing an arc of sacrifice and worthiness - key themes of the Thor franchise.
In true Marvel fashion, the specifics of Thor: Love and Thunder are tightly under wraps. There is a way for the film to redeem Odin’s pointless death in Ragnarok’s theatrical cut, though. Natalie Portman's Jane Foster will return to the franchise for Thor 4, and there are substantial rumors that speculating Christian Bale will play Beta Ray Bill, a comic book enemy turned Asgard ally. Both Foster and Beta Ray Bill are worthy of wielding Mjolnir, Thor’s hammer, in Marvel comics canon.
If Waititi decides to follow a similar path in Love and Thunder, he can make up for Odin’s unceremonious end. Giving these characters access to Mjolnir will fulfill the Asgardian legacy that Odin hoped to leave behind. The dead king believed that only an unselfish, worthy few should wield power; by making sure that Thor, Foster, and Bill are all worthy of Thor to lose his ego and maybe even his name, thus proving Odin correct.
Taika Waititi is one of the best filmmakers working today. If he’s going to make Thor: Love and Thunder as satisfying as Ragnarok, though, he needs to continue Odin’s legacy and make up for his disappointing death. By bestowing Thor’s powers on worthy non-Asgardians, Waititi will ensure that Odin’s death was not in vain and that it brings his long arc to a worthy end.
