# 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:** 12\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2021, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-mcu-what-is-a-god/944634/81 "2021-06-22T15:18:18Z")
I think they dialed it back after the _Seduction of the Innocent_ squabble in the mid 1950s. ---
**Author:** ![LauderdaleFort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/977dab/32.png) [@LauderdaleFort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LauderdaleFort)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2021, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-mcu-what-is-a-god/944634/82 "2021-06-22T20:24:26Z")
I guess, but the little I’ve watch I haven’t liked. I don’t like the acting, the writing, the fights enough to even try to get involved. I can never suspend disbelief. ---
**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 22, 2021, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-mcu-what-is-a-god/944634/83 "2021-06-22T22:06:40Z")
Then why are you in a thread discussing them? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2021, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-mcu-what-is-a-god/944634/84 "2021-06-22T22:10:45Z")
@LauderdaleFort actually started the thread, and as he notes in the OP, he had just watched an episode of _Loki_, and wanted to know more. ---
**Author:** ![LauderdaleFort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/977dab/32.png) [@LauderdaleFort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LauderdaleFort)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2021, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-mcu-what-is-a-god/944634/85 "2021-06-22T22:17:47Z")
I just wanted to know what a god was. In real life gods are no simply super powerful humanoids, they are of a different essence. When I saw Loki being trapped like a common thief of “fat Thor”, it got me wondering. As I stated in the OP, i don’t watch superhero movies or even read comic books, just a specific question. I was clear on that. The answers have been really helpful and gone beyond any detail I imagined it had. However, I have no desire to watch or read MCU. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2021, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-mcu-what-is-a-god/944634/86 "2021-06-22T22:20:07Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > background watching. Captain Marvel is not “background watching.” It’s one of the better “stand alone” movies (as much as anything in the MCU is stand alone.) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2021, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-mcu-what-is-a-god/944634/87 "2021-06-22T22:36:45Z")
> [@LauderdaleFort](#): > > I just wanted to know what a god was. In real life gods are no simply super powerful humanoids, they are of a different essence. _In real life_, you say? ---
**Author:** ![LauderdaleFort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/977dab/32.png) [@LauderdaleFort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LauderdaleFort)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2021, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-mcu-what-is-a-god/944634/88 "2021-06-22T22:40:31Z")
You know what I mean… Ok, “as understood in real life by their believers” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2021, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-mcu-what-is-a-god/944634/89 "2021-06-22T22:45:06Z")
> [@LauderdaleFort](#): > > You know what I mean… No, I don’t. I was under the impression that there were stories in antiquity of humans breeding with gods, and defeating gods in combat — and, to the extent that this thread’s starting point is _Norse_, I thought folks back then thought that various of their gods were going to die. (Yes, including the one who’d already lost an eye; but also including one who’d already lost a hand.) ---
**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 23, 2021, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-mcu-what-is-a-god/944634/90 "2021-06-23T01:10:26Z")
my apologies - sincerely - I’m glad you’re enjoying the thread. ---
**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 23, 2021, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-mcu-what-is-a-god/944634/91 "2021-06-23T01:11:05Z")
mea culpa - I simply didn’t read back far enough to see that and should know better. ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2021, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-mcu-what-is-a-god/944634/92 "2021-06-28T21:40:16Z")
Not MCU but related… In the Will Smith movie _Hancock_, he plays a superhero who’s kind of a jerk- doesn’t actually like people, gets drunk a lot, saves lives and so forth but with a bad grace, pissing off as many people as he gratifies. Later he finds out that he’s not the only one of his kind, but their origin was murky and they themselves didn’t seem to know much about it. One of the characters says something like “We’ve always been around. People used to call us angels. Now they call us superheroes.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-mcu-what-is-a-god/944634.md?page=4)