Why haven't any other Gods caught on other than Thor?

[Sutekh]

I wouldn't say all of them, we still have Captain America and Black Widow, which are mostly not comedic aside from a few scenes, and I would argue that MCU Hawkeye is actually less humorous than his comic counterpart.

MCU Tony Snark pretty much ate 616 Hawkeye's entire characterization, and left him with nothing left, so MCU Hawkeye is deadly dull, by comparison.

But yeah, I get your point. The thing is, how do the characters that are humorous in the comics work their into the movies now? Like, if Hercules' selling point is that he is a funnier Thor, how would he fit in a world where Thor is already the funnier Thor?

He'd had to go the Hawkeye route, and be straight-faced and serious all the time, which could make for a neat contrast with 'funny Thor,' particularly if he's impatient with Thor for not taking anything seriously, or they could go the route of making him funny to the point of absurdity, which I hope not...

"Yeah, Hercules, he lost a wager with Bacchus and had to spend the next ten centuries blind drunk. He's still got 200 years to go..."

[Agent Z]

MCU Hawkeye makes jokes plenty of times. He just isn't a comic relief character. Because a lot of those exist in the MCU already.

[Killerbee911]

MCU Tony Snark pretty much ate 616 Hawkeye's entire characterization, and left him with nothing left, so MCU Hawkeye is deadly dull, by comparison.

"Yeah, Hercules, he lost a wager with Bacchus and had to spend the next ten centuries blind drunk. He's still got 200 years to go..."

MCU hawkeye is pretty much Ultimate Hawkeye not 616.


As for Hercules thing,Two characters can have similar personalities. I don't see people complaining about Black Panther and Captain America being serious and stoic all the time. Plus Thor in the MCU isn't going to be around forever. Thor and Hercules can be the Bash Bros ala Mighty ducks. Two strong Warriors who live for good fight and drinking.

[Mike_Murdock]

That seems nebulous. If Jack Kirby made Moby Dick a god by your definition, he would catch on. It’s got to be something intrinsically deeper in the psyche than just the name of a creator.

That assumes Jack Kirby wouldn't have made an awesome Moby Dick comic.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

I am pretty sure American Gods has Kali who is still worship today by some.

Not "some". By about 900 million or so across India. That's nearly three times the population of USA. It's the reason why people of India hated the second Indiana Jones movie which was racist as hell. She's a minor figure in American Gods thought and most of the characters in that book TV series are Roman/Greek/Slavic/irish/Norse and others precisely because nobody worships them whereas that's just not true for any Hindu gods. Neil Gaiman's entire point in Sandman and American Gods is precisely the poignancy of these gods of these pantheons who are now forgotten and kind of diminished and famous only as kind of these jokes. Like Ishtar, is now known for "Easter bunny" and so on, and the Norse pantheon for most of their history were remembered if at all for being the sources for the days of the week : Moni's day, Tyr's day, (w)Odin's day, Thor's Day, Frigga's Day.

Apparently, Black Panther when it released in India removed references to Hanuman made by M'Baku.

That your love for Thor speaking, I am not trying to insult Thor with these next words but I can find more adaptations in popular media on Sun WuKong or Hercules than Thor.

That's true. Thor and Norse myths were fairly obscure and without Marvel they likely still would have been.

Thor has found its angle to tell a great story for me I am just wondering why hasn't something else found its angle in Marvel.

In the case of Marvel there are issues about bringing in new characters and mythos and so on. Since that would mean they have to pay huge chunk of rights to the writers and artists now than they did when they started out in the '60s. A side effect of creators rights victories is that the Big Two on both editorial and creative level are disincentivized from introducing new characters. Alan Moore's Watchmen proved once and for all that if you introduce a grand cool new toy to the Big Two, they will welch you over, doesn't matter if you were the most important writer for DC in the '80s. New characters are created but they tend to be either legacy, supporting, or villains...at a lower rate from the top and the bottom. The new takes you mention, Wicked and the Divine are creator owned works. Which means that anyone who adapts that would have to pay Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie a lot of money, and a lot more money if those characters if they situated that in the Marvel Universe.

In the case of Sun Wukong, Dragon Ball Z adapts elements of that mythos, and there are many other versions besides. And of course Sun Wukong can be sourced in part to Ramayana the Indian epic, specifically to Hanuman, who is very popular in India.

[charliehustle415]

Would that appeal to a huge demographic, or would that potentially be offending a huge demographic? That potentially gets into a tricky area.

For sure, but that's why I say a hero that is blessed by the gods and not a god in particular. In Hinduism there is a big tradition where normal humans get a boon from the gods to go out and do good especially after they have shown great devotion. There is also great story telling that can be done, for example Ravaana was one of these humans who got a boon from Shiva, who then turned evil because of his hubris - see the Ramayana Epic.

[CRaymond]

1. Why do you think other Gods haven't caught on Marvel? Do think Superhero tales themselves are modern version of God Myths and that is big reason why more haven't shown up?

Marvel tends to like blonds and nostalgia. Yes to the second point. Gods in the classic sense are more superheroic than cosmic consciousnesses. We are replacing old myths with new ones.

2. If you had pitch to Marvel one Mythological God(s) to have a book at marvel who would be your choice?

Durga. Multi-armed and multi-armed, protector mother goddess, rides a gigantic cat and comes with an archenemy, Mahishasura the buffalo demon.

3. What is your favorite use of Gods in Marvel that doesn't include Norse Mythology?

Hercules as a legit bisexual lug is becoming more and more of an appealing character. I wish they could write an Iceman series that maximizes his comedic and romantic potential.

[Cap808]

I agree with others that Thor is so popular because Marvel has been pushing him since the beginning of the Marvel Universe.

I like the idea of Hermes being a Marvel speedster, but I also wouldn't mind seeing some version of Hawaiian Gods. Prior to the Moana movie, Maui had been referred to as the "Hawaiian Super Man".

Lastly, I think Hercules would be my favorite non-Norse God. With all of the mythology behind him, I think he would have a lot of antagonist and stories to 'reimagine' in the Marvel universe.

[jackolover]

That assumes Jack Kirby wouldn't have made an awesome Moby Dick comic.

Jack Kirby would kill in a Moby Dick comic. Jack loves huge monsters. I think he did a walking Whale in a comic once, if I’m not mistaken?

[Rosebunse]

I think the Greek pantheon has several things workings against them: For one, they're all related. Like, super, super related. Marvel's own involvement of Gaea actually makes them all even more related than they are in the Greek myths. It's just weird to think about. For another, part of what makes Thor work are his family problems. It grounds the comic quite well. Can you replicate that with the Greek pantheon?

[Sutekh]

Not "some". By about 900 million or so across India. That's nearly three times the population of USA. It's the reason why people of India hated the second Indiana Jones movie which was racist as hell. She's a minor figure in American Gods thought and most of the characters in that book TV series are Roman/Greek/Slavic/irish/Norse and others precisely because nobody worships them whereas that's just not true for any Hindu gods. Neil Gaiman's entire point in Sandman and American Gods is precisely the poignancy of these gods of these pantheons who are now forgotten and kind of diminished and famous only as kind of these jokes. Like Ishtar, is now known for "Easter bunny" and so on, and the Norse pantheon for most of their history were remembered if at all for being the sources for the days of the week : Moni's day, Tyr's day, (w)Odin's day, Thor's Day, Frigga's Day.

Apparently, Black Panther when it released in India removed references to Hanuman made by M'Baku.

It is a question of where the line is to be drawn. 900 million you mention for Kali. Possibly 60 million or so for vodou (between Haitain, Dominican, Brazilian, African and Louisiana branches), which makes the various (usually villainous) portrayals of Baron Samedi or Papa Legba dubious (or at least tacky and insensitive). Maybe a few hundred(?) Asatru, to risk offending with portrayals of Thor, Odin, etc. in Marvel comics or American gods. I vaguely recall hearing that modern-day believers in Isis were offended by the press referring to the Islamic State in Syria & the Levant as 'ISIS,' for that matter... (And the annoyance of a co-worker who had just named her newest girl a year before this Islamic state business 'Isis,' and now had to field the aggravating question, 'Why did you name your daughter after a terrorist group?')

And then it can go the other way, with pop culture *becoming* religion! Disney sure isn't going to stop making Star Wars movies and merch just because there's a 'Jedi church' now!

And there's other places where it's kind of blithely tolerated, or even part of the marketing, such as the show Lucifer, which kind of flirts with potential outrage by portraying the devil as a kind of likable but 'naughty' protagonist, despite the devil being the 'Big Bad' of two of the three biggest religions (Christianity, Islam, Hinduism) in the world.

[JKtheMac]

A believer in the Norse gods would have to work very hard at being offended. It is an entirely dead religion without enough context to truely revive it. Much like modern Druidism. If one is reviving a dead religion from scratch then it probably relies upon knowing one is drawing upon dispersed, possibly unrelated and academically unreliable sources. Thus they are much less likely to object when popular culture does the same.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

It is a question of where the line is to be drawn. 900 million you mention for Kali. Possibly 60 million or so for vodou (between Haitain, Dominican, Brazilian, African and Louisiana branches), which makes the various (usually villainous) portrayals of Baron Samedi or Papa Legba dubious (or at least tacky and insensitive).

A lot of people do complain about the misrepresentation of Voudou, like I think The Princess and the Frog movie got into trouble for that (and other things since it's set in New Orleans in the past an era of Jim Crow and segregation).

And in any case, Doctor Strange's entire magic shtick has a strong South Asian connection, drawing from both Buddhism and Hinduism. The motif of Strange drawing his "third eye" is from Hinduism and Shiva who has a third eye on his forehead. So already, Marvel has a way to draw stuff from Buddhism and Hinduism without actually offending ether religion. Dr. Strange just has to talk of the Vishanti, which sounds like a mix of Vishnu and shanti, and the agomotto and "hoary hosts of hoggoth" and so on and so forth and that's it. Have you cake and eat it too.

And there's other places where it's kind of blithely tolerated, or even part of the marketing, such as the show Lucifer, which kind of flirts with potential outrage by portraying the devil as a kind of likable but 'naughty' protagonist, despite the devil being the 'Big Bad' of two of the three biggest religions (Christianity, Islam, Hinduism) in the world.

Fact is it's different in different concepts. Calling a character Lucifer rather than Satan or Shaitan is different. Lucifer is a literary thing, going back to Milton and others. And the idea of the Devil in popular culture is quite different from how it is in the religious texts. Like in the actual Bible, the devil is a fairly minor figure.

[HaveAtThee]

A believer in the Norse gods would have to work very hard at being offended. It is an entirely dead religion without enough context to truely revive it. Much like modern Druidism. If one is reviving a dead religion from scratch then it probably relies upon knowing one is drawing upon dispersed, possibly unrelated and academically unreliable sources. Thus they are much less likely to object when popular culture does the same.

I always thought it would be fascinating from a narrative standpoint in the MCU if they went the mythological/spiritual angle with the Thor franchise. Suddenly, these fantastical beings who were previously thought of as religious myth from 1,300 years ago actually exist? Wouldn't that upset not only the scientific but the mystical/spiritual order of the world? It's treated in the MCU as, "oh hey, cool, the Norse Gods exist but like they're just some aliens with fancy powers. Okay moving on." I'm sure given Marvel's initial financial constraints (making films about Iron Man, Cap and Thor were risks) they wanted to tell much more grounded and simple narratives, and the ensuing results obviously worked.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

I always thought it would be fascinating from a narrative standpoint in the MCU if they went the mythological/spiritual angle with the Thor franchise. Suddenly, these fantastical beings who were previously thought of as religious myth from 1,300 years ago actually exist? Wouldn't that upset not only the scientific but the mystical/spiritual order of the world? It's treated in the MCU as, "oh hey, cool, the Norse Gods exist but like they're just some aliens with fancy powers. Okay moving on." I'm sure given Marvel's initial financial constraints (making films about Iron Man, Cap and Thor were risks) they wanted to tell much more grounded and simple narratives, and the ensuing results obviously worked.

It's in the same reason as why Reed Richards is Useless and why all this fancy tech doesn't actually create the singularity or why never ending battles don't affect anything. In the Marvel Universe, hell is a real place where the soul of Dr. Doom is trapped in, you have the One-Above-All who is implied to be "God" and you have the Beyonders or the Ivory Kings from outside the know universe and multiverse.

Al Ewing's Loki: Agent of Asgard actually does touch on that part, the nature of the gods as story so maybe the Disney Plus series will touch on that?

And in any case, as the Norse Myths state and as we know in Marvel...these gods are mortal, they can be killed, and so on. So it's not going to be a much of an ask to say they are merely advanced aliens. The Norse myths, the little we have, are more grounded and earthy than the Greek ones.