Where Was Thor During Marvel’s Zombie Invasion?

Warning! Spoilers ahead for Marvel’s What If…? episode 5.

Marvel’s What If…? episode 4 saw the original Avengers turn into zombies, except for Thor. The God of Thunder is nowhere in the latest outing of the Disney+ animated series titled “What If…Zombies.” This has left viewers wondering what he’s up to while his fellow MCU heroes were fighting an invasion from the living dead.

The newest episode of What If…? uses the beginning of Avengers: Infinity War as the jumping point for its story. After Thanos (Josh Brolin) hijacked the Asgardian ship on its way to Earth, Heimdall (Idris Elba) used his remaining powers to set Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) to Sanctum Sanctorum to warn his fellow heroes about what’s coming. But unlike what happens in the Sacred Timeline, Bruce Banner finds no one at Bleecker st. It didn’t take long to be revealed that he was sent in a seemingly alternate reality where most of his fellow heroes have turned into zombies due to Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) spreading the Quantum virus she got from the Quantum Realm.

Via the Watcher’s (Jeffrey Wright) narration, it’s revealed that the Avengers attempted to curb the spread of the plague, not knowing that it puts them directly at risk for getting it themselves. In the end, only T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), and Spider-Man (Hudson Thames) survived the onslaught. Most prominent heroes in the MCU that’s present during this tragedy were featured one way or another in the What If…? episode, except for Thor who was nowhere to be seen. So, where was the God of Thunder? In Infinity War, after Banner was sent back to Earth, Thor was left in the Q-Ship until it exploded. From there, he’s found by the Guardians of the Galaxy. Instead of joining the fight against Thanos right away, the Asgardian Prince decided to make a pit stop at Nidavellir with Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) and Teenage Groot (Vin Diesel) to acquire Stormbreaker. Assuming that zombie Thanos’ arrival in Wakanda in the animated show lines up with what happened in the main MCU, Thor, Rocket, and Groot may have already arrived in the high-tech African nation, unaware of the zombie invasion. Chances are that they may have either been killed by Thanos and his minions or infected already.

In the Sacred Timeline, Thor’s arrival in Wakanda was one of the last glimmers of hope that the Avengers can stop Thanos from his nefarious plan. Of course, that didn’t pan out ideally since the God of Thunder had a momentary lapse in judgment, opting to gloat than just swiftly killing the Mad Titan. While the circumstance is quite different in Marvel’s What If…?, Thor’s potential fate makes things more glum and desolate on this Earth. Granted that Spider-Man, Black Panther, and Ant-Man have a way to cure the zombie infection, doing so would still leave them hopelessly undermanned, with countless of their allies already dead. Considering the cliffhanger ending of the outing, it’s curious if Marvel Studios is planning to continue this particular story from the animated show. Perhaps the sequel could reveal the fate of Earth and offer a canon answer regarding Thor’s whereabouts.

With What If…? already passing its midpoint for season 1, it’s interesting that Thor hasn’t been much of a factor in any of the past storylines. Granted that he appeared in episode 3, but only very briefly, as he was immediately assassinated by evil Hank Pym (Michael Douglass), as were his fellow original Avengers. Don’t worry, however, because the God of Thunder is confirmed to be at the center of a future outing where he becomes the so-called Party Thor.

Marvel’s What If…? airs every Wednesday on Disney+.

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