In Marvel's 'What If...?' Thor story, Thor bonds with the Venom symbiote on Battleworld, where the symbiote learns to feel emotions like guilt and purpose, ultimately helping Thor defeat the void god Knull and demonstrating how symbiotic relationships can transform both host and symbiote through shared experiences and emotional growth.
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What If Thor Wore The Venom Symbiote First!
Added:What if Thor had originally bonded with the Venom Symbiote first? So, we're on Battleworld and Thor is with Hulk and they come across this thing called a fabric replicator. Now, basically Spidey tells them how it works. You stick your head in and think about what you want and it makes it for you. So, Thor in true Thor fashion goes full announcement mode. He's like, "Oh, machine. I am Thor, son of Odin, prince of Asgard, master of Mjolnir, and god of thunder. I require my armor mended." Which just means that he wants his cape to be fixed. But, as soon as Thor puts himself under that thing, that's when the symbiote shows up and Thor is like, you know, what do I do? Is this a part of it? And I mean, Hulk don't know nothing either, right? And that's when it bonds to Thor. And I'm not going to lie to you, this suit does look kind of clean here. Now, Spider-Man is hyped. He's telling Thor that he looks so metal right now and asking him if he ever thought about perming his hair. And I mean, it's a whole thing. They go on and on. So, Thor, he hands Hulk a dagger cuz he wants to test this thing out. So, he's like, "Hey, go ahead, stab me." And when he does, the dagger bends in half.
But, then you catch just a little bit of aggression here from Thor because he grabs Hulk's hand and Hulk is like, "Yo, my bad. Did I hurt you?" To which Thor is like, "Nah, it was just a reflex. I apologize." And then this is where the Watcher comes in with the narration.
Because after this, he talks about the heroes on Battleworld and how they fight and how the symbiote learns. It learns what it means to be alive. It learns what it means to fight for something. It learns about death. It learns that some things are worth dying for. And when the battle is over, it feels its own purpose like a string pulling from across the universe and Thor feels it, too. So, Thor, he gets back to Asgard and he sees Heimdall right there on the Bifrost and Heimdall is a little perplexed because he was like, "Hey, I wasn't really able to see you for a while here." Now, Thor explains that yeah, I was stuck on this place called Battleworld, but Heimdall can also see something different inside of him as well. He's like, "What's lurking within you?" So, Thor, he brushes it off because the Symbiote is already telling him something, that there's some danger that's currently on Midgard, on Earth, something that's pulling him towards it. So, Heimdall, he sounds the Yule Horn and then calls all the gods and they head to Earth. Now, the narration here in this moment is actually pretty nice because it mentions here that as the light of the Bifrost rushes over or it lifts off of Thor, it's like he sees the world of men for the very first time. The sheer beauty of it, the staggering cold, and the brilliant sun. But, he knows in his bones and blood that there is danger there, something worse than the Frost Giants who are heading directly towards them, something that is hiding in the darkness below. Now, when the other gods show up here, we see Loki and Sif, and the Symbiote feels warmth for the first time. The feeling here of friendship, the feeling of love. And then Loki and Sif, they see what this dude is wearing, and I mean, they just start going in on this dude. Sif is asking him if he's going through a midlife crisis. Loki mentions how he looks like he gatekeeps sadness. Sif actually talks about how she likes it, but it looks like Thor was starved of affection when he was a child. Then Loki hits it with the "You look like someone who spends his evenings writing his manifesto, like you have a strong opinion about fonts."
>> [laughter] >> Like, if this is not the most sophisticated way of roasting somebody, I don't know what it is. But, as Loki keeps going on and on, which is, you know, the nature of Loki here, the Symbiote inside of Thor, like it catches a whiff here of what Thor is feeling.
So, it reaches out and then smacks Loki here across the jaw. And I mean, Loki is shook. He's like, "Yo, did that thing just like hit me by itself?" To which Thor goes, "Yeah, you brought it on yourself." By the way, just how Loki just got slapped, you should also slap the subscribe button if you haven't subscribed to the channel already. So, what Loki's wondering is this thing acting independently of Thor? Thor is like, "No, of course not. I'm in complete control. It's an extension of me. I thought about striking you and then it did." So, Loki's like, "Yo, you shouldn't be wearing that thing." And Thor just kind of like calls it jealousy and then flies off into the fight. And I mean, deep inside of Thor here during this battle, the Symbiote is feeling everything. It's searching for language to be able to express itself. And what it comes up with here is more. It keeps saying more and Thor just keeps on giving it more. More brutality, more blood. And I mean, come on now. Like, Thor alone is a problem but then Thor with the Symbiote, I mean, come on. To the point where the other gods are literally screaming at him like, "Leave some for the rest of us, my guy." But then something shifts here because the voice begins to grow further or larger, I should say here in Thor's head. And now it's saying, "Into the dark." And Thor's response in his mind is, "Soon, but first, we fight." And right there in the middle of this fight, that's when Thor calls the lightning. And in that moment, the Symbiote reacts and is like, "No. Pain. Stop. Sound. No sound." And as Thor kneels down, Loki comes on over to check on him. He's like, "Thor, are you okay?" And Thor's like, "I'm fine."
But the Symbiote's like, "No. Too loud."
So, then Thor looks up at Loki and is like, "Yo, what did you just say?" To which Loki's like, "I didn't say anything. What did you hear?" Which is when Loki is starting to realize again that like something ain't right here.
So, Thor tells him that the armor doesn't like loud sounds. So, it's now when Thor is realizing that this thing is no longer an it. So, he's asking the question. He's like, "Who are you, creature? Who speaks in my mind?" Which is when the Symbiote then tries to grab Thor's hammer. To which Thor tells him, "No, little one. That is not for you."
The Symbiote's asking the question. He's like, "Why not? Powerful? Which is when Thor says, only the worthy may lift it.
And naturally, for the Symbiote, the question would be, what is worthy? But the conversation shifts here because Loki points out that the Frost Giants, that they're running from something. To which Thor is like, okay, well, that's where we need to be. And as more gods come from Asgard, Thor tells Loki and the rest of the gang to hold the line because he's going to go on in. But the Symbiote is afraid because he keeps saying danger. So, the fight with the Frost Giants continues, but then when Thor gets to the cave, that's when he sees this dragon. And the Symbiote says, dragon. To which Thor is like, I've never seen a dragon like this before.
So, the Symbiote explains, Symbiote dragon, danger. Which is when Thor says, okay, Symbiote, is that what you are? To which the Symbiote then says, not like that. Now, this dragon here, it doesn't fight to kill Thor. It just pulls Thor down further and further underground.
And when we pick back up on them, what we see here is that the heat down there is destroying the Symbiote. It's in absolute agony. And Thor can feel the panic from the Symbiote, the fear. And the Symbiote then whispers in Thor's mind and says, I am sorry. And Thor can pick up on that feeling. He feels the regret like it's his own. And then tells the Symbiote, do not worry, little one.
This is not how we die. And this is explained here that this is the very first time that Symbiote ever felt guilt. And then we see a voice that comes in here from the dark that says, are you sure, Thunder God? So, Thor is like, who the hell is that? Who's talking? And then, of course, here comes in No. I mean, we knew this was coming, right? We knew this is where the story was leading. So, of course, No shows up and he's like, yeah, I'm the god of the void. And Thor just can't help himself cuz he starts laughing. He's like, hold on for a second. Like, your name is null?" Because you see, the thing here is in like Scandinavian languages, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, the word null basically means, you know, bum chicka wah wah.
>> [laughter] >> To which Thor actually tries to explain this to him. Now, null he's not impressed, man. He's like, "I don't concern myself with the urges of mortals." And then proceeds to start talking down to Thor. He's like, "You've become too much like the men that you protect. The symbiote seduced you."
Which of course is a very interesting use of words and we'll pick up on that in a second. And null continues to go here on this speech as we see more and more jackals come out towards them. And it's here where Thor begins to kind of pick up on what's going on down here.
The machinery, the humming, the sputtering, it smells like melted metal and burning soil. It's here where he realizes that this is a forge and that Thor himself is the fuel. Now, null's purpose here is not just to get the symbiote, it's also to get Thor's power because he mentions here how he inherited the powers of beauty and the magic of Gaia and how he squanders it in battles of lesser creatures and how he shall relieve him of it. Now, as the heat intensifies, the symbiote is screaming and writhing in pain. As the symbiote tries to explain and it tries to apologize, it says, "I did not know."
And it's now here where everything becomes clear to Thor because he can see the memories, the memories that are not his own, the memories of the symbiote.
The symbiote explains that he did not know what he was, I'm speaking of null.
Because you see, the symbiote was thrown into existence. It was torn from the hive with a single mission to trap Thor, to use him, and to take his power. And now he feels the regret. So, Thor's only solution here is that he needs his hammer. But, he's still concerned for the symbiote because he's asking, "Will it kill you?" To which the symbiote says, "Maybe, but do it anyways." But Thor hesitates as the Symbiote continues to apologize. "I am sorry. I did not know." But then at the same time, here comes in Loki, whose curiosity is what brought him down here. And as Knoll continues to talk down to Thor, talking about how the Symbiote trapped him and tricked him, that is when Loki throws a dagger towards Knoll. And that distracts him, and it distracts him long enough for Thor to call Mjolnir. And then he rips himself free with a surge of lightning. And then he grabs Knoll and then flies out of the dungeon. Now, meanwhile, Loki goes over there to where the Symbiote is. And he walks right up to him and says, "Why, hello there."
Now, it's mentioned here that the gods, they fight for days. And the Watcher [music] says that in the years to come, that the bards will sing about the day the gods of Asgard slew strange dragons from a distant realm. And how Thor, Odin's son, ripped open reality and banished Knoll back to the void. But the stories, as stories do, will lose details over time. And we cut to a few days later in Asgard, where we see Thor in full storytelling mode. Because I mean, what's a good bout without a story to tell, right? He's like, "So, there I was, uh faced with five, nay, it was eight big black dragons and Knoll." And then Volstagg, he finds it all too funny because he's like, "Haha, his name is Knoll?" Because, you know, he knows what that means. And it's here where the Watcher reminds us of what the bards won't sing about. They won't tell the story of the Symbiote, born to betrayal, but found purpose in the process. The Watcher says that he knows it. And when he records the events of the universe, he will describe the Symbiotes as not just courageous, but also worthy. Which is where we see Loki with the Symbiote odd picking up the hammer. If you love the story here, check out our Thor versus Godzilla story, which was absolutely amazing. Don't forget to leave a like here on this video for the YouTube algorithm. Subscribe if you're brand new to the channel. If you love what we do here at Keep it a Comic and want to support us to grow in further, then consider becoming a channel member on YouTube. We appreciate you and as always, thanks so much for kicking it with Keep it a Comic. Bye.
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