A canceled idea for a Thor prequel still has a place in the current-day MCU, and it is the best option to revive Chris Hemsworth’s Thor iteration.
- Neil Gaiman’s Thor prequel story could still find a home in the MCU, offering a fresh take on Thor and Loki’s dynamic.
- Marvel’s ability to take creative risks with Disney+ shows makes Gaiman’s idea feasible, even if not in its original form.
- A Thor prequel could explore Asgardian lore and flesh out the brothers’ backstory, providing fans with a new perspective on beloved characters.
Author Neil Gaiman’s canceled Thor prequel story still has a place in the MCU almost 20 years later, being the perfect way to revive Chris Hemsworth’s iteration of the character. The Coraline author answered a question on his Tumblr recently regarding whether he would ever do a Thor project, to which Gaiman revealed that he collaborated with Marvel on a Thor cartoon in 2006. The project was ultimately canceled because of creative differences between Marvel and Gaiman, but the idea of a Thor prequel could still be relevant in the current-day MCU.
Gaiman said that his Thor prequel cartoon focused on Loki growing up alongside his brother and his gradual descent into villainy. Marvel has since produced the Loki series which means that Gaiman’s original idea probably isn’t likely. However, Thor and Loki are still incredibly popular characters in the MCU and any project that includes them should theoretically perform well with fans. Gaiman’s idea of a prequel would be the most natural way for the MCU to bring back both Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston without having to conjure up a new future for them.
Gaiman’s post on Tumblr revealed that he’d spoken to Marvel about a Thor prequel project around 2006, before the MCU kicked off with John Favreau’s Iron Man in 2008. Even then, the studio was entertaining ideas about exploring Loki and Thor’s fractured relationship:
“Long ago – around 2006 – I was asked to create a Thor animated cartoon, and I got all excited, and the brief was it had to be set before the Thor movie. I did a deep Thor dive, reread everything Jack Kirby drew, came up with a whole story shape that ran a few seasons showing young Loki going from hero-worshipping his big brother to Going to the Bad, and then they told me I wasn’t actually allowed to have any of the characters at any point be different in any way from how they were in the Thor movie, so I said no thank you and stopped.”
Like Edgar Wright, Gaiman clearly wasn’t keen on having to tie his project into the burgeoning MCU lore, so stepped away from the project. Sadly, that robbed the MCU of more of Loki and Thor’s backstory, which would have added further context to their conflict in Kenneth Branagh’s Thor.