I can understand that expectation..In some ways his struggles are very relatable in the broad sense (the burden of expectations, distant and demanding parents, self doubt, etc) but the specifics of the premise might not connect as well without knowing what he was like before. Maybe it's enough to know he's undergoing a crisis of conscience and is questioning things he has always taken for granted?
I do think Jane being sick humanized Jane in a way that balanced her high flying exploits. I think that detail made people who wouldn't regularly care about another all powerful hero take notice and become invested. As far as specific prowess... I think that's WAY more of a message board thing than a real life thing. In my experience, whether Jane was a better fighter or wielded thunder better or whatever rarely if ever comes up anywhere other than in the online fringes of fandom. In other places it doesn't enter into conversations on the run in my experience.
The main and most important general takeaway to a new reader, I am guessing, is that Odinson has always been a god and doesn't sacrifice anything to be a hero, whereas Jane knows what it's like to be human and is sacrificing her life to be a hero. Even if you don't know anything about the comics, that basic difference of "god, risking little" vs "human, sacrificing her life" is easily understood and provides enough of a comparison to get the story started imo.