When it comes to finding a great conflict to tell a compelling story, you don't get
much more classic than sibling rivalry.
“ahhh!”
Cain and Abel were brothers who got in a fight, and settled their differences with a rock
to the head.
"I guess that settles it."
So it's no surprise that every movie in the Thor franchise which depicts Norse gods smashing
monsters and each other with fists, hammers, and anything else within arm's reach uses
sibling rivalry as a launching point in all three installments.
The first two feature the conflict and subsequent reconciliation between brothers Thor and Loki
as the most important features of their plots.
Meanwhile, Thor: Ragnarok takes things a step further by introducing a third member of Odin's
brood, Hela, who takes over Asgard and motivates her feuding younger brothers to work together
to defeat her.
But as Marvel Cinematic Universe fans have since discovered, plans were underway behind
the scenes to give Thor and Loki yet another, different sibling a brother who might be more
familiar to comic book readers and lovers of Norse mythology.
That's right, Balder the Brave was almost introduced to the MCU to further complicate
Thor's family tree.
Former Marvel Studios head of visual development Charlie Wen sent MCU fans into a frenzy back
in August 2018 with a single Instagram post.
Wen posted concept art for Thor: The Dark World that revealed his take on adapting longtime
Thor comics character Balder to the big screen.
While the character's inclusion in the film was eventually scuttled, it's exciting to
imagine how the MCU might've been different had Balder survived pre-production.
So what's the big deal about Balder?
Well, for starters, he's got more right to the throne than either Thor or Loki at least
if Marvel Comics and Norse mythology have anything to say about it.
The films depict Frigga, played by Rene Russo, as Thor's mother.
But outside of the films, it's Gaea, the Earth goddess, who is Thor's real mom, while Frigga
is actually his step-mother.
Wen explained the character's importance during our exclusive interview:
"Odin was doing something on the side that he shouldn't have and then he brought Thor
baby Thor back and Frigga, and Odin brought Thor up.
In a way it's like Balder is really the true heir to throne, if you really want to put
it that way.
There's a lot of things about that character that can be really key to the story."
However, the filmmakers behind the MCU know when to stay faithful to the comics, and when
to streamline and simplify in order to keep the average moviegoer interested.
It's one of the reasons the MCU works as well as it does and introducing Balder to the mix
in The Dark World would've made a mess of an already pretty complicated story one featuring
spacefaring Dark Elves, a reality-warping Infinity Stone, and Kat Dennings.
Do you even know what these things do?"
"No."
"Neither do I."
How could Balder compete with all that?
"It makes a lot of sense not trying to force him in because he complicates things quite
a bit.
Especially if you're trying to make a story really about Thor and Loki."
But while Wen and the rest of the production team tried to bring Balder into the fold,
ultimately the biggest hurdle was just that there was no easy way to introduce the character
into the MCU's increasingly complex continuity.
At least, there weren't any that also gave him the importance the comics says he should
have.
“In the comics, he is the one that's supposed to be able to... he triggers Ragnarok.
He's the one that actually triggers that whole event of the destruction of Asgard.
He's an important character in the comics.
How do you integrate him without him feeling like he's just an added character, right?
I think that ultimately, not having him in Thor 1 or 2 makes sense."
Wen left Marvel Studios to pursue his own creative endeavors in 2014, so he's not involved
in the future of the MCU at least not directly.
But as it turns out, much of the design work he did at the company still pops up in Marvel
movies so many years later.
So, despite the fact that we've yet to see Balder appear in the MCU to this point doesn't
mean Wen's designs won't make it onto the big screen sometime in the future.
Check out one of our newest videos right here.
Plus, even more exclusive Looper videos with Charlie Wen about the creation of the Marvel
Cinematic Universe are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.