10 Thor Deleted Scenes That Would Have Changed The MCU

Summary

Thor’s deleted scenes could have drastically altered the MCU’s course, introducing game-changing concepts.
References to Healing Stones, Dr. Pym, and S.W.O.R.D. were axed, impacting character relationships and storylines.
Deleted scenes teased a darker future for Thor while enhancing character depth for Zeus but omitted valuable content.

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Deleted scenes can be fun to watch, but there are some in Thor’s back catalog with implications that would have changed plenty of things in the MCU. Thor’s MCU journey has seen the God of Thunder undergo one of the most compelling and significant character growth arcs in the franchise’s history. This has spanned four solo movies that have garnered decidedly mixed reactions over the years, with the upcoming Thor sequel under significant pressure to measure up to the best Thor movie to date.

It is safe to say that some of the deleted scenes across Thor’s solo career contain content that might have hindered or helped this cinematic legacy. Yet some are more consequential than others, introducing concepts that would have changed the wider MCU to varying degrees of severity. Of the many that were cut from the final product, these are the most consequential of Thor’s deleted scenes.

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10 Selvig Is Saved By Thor

A Healing Stone Would Have Been Useful In Many Situations

“Selvig is saved by Thor” sees Erik Selvig impaled by a large shard of glass when the Destroyer shatters a nearby window. The wound appears to be fatal before Thor picks up a pouch (presumably brought from Asgard by Lady Sif and the Warriors Three) containing a Healing Stone. Thor then crushes the stone over Selvig’s wound with the shard still jutting out, completely healing Selvig and allowing him to get to his feet.

Thor also mentions a Healing Stone in another deleted scene that expands on Thor’s stay in the hospital.

The stake-lowering implications of such a medicinal marvel are hard to overstate. Given the stone sealed Selvig’s mortal wound as quickly as Wolverine’s healing factor, it is no wonder that the scene was cut before it would fall on Thor to become the de facto healer of the Avengers. Deaths like Quicksilver and the Warriors Three would have been easy to sidestep if Healing Stones were canon, which isn’t to mention the implications of the stone also making the shard of glass vanish.

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Thor
PG-13

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Director Kenneth Branagh Release Date May 6, 2011 Cast Chris Hemsworth , Natalie Portman , Tom Hiddleston , Kat Dennings , Stellan Skarsgård , Idris Elba , Clark Gregg , Colm Feore Runtime 115 minutes

9 Selvig Mentions Dr. Pym

Hank Pym Is Selvig’s “Colleague”

In the dialogue following the confiscation of Jane’s work by SHIELD, Erik Selvig references two unnamed characters, including a “pioneer in gamma radiation” and a colleague who has “had dealings with [SHIELD] before.” The former is evidently supposed to be Bruce Banner, while the latter could be any number of scientists in league with SHIELD. Yet the original script for Thor (via IMSDB) is much clearer, as he mentions Dr. Pym by name, stating:

Please, let me contact one of my colleagues. Dr. Pym has had some dealings with these people. I’ll e-mail him and see if he can help.

The line is practically word-for-word with Pym omitted, though Hank Pym’s MCU debut would occur just four years later in 2015’s Ant-Man. At a similar age, it is no surprise that the two SHIELD-adjacent geniuses would be well-acquainted, but it would have been an exciting MCU Easter egg to have Pym name-dropped so early in the MCU’s history. Why it was cut is unclear, but perhaps Marvel was being cautious about heralding the arrival of iconic MCU heroes so early in the cinematic universe.

8 “Smith Motors Ending”

S.W.O.R.D. Would Have Been Introduced A Decade Earlier

Similarly to Hank Pym’s name-drop, an alternative ending for Thor sees Erik Selvig mention S.W.O.R.D. ten years before the organization debuted in WandaVision. The alternative ending sees Jane emit a beacon to Thor from Midgard by way of contacting him while Selvig works with S.H.I.E.L.D. in the Smith Motors garage. It is here that he says “This time, we’re using the S.H.I.E.L.D. astrophysical records, and we cross-reference them with the S.W.O.R.D. database.”

Given S.W.O.R.D. is the cosmic cousin of S.H.I.E.L.D. it stands to reason that they would be involved in the arrival of several extraterrestrials in New Mexico. Instead, the MCU sidelined the organization throughout the Infinity Saga and the several distinctly cosmic events that transpired within it. The reasons for omitting Selvig’s mention of S.W.O.R.D. are unclear, though it is likely Marvel did not wish to overcomplicate matters by introducing both S.W.O.R.D. and S.H.I.E.L.D. in the early days of the MCU.

7 Alternate Frigga Death Scene

Odin Becomes Partly Responsible For Frigga’s Death

Frigga’s death in Thor: The Dark World happened before Thor or Odin could do anything to intervene as both entered the room in which she was fatally stabbed moments too late. Things play out very differently in this deleted scene as Odin enters moments before Kurse delivers the final blow. Yet instead of using Gungnir to kill Malekith and Kurse before they can harm Frigga, Odin decides to lay down his arms in a show of peace following a conversation about his more warlike father. Malekith responds by ordering Kurse to kill Frigga.

Ultimately, Odin’s failure to intervene in time achieved the same outcome for Odin while also skirting the implication that Malekith outmaneuvered the God of Wisdom.

While Odin no doubt feels the weight of failing to intervene in the scene that was ultimately used, Odin’s character arc would have been far more severely affected by the consequences of his inaction. Having Odin make such a misguided judgment would have also affected his relationship with Thor, who still entered the room to bestow Malekith with his facial scar moments later. Ultimately, Odin’s failure to intervene in time achieved the same outcome for Odin while also skirting the implication that Malekith outmaneuvered the God of Wisdom.

Thor: The Dark World
PG-13

Director Alan Taylor Release Date November 8, 2013 Cast Tom Hiddleston , Tadanobu Asano , Idris Elba , Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje , Anthony Hopkins , Natalie Portman , Zachary Levi , Christopher Eccleston , Rene Russo , Chris Hemsworth , Ray Stevenson , Stellan Skarsgård , Jaimie Alexander , Kat Dennings Runtime 1h 52m

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6 “The God Of Thunder And The Sorcerer Supreme”

Thor’s MCU Destiny May Be Pretty Dark

Thor’s meeting with Doctor Strange in Thor: Ragnarok offered one of the most fun cameos by a new MCU hero as he asked the “wizard” where he could find his father. This almost looked decidedly different, as the two interacted without Loki present, and with Odin in New York instead of Norway. While this set up a significant change to Odin’s final scene in the MCU, it also ended with a handshake where Strange made a grave prediction about Thor’s future, stating in the middle of a handshake:

“I sense a great change in your future, Thor. A change you can neither control nor avoid. You’ve chosen many paths in your life but now only one remains. Destiny has dire plans for you, my friend.”

This scene is ostensibly meant to set up the cataclysmic conclusion of Thor: Ragnarok, where Thor accepts the destruction of Asgard. Yet Doctor Strange’s prediction could easily be looking even further into Thor’s future. After all, Thor: Love & Thunder saw Thor experience another great loss in the form of Jane Foster – a change he could neither control nor avoid. The same could be said of the Snap, which came after another of Strange’s predictions and Thor’s attempt to kill Thanos. This could mean Thor 5 has yet more “dire” things in store for Thor, including his death.

Thor 5 is yet to be officially confirmed by Marvel.

Thor: Ragnarok
PG-13

Director Taika Waititi Release Date November 3, 2017 Cast Cate Blanchett , Anthony Hopkins , Jeff Goldblum , Karl Urban , Tom Hiddleston , Mark Ruffalo , Tessa Thompson , Chris Hemsworth Runtime 2h 10m

5 “Travel To Asgard”

Bruce Banner Talks About His Father’s Death

While it helped to spotlight him, Thor: Ragnarok perversely helped to hammer home Hulk’s sidelining in the MCU as he remained a secondary character in Thor’s MCU story. This sentiment is further encapsulated in a deleted scene that sees Bruce Banner and Thor having a heart-to-heart, where Banner’s unplumbed backstory is elaborated upon. Here, he admits shame for missing his father’s death after throwing himself into his work too wholeheartedly. Yet, seconds later, he diminishes his experience in comparison to Thor’s.

Even so, having a little more backstory for Bruce Banner would have been even slightly more beneficial to his overall MCU arc. Banner seeming to express regret for not being there for his father’s death is a significant development that seems to fly in the face of his comic book origins, where his father’s abuse gave rise to Hulk. Ultimately, the scene was deleted, compounding the insult to Hulk and his MCU journey.

4 Hela Kills Odin

Odin’s Final Moments Do Him No Justice

The official trailer for Thor: Ragnarok depicted one scene that looked markedly different in the final cut. This was part of a deleted scene that saw Hela emerge in a New York alleyway while Odin, who was wandering the streets in a state of disorder, was alive and present. This then culminates in Hela killing Odin with one of her Necroswords – which is a far cry from how things ultimately transpired.

Unlike the final cut, this deleted scene makes Odin look weak in his final moments, diminishing the reputation the MCU had built for him thus far, which the fact that his hopelessness in the face of oncoming Ragnarok intensifies. Using the scene to highlight Hela by comparison, meanwhile, was nullified by the fact that Hela could so easily destroy Mjolnir. It would have been a poor reflection on Odin’s legacy to keep the scene, which was significantly changed in the end.

3 “Looking For Zeus”

Zeus’ Children Are Insufferable

Thor: Love & Thunder came under fire for its overzealous reliance on comedy, ultimately failing to tread the same fine line as Thor: Ragnarok. Meanwhile, certain scenes felt too fleeting, such as Thor’s visit to Omnipotence City, a realm that houses every god. A deleted scene sees Thor, Valkyrie, Jane, and Korg interact directly with one of these gods, Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and son of Zeus. Suffice it to say, the scene serves two purposes: to bestow the party with information on Zeus’ whereabouts and to paint Dionysus as insufferable.

This abrasive personality would, of course, be mirrored by Zeus later in the same segment. What it shows, however, is that the gods of Omnipotence City “don’t like outsiders,” and with Dionysus and Zeus being two of the only other gods with which the party interacts, demonstrates that most (if not all) of the gods are particularly unpleasant people. In the case of Zeus’ children in particular, it throws into question whether Hercules will also be as abrasive and unpleasant as his half-siblings and father. The scene also offers a much-needed deeper look at Omnipotence City.

Thor: Love and Thunder
PG-13

Director Taika Waititi Release Date July 8, 2022 Cast Christian Bale , Russell Crowe , Tessa Thompson , Chris Pratt2 , Natalie Portman , Karen Gillan , Chris Hemsworth Runtime 118 minutes

2 “Fighting For You”

Zeus Isn’t So Insufferable

Another deleted scene, however, helps to paint Zeus in a much kinder light. It shows Zeus visiting Thor and Jane after their interaction in Omnipotence City with the intention of bestowing Thor with the power to manifest Thunderbolt by harnessing energy and telling Thor where to find Eternity. The scene leaves the gods on amicable terms, flying in the face of the Thor: Love and Thunder post-credits scene that sets up Zeus’ revenge via Hercules, which gives a clue as to why it was deleted.

This is a shame as the scene affords Zeus a level of character depth of which he was deprived in his introduction. It also changed the nature of Eternity, as Zeus insists he cannot join Thor as one must be “pure” in order to visit, whereas no such restriction seems to be in place for the Necrosword-tainted and murderous Gorr. This would have given Zeus – the King of the Gods on a par with Odin – a much-needed boost to his MCU legacy. As it stands, however, the god is simply a pernicious font of comic relief.

1 Lena Headey’s Cut Scene

Lena Headey Was Nearly In The MCU

A lawsuit against Lena Headey by her former agency revealed that the actress had an undisclosed role in Thor: Love & Thunder that did not make the final cut (via Variety). The agency was suing Headey for failing to pay a commission after landing the role in Thor: Love & Thunder, but Headey’s defense suggests that it was a role that came about after being approached by Taika Waititi directly. As for what the role or the scene in which she might have appeared was, none of the entities involved have divulged details.

Given the fact that the entire sequence felt cut down, it stands to reason that Headey may have been portraying another Olympian in Omnipotence City, such as Zeus’ wife, Hera. She does, after all, have experience playing haughty royal figures from her time as Queen Cersei in Game of Thrones. Suffice it to say, however, that a fleeting cameo from Headey in Thor: Love & Thunder does not exactly do justice to her ability unless it was for a character that was poised to make a reappearance in the MCU down the line.

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