After Cyclops got the central focus, What If…? continues this week with a Thor/Venom mashup. The new story reveals what would have happened if Thor got the symbiote Venom suit in Secret Wars instead of Spider-Man. Considering how much more powerful he is and how he kills monsters most days, this must be a match made in heaven, right?
What If…? Thor #1 opens with Thor and Hulk walking around on Battleworld, with Thor needing a refresh on his suit. If you know the original Secret Wars story, he basically finds the suit before Spider-Man does. After a full recap of the original events, Thor heads back to Asgaard, where he’s immediately repelled due to the suit. Unaware that the suit is alive, Thor needs to undergo a learning process.
Now on Midgard, Thor soon sees monsters rushing his way, but with Loki and Lady Sif by his side, he knows she’s gonna be fine. Little does he know the symbiote will increase his abilities tenfold.
Artist Sergio Davila puts in some of his best work in this issue, from the new Thor/Venom costume to the epic fight that takes place on Midgard. There’s a showstopper double-page layout of Thor cutting through Ice Giants (at least they’re blue anyway) that’ll have you linger for ages. This battle leads to Thor learning his powers of the storm aren’t copacetic with the symbiote, which plays into the story later. This battle leads to an even more epic one, and a conclusion that has a nice wrinkle of a “could be” as far as Loki is concerned.
Glow up!
Credit: Marvel
Props should go to Grønbekk for the repeated joke of what Knull means in Norwegian. A topic Donny Cates fielded early on when Knull was revealed, it’s a nice nod to it, and a reminder that words like Knull mean something different in other languages.
Something that doesn’t work, or at least feels like a missed opportunity, is that this narrative takes place over just a few hours rather than years. Imagining Thor with the symbiote across iconic tales would be a huge win, but instead, the story goes from Thor figuring out the suit is alive to fighting Knull. That choice is also a bit odd since Spider-Man and Venom didn’t even know about Knull for many years. It’s not that this confrontation isn’t welcome, far from it, but it ends up making this one-shot feel far less ambitious than it could be. Instead of maximizing the What If…? format, it ends up having an almost short-form feel, even if it’s 20 pages long.
What If…? Thor #1 succeeds as an entertaining action comic packed with epic visuals, cosmic stakes, and a mashup that feels tailor-made for Marvel fans. Grønbekk understands the appeal of combining Thor’s godly power with the Venom symbiote, while Sergio Davila turns every major battle into a feast for the eyes. The biggest frustration is how quickly the story races through a concept that unfolds over hours, rather than imagining an entire run. Instead of watching the symbiote reshape Thor’s life over time, readers get a condensed version that reaches its climax almost as soon as the premise is established. The result is enjoyable and often impressive, but it leaves plenty of unrealized potential on the table. A fun what-if that could have been truly legendary.
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