WARNING: The following contains spoilers for What If...? Season 1, Episode 7, "What If... Thor Were An Only Child?," streaming now on Disney+.
What If...?'s latest episode, "What If Thor... Were An Only Child?," is the most overtly comedic entry in the season thus far. Before that, even the lighter episodes had featured dark potential throughlines for their respective realities to follow. However, upon a second glance, the world of Party Thor might be a little darker than it seems.
WhileParty Thor is a fun character, and his larger galaxy seems to be at relative peace, it's worth noting that the amount of destruction and potential showcased by the various extraterrestrial forces of the galaxy in What If...?'s latest episode would terrify the humanity of this reality -- and with good reason.
The Thor of "What If... Thor Were An Only Child?" is a decidedly immature incarnation of the God of Thunder, and considering how he began in the MCU, that's saying something. Raised without the interference or growth he would experience with Loki as an adopted brother, Thor ended up fully embracing a hedonistic lifestyle and mentality. Although he isn't malicious by any real stretch, he is quickly established as a chaotic and unprepared prince. The Marvel Universe seems to have largely followed suit, with Thor's friendly attitude further uniting the likes of Jotheniem Prince Loki, a partying Surtur, the Skulls, the Grandmaster's forces and even children of Thanos like Nebula.
But their presence quickly draws the attention of Maria Hill, who, after Nick Fury is knocked into a coma by a partying Korg, is made Acting Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. All the destruction caused by the party, coupled with Jane Foster's analysis of a location that was (seemingly) destroyed mid-party by the Asgardian Prince, leave Hill first unleashing Captain Marvel and then preparing to drop multiple nukes on both of them in a bid to stop the party. And while Jane and Brock Rumlow are right to offer hesitations about such a brash escalation of a possible conflict with the alien races that have come to visit the Earth, Hill's not wrong to be concerned.
Although the party looks fun from the outside, the majority of humanity must be terrified of what is happening. Their first open encounter with extraterrestrials is a horde of partying Norse Gods, who quickly seem to take over Las Vegas and unite forces of other aliens and mythical forces to their side to wreck the place. And when the morning comes, they simply relocate to a different continent and keep it going. Along the way, the Ice Giants seemingly visit London while Surtur's attempts to flirt with the Statue of Liberty melt her arm off. That's a level of destruction humanity has usually imagined in regards to disaster films or full-scale invasion narratives, and Party Thor's friends did it for laughs.
Even the act of cleaning up after themselves in the time it took Frigga to come to Earth would be cause for alarm. The united forces under Thor quickly cover their tracks, hiding the events of the party and repairing much of the damage they did to the world in a short time. But it's likely someone like Hill (or an awakened Fury) will start to wonder how quickly they could hide other things. And considering the likelihood that Odin still likely hid away Hela in this reality, they wouldn't be wrong. While it may have seemed like fun from the perspective of the guests, the Party Invasion of Earth might be far scarier than the invasion Loki brought with the Chithuari Army.
To see how much damage Thor's party really did, the latest episode of What If...? is streaming now on Disney+.