WARNING: The following contains spoilers for What If...? Season 1, Episode 7, "What If... Thor Were An Only Child?," streaming now on Disney+.
Initially, the Marvel Cinematic Universe pegged Loki as a villain. He was jealous of adoptive brother, Thor, and sought his own kingdom, eventually partnering with Thanos to show Odin he was capable of ruling. However, following his assault on Earth, as depicted in The Avengers, the god of mischief began to experience shifts in his character, particularly as he was forced to confront the errors of his alternate, murdered self. Unfortunately, in "What If... Thor Was An Only Child?," the biggest change from the Disney+ Loki series, as well as a totally new development, are totally wasted.
The episode follows a frat-bro Thor (Chris Hemsworth) who, temporarily free of the supervision of Odin and Frigga, travels to Midgard to throw a planet-wide party. He's infamously done the same thing across the cosmos, away from Heimdall's eye.
The Loki (Tom Hiddleston) of this reality was never adopted by Odin, but instead returned safely to the Frost Giants. He leads a contingent from Jotunheim to Las Vegas to seemingly crash Thor's rager. However, when he arrives, it's immediately clear he and Thor are good friends; Loki even refers to them as "brothers from another mother" multiple times.
Shockingly, Loki is now king of Jotunheim, and retains his Frost Giant giant form, ice crown and all. The episode does nothing to explore this, however, instead diminishing Loki to comic relief. He enables Thor, allows his giants to wreck the place, and crushes Thor's phone to ruin the Jane Foster romance.
It's a lighthearted episode, but Loki as king of the Frost Giants is something fans have been waiting for, and it would have been a better match for Loki's character if he had caused more mischief. He could have kept his cold, trickster air, losing control at the party with, say, the Casket of Ancient Winters, and then opposing Thor. It would show theirs will always be an uneasy alliance, no matter what reality, and that, ultimately, Loki cannot be trusted. Seeing them tussle for a bit -- not as princes, but kings -- with Loki in his purest, angriest mode, would have been totally welcome, as it's not something we'll see in the mainstream movies or TV shows.
In addition, Loki's newly confirmed sexualityis ignored in this episode, despite that the epic party provided the perfect backdrop for it to be showcased. Loki is chill, cracking jokes with Thor and even asking Jane Foster if she's got a friend for a double date. It's a missed opportunity, as he doesn't specify what gender. It would have been easy to have him comment about how he'd be fine with any gender, or to show him flirting with fellow party-goers.
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That would have been a subtle but clear nod to the Loki series confirming his bisexuality. Seeing as we may not see this queer thread touched upon anytime soon, a few moments in this episode would have been enough to show his open nature, without Marvel being held to canon in this alternate universe. More so, it would have added a genuine layer of the inclusivity and representation that the character is supposed to embody.
