After Kratos from God of War traveled into Norse mythology, it opened up a number of possibilities for us too. One of them was witnessing the introduction of Thor, whose fearsome reputation was detailed in the game (although he only had a brief appearance).
Due to this version of Thor already having a documented list of feats, people have compared him with the Thor we’ve seen in the Marvel Universe and wondered who’s stronger. For this list, we’ve mainly considered the MCU version of Thor, since he’s the most popular and has more feats to list (although the Marvel comics Thor’s powers have also been considered). Let's consider both Thors’ powers, durability, resourcefulness, and other factors that are an advantage on the field of battle.
10 Combat Skills: God of War Thor
We never saw him fight onscreen, but the God of War Thor wins the point here since he’s been known to slaughter all the Giants in one go. Although Marvel Thor also came close to doing this, he still needed help from his friends. Meanwhile, the God of War Thor killed everyone in Jotunheim for his own pleasure and even fought the World Serpent.
The biggest deciding factor in God of War Thor’s favor is that he was capable of beating Surtr at full power (with help from Odin), while Marvel’s Thor was no match for Surtur. Although Marvel Thor is an expert combatant, he just doesn’t have the enormous feats in beating enemies that God of War’s Thor can boast.
9 Speed: Marvel Thor
God of War made it a point that Thor used his lightning to aid him in his fights. He would blitz through enemies and could use the hammer for flying as well. However, the Marvel Thor has Stormbreaker in his possession, and this gives him access to the Bifrost itself.
We saw that Thor would attack Kratos years in the future, and he naturally needed the Bifrost to get to Midgard. Meanwhile, Marvel Thor traveled from Nidavellir to Midgard within seconds. If the two were to fight, bot would be quick due to their lightning powers, but Marvel Thor has extreme speed due to having Stormbreaker.
8 Intelligence: Marvel Thor
The Marvel Thor has never been the brightest member of the Avengers, but he is smart when it comes to tactics and has been shown to be highly learned in his long life. In Thor: Ragnarok, we even saw that Thor knew what an Einstein-Rosen bridge is and could calculate the time it would take to reach Asgard from Earth.
The God of War Thor, on the other hand, is a complete brute who’s known across the realms for being a daft idiot. Kratos, Mimir, Brok, and Atreus all comment that Thor is famous for his lack of intelligence. It was said that Thor lost his hammer to the giant Thrym, because he was dumb enough not to notice the hammer was stolen (he was asleep, but still).
7 Weather Manipulation: Marvel Thor
The last shot of God of War had Thor arrive at Kratos’ house and cause chaos in the skies of Midgard as he did so, which indicated that the weather would do his bidding. However, the Marvel Thor has so many more feats when it comes to weather manipulation.
Due to his control of the clouds, Thor has been shown to fight Storm – whose literal power is controlling the weather – by rendering her useless and using the weather to beat her. He did the same with someone as powerful as Magneto, so you can see how manipulating the skies is something that’s second nature to him. In the MCU as well, Thor controlled the weather and threw lightning bolts in The Avengers, Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Endgame.
6 Ruthlessness: God of War Thor
When it comes to a deathmatch, both sides will need to be in a state of bloodlust, and in this regard, the God of War Thor is far ahead. He’s a complete killing machine, who derives pleasure from annihilating species. His ruthlessness knows no bounds either, as he doesn’t even show mercy to his own son; beating him within an inch of his life for failing him.
The Marvel Thor has always shown compassion, and even when fighting to the death he has hesitated in taking his enemy’s life (the famous “you should’ve gone for the head”). In a hypothetical fight between these two Thors, the God of War version will use every ounce of power he has to put his counterpart’s head on a pike. He did kill every Jotun without a hint of mercy, after all.
5 Back-Up Team: Marvel Thor
There is strength in numbers after all, right? When it comes to a fighting free-for-all, you can bet that both Thors would call for assistance. When it comes to this, Marvel Thor is hilariously far ahead of his God of War counterpart.
Marvel Thor has all of the Avengers on his side – when you take in the comics universe, the team is potentially endless – and incredibly powerful allies like the Hulk or Captain Marvel can obliterate anyone. God of War Thor has Odin (as does Marvel Thor), Baldur, his sons, and perhaps a few more Gods to put together, and there’s no chance of these few beings overpowering all of the Avengers. Marvel Thor has this one easy.
4 Weaponry: Marvel Thor
We might see Thor gaining more weapons in subsequent God of War games, but for now, all we know is that he wields the hammer, Mjolnir. This Mjolnir is capable of destroying mountains with its blow, but it’s still not the same as the Mjolnir that Marvel Thor has – which famously shattered Exitar the Executioner, an actual Celestial.
Disregarding Mjolnir would mean God of War Thor doesn’t have any other weapons we know of, while Marvel Thor has an array of weapons to choose from. He can use Stormbreaker or could rely on high-tech weaponry from numerous worlds he’s traveled to. When it comes to wielding an arsenal of powerful weapons, Marvel Thor just has too many options to choose from.
3 Strength: God of War Thor
There can be no question that God of War Thor wins it easy in this point. He went toe to, well, tail with the World Serpent of all beings. For him to be powerful enough to destroy all the Jotuns means he had strength hundreds of times that of Giants. He crushed the head of Starkaor (the mightiest Giant) with just a single hit. There’s no telling how anyone would calculate his strength.
Marvel Thor has also shown enormous feats of strength, such as lifting towering monoliths or punching beings of great power, but he has also been bested numerous times in the strength department – he’s not even the strongest Avenger, with Hulk being physically stronger than Thor.
2 Durability: Marvel Thor
Although the God of War Thor has shown super strength that far exceeds his Marvel counterpart, the same can’t be said for durability, as it has been established this Thor has gotten wounded before. He was coming up short against Jotunheim’s mightiest Giant until he was aided by his allies; he also was deeply injured when the Giant Hrungnir’s corpse fell on him and was unable to free himself – Hrungnir’s rock-filled skin fragments were also permanently ingrained in Thor.
Marvel Thor has to win this, and we just need to point out the MCU version’s feat in Avengers: Infinity War to prove. Thor took on the complete force of a star for several seconds to forge his new weapon and was regenerated very soon after as well. He’s never down for long and always heals himself.
1 Winner: Marvel Thor
All in all, Marvel’s Thor just has so much deep and rich history that his number of feats far outweigh everything God of War's Thor has achieved. The coming games might help shape a clearer picture, but it’s hard to see this Thor beat the one who has scaled remarkable heights.
Marvel’s Thor has battled galaxy-level enemies, destroyed Celestials, forged a vast number of weapons, and cemented a legacy that has reached mainstream status. For the time being, God of War’s Thor is far behind his counterpart in most departments, and we don’t see that changing in the future either. After all, he’s meant to fall at the hands of Kratos, eventually.