# In the MCU, what is a god? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [June 19, 2021, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-mcu-what-is-a-god/944634 "2021-06-19T16:01:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-mcu-what-is-a-god/944634/41 "2021-06-20T05:22:12Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Until Disney buys Sony. Even if Disney buys Sony, Amy Pascal still has personal rights on distribution of Spider-Man and related properties that she negotiated while she was Chairman of Sony Columbia Pictures. She was the stumbling block Marvel getting the rights to use Spider-Man in Civil War, Infinity War, and Endgame, and was behind the effort to end the agreement to allow the MCU to continue to feature the Tom Holland Spider-Man character. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-mcu-what-is-a-god/944634/42 "2021-06-20T12:52:16Z")
**Loki** : Enough! You are, all of you are beneath me! I am a god, you dull creature, and I will not be bullied by… The **Hulk** : Puny god. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-mcu-what-is-a-god/944634/43 "2021-06-20T13:47:15Z")
> In the MCU, what is a god? Well, I blush to explain… 😊 🕶 🧙🏻 🧞 ⚡ ☄ 🔥 ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-mcu-what-is-a-god/944634/44 "2021-06-20T15:29:33Z")
What about One-Above-All? ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-mcu-what-is-a-god/944634/45 "2021-06-20T15:34:56Z")
So hopes to stream the Spidey movies on services I already have … look bleak? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-mcu-what-is-a-god/944634/46 "2021-06-20T15:57:08Z")
Note that the gods of Asgard have a god or gods themselves - Thor refers to an “Allfather” on several occasions, and he’s not talking about his dad. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-mcu-what-is-a-god/944634/47 "2021-06-20T16:14:43Z")
I’m pretty sure that that is exactly who he is referring to. It’s a much more formal title, one that Odin’s father also held, and one that Thor himself may hold one day, but it is not referring to any being outside the Asgardian royal family. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-mcu-what-is-a-god/944634/48 "2021-06-20T17:36:07Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > So hopes to stream the Spidey movies on services I already have … look bleak? Unless you [own a Sony smart TV](https://www.tomsguide.com/news/sony-bravia-core-what-you-need-to-know-about-sonys-new-streaming-service) or are willing to buy it on Amazon, yes. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-mcu-what-is-a-god/944634/49 "2021-06-20T21:57:45Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Also, in the first episode of _Loki_ (spoilered below): That show is iirc specifically non-canon, that clearly has to be some sort of alt-reality. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-mcu-what-is-a-god/944634/50 "2021-06-20T22:03:22Z")
I thought that the Fantastic Four are also owned by someone else? Or has this changed? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-mcu-what-is-a-god/944634/51 "2021-06-20T22:05:36Z")
They were owned by Fox, which Disney bought. X-Men also came with that deal. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-mcu-what-is-a-god/944634/52 "2021-06-20T22:29:57Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Even if Disney buys Sony, Amy Pascal still has personal rights on distribution of Spider-Man and related properties that she negotiated while she was Chairman of Sony Columbia Pictures. How does that even happen? She works for Sony, but in the negotiations she ends up with distribution? Is that common? I thought all that crap was over when she quit/got fired from Sony. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-mcu-what-is-a-god/944634/53 "2021-06-20T22:30:57Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > That show is iirc specifically non-canon… You mean the _Loki_ miniseries on Disney+ right now? No, that’s entirely canon, like _WandaVision_ and _Falcon and the Winter Soldier_. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-mcu-what-is-a-god/944634/54 "2021-06-20T23:06:18Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > How does that even happen? She works for Sony, but in the negotiations she ends up with distribution? Is that common? I thought all that crap was over when she quit/got fired from Sony. [Nope.](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1166871/#producer) It is not unusual for a studio head to get a producer or executive producer credit on some number of movies even if their involvement was minimal, but Pascal apparently negotiated a deal into her contract giving her broad production rights over Sony’s Spider-Man franchise independent of her position at SPMPG. Since that is basically the main revenue stream supporting all of the other films in development by Pascal Pictures, I can’t see her agreeing to sell the rights back to Marvel for any price they would be willing to pay for rights to a single character. > [@Miller](#): > > You mean the _Loki_ miniseries on Disney+ right now? No, that’s entirely canon, like _WandaVision_ and _Falcon and the Winter Soldier_ . Yeah, the Netflix shows are of questionable canonicity and while the Marvel Televsion/ABC shows (_Agents of SHIELD_, _Agent Carter_) are notionally canon, featuring as they do characters from the films played by the same actors and referencing back to the films in many ways, Marvel Studios has essentially ignored them in terms of any continuity or impact. The Disney+ limited run series, however, are produced by the same people making the films and are intended to explicitly tie into and set up future film projects, and are basically a recognition of both the dominance of the steaming content model over traditional film distribution and the canvas that such longer formats offer for narrative storytelling. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2021, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-mcu-what-is-a-god/944634/55 "2021-06-21T01:13:54Z")
> [@P-man](#): > > What about One-Above-All? Jack Kirby. Or possibly Stan Lee. The very very tippy-top of the power tree in Marvel. And of course Loki will always refer to himself as a God. His ego demands it. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2021, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-mcu-what-is-a-god/944634/56 "2021-06-21T02:07:27Z")
> [@LauderdaleFort](#): > > I have Disney+ and watched a couple of minutes here and there. I watched Civil War and it did nothing for me. The plot holes and the one-on-one massive battles where you know nothing is really going to happen and “gods” figthing alongside a person with a Glock. A Glock? They have “gods” fighting alongside a dude with a bow and arrow. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2021, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-mcu-what-is-a-god/944634/57 "2021-06-21T02:12:12Z")
There are things in the comics that muddy things up. Ragnarok is seen as a cyclic event. A whole different crew of Norse gods were involved in a climactic battle. They had familiar names and roles but looked different. Thor had red hair and a beard. Most of them were killed. Those that survived merged somehow (don’t remember how) into the Odin we know. The destruction of Asgard was seen as a bright star in the sky over Bethlehem (I wish I made that up). That was back in the early 80s. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2021, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-mcu-what-is-a-god/944634/58 "2021-06-21T03:43:06Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > A Glock? They have “gods” fighting alongside a dude with a bow and arrow. “Pretending to need this guy really brings the team together.” Stranger ---
**Author:** ![LauderdaleFort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/977dab/32.png) [@LauderdaleFort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LauderdaleFort)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2021, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-mcu-what-is-a-god/944634/59 "2021-06-21T03:47:29Z")
I’m so stealing that phrase. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2021, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-mcu-what-is-a-god/944634/60 "2021-06-21T08:13:16Z")
_Allfather_ is literally one of the names of Odin. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-mcu-what-is-a-god/944634.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-mcu-what-is-a-god/944634.md?page=4)