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Everyone knows how Odin and Frigga are portrayed in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Odin is the strict father who has problems with showing his love for his sons, and Frigga is the loving and warm mother. These depictions are relatively faithful to their original comic book versions. Frigga was warm and mother-like indeed, but she was in such a side role that I never really formed much of a connection to her. Odin was not a bad person by any means either, although he was an authority figure and therefore could be quite strict. I'd say that the MCU improved their characterizations that were already OK before. Made them more personal. As much as fangirls like to diss Odin in the MCU, he is actually quite soft for an Odin.
I've been talking of how Odin and Frigga WERE in the comics, not how they ARE. Because since around 2011 (the year when the first Thor movie was released, funny that) they have both got a complete make over. And by complete, I mean complete. Complete to the point that Frigga's name isn't even Frigga anymore, it's been changed to Freyja for some reason. I guess someone from Marvel read about the theory that Freyja and Frigga might have originally been the same deity and ran with it, completely ignoring the facts that 1. By the time of recorded Norse mythology they had already clearly diverged into two different people (if they were ever connected in the first place) with clearly different roles, and 2. There was already a character by the name of Freya in Marvel's Thor comics. Odin is still called Odin but man, has "creativity over continuity" ever been more true to Marvel than with Odin's characterization?
Our new Frigga, that is, Freyja, is... not exactly a loving mother. In fact, she is the type of mother who would ruin her children's lives if that served the benefit of Asgard. She does become the ruling All-Mother together with Idunn and Gaea for some time while Odin is away, and she is a ruthless leader. Bringing more democracy to the Nine Realms, sure, but willing to throw her own children under the bus in order to achieve this. Or who even are her children. In the comics, Thor's biological mother is Gaea, and Loki is still adopted. Freyja is the mother of Aldrif, Balder and Laussa. But Freyja does like emphasize just how great of a mother she is, treating Odin's other children as her own like that was something to brag about instead of being like, the most basic level of courtesy.
So what exactly did Freyja do? As she ascended to the throne, Loki had been reincarnated as Kid Loki, an innocent version of him who hadn't done anything wrong. People were still treating him as if he was the original Loki though, and as if he was responsible for all of the atrocities committed. With the exception of Thor, who saw this as an opportunity to finally have a good relationship with his brother and start over. Still, Kid Loki got horrible treatment for the most part and was quite lonely, always talking to a bird that no-one else could see. And in this situation, what did Freyja do? Get him to do her dirty work. Continuously. The bird turned out to be an echo left by the previous Loki (not quite the same person though) who killed Kid Loki and took over his body (and this bird-Loki aka Ikol is the current Loki we have in the comics). Kid Loki had managed to redeem himself to a certain level and people didn't hate him as much anymore, and Ikol continued this work by trying to do good deeds in order to remove the evil ones from his past. At this point, nobody knew that Kid Loki's body had been stolen by another Loki. Freyja, who knew that Loki didn't want to return back to being evil, tried to force him back on that path because it was "for the good of Asgard". Because it secured them a familiar future with a known enemy. When Odin returned, not even he wanted to have anything to do with this. He told Freyja that Loki couldn't be forced into a model, and that he was going to wash his hands of this, making it entirely Freyja's responsibility.
From Loki: Agent of Asgard #11.
And when Loki finally calls her out on her shit? (Pictured above.) Honestly one of the most satisfying moments in comic book history. Freyja reacts by silencing Loki and casting him out into a limbo. It's ODIN who saves him from there... Freyja does come to realize that her plan wasn't exactly the best one out there as it blows up in her face, but what she did already happened. Now here comes the continuity part: Loki's solo ended and the story continued to Thor where *drumroll* Loki is working for Freyja......... ? Who is completely innocent of any wrong doing? Who is so amazing of a mother because she is on Jane-Thor's side when Odin is against her? Wow Freyja you're so perfect and understanding, Loki too totally likes you! It's as if nothing in the past few years between Loki and Freyja hadn't happened at all! ┐(´∀｀)┌ In the newest Thor series it is Freyja who is defending Loki to Thor, I wonder why? Does she finally feel guilty for the things she did? None of this is ever going to get addressed, right? Right...
So then we'll come to Odin. Who was portrayed in a surprisingly positive light in Loki's solo. Not a perfect person, but he did truly love Loki as his child and did try to help him. He acted quite maturely in fact, Loki didn't want anything bad towards him and Odin knew this, so he was also willing to extend an olive branch. He expressed that even with all of Loki's quirks and past actions, he did love him. And then came a Jane-Thor solo.
Odin is so terrible! He is so mean, and violent, and a total sexist!! Oh no he's against female Thor because he is such an old man misogynist, tsk tsk tsk. Odin was beyond reason in that series, needlessly angry all the time. And Freyja was an amazing leader because she brought more democracy to Asgard, Odin is a stupid conservative patriarch who wants so keep all the power to himself. The character murder that Odin experienced is honestly painful to behold. After everything I am expected to consider Freyja a good person and leader (no doubt because she's a strong womyn™) and Odin a terrible and violent sexist. What the Hel am I reading.
One of my most unpopular opinions in Thor fandom has to be the fact that I do not in fact hate Odin. First of, I think that his assholeness (in the MCU) is overstated by the fandom. He is not perfect and he has made mistakes as a father, mainly because he isn't very good at expressing positive emotions. Surprisingly common dad-problem in Asgard as well apparently, hmm. But to claim that he would have openly treated Loki like shit in his childhood is a claim that is not supported by canon. Same with Odin somehow shaming Loki for using magic. He's using magic himself for Norns' sake! The moment from Thor: Ragnarök, where Hela says that Thor doesn't look like Odin but that Loki "sounds like him" is honestly so great. Goes to show that Odin, Frigga, Thor, and Loki were indeed A FAMILY. And I really like how other people have started to get that as well in the fandom thanks to Ragnarök. People used to kind of have this view that Odin hated his kids and was angry 24/7 and people were also incest shipping Thor and Loki (much more, I feel, than nowadays anymore). But thanks to Ragnarök, this image of the Odin family has cemented itself a lot better in the fandom consciousness. Also, there is a demand for Thor and Loki brotherhood things, while back in the day it used to be more shipping focused...
And the second thing, which I had, is the treatment he's got in the comics. His character has been so utterly destroyed that I can't help but feel sympathy. Like he is a misrepresented underdog. So I guess I am Team Odin in a way, defending him in the MCU sure, but mainly in the comics because MAN. With Freyja it's more... MCU Frigga is an absolute angel whom I love, but comic Freyja annoys me so much, more and more every single time they try to hammer in just how perrrrfect she is. And you know how Odin and Frigga's marriage in the MCU feels like they do in fact love each other? In the comics they are (nowadays) portraying it like Odin basically forced her to it 'cause that isn't rapey at all and Freyja doesn't really love him all that much. Because he's such a terrible misogynist that he forces young women into marrying him and beats his children (in reference to Thor). So that's just... great...
Rant over.
I've been talking of how Odin and Frigga WERE in the comics, not how they ARE. Because since around 2011 (the year when the first Thor movie was released, funny that) they have both got a complete make over. And by complete, I mean complete. Complete to the point that Frigga's name isn't even Frigga anymore, it's been changed to Freyja for some reason. I guess someone from Marvel read about the theory that Freyja and Frigga might have originally been the same deity and ran with it, completely ignoring the facts that 1. By the time of recorded Norse mythology they had already clearly diverged into two different people (if they were ever connected in the first place) with clearly different roles, and 2. There was already a character by the name of Freya in Marvel's Thor comics. Odin is still called Odin but man, has "creativity over continuity" ever been more true to Marvel than with Odin's characterization?
Our new Frigga, that is, Freyja, is... not exactly a loving mother. In fact, she is the type of mother who would ruin her children's lives if that served the benefit of Asgard. She does become the ruling All-Mother together with Idunn and Gaea for some time while Odin is away, and she is a ruthless leader. Bringing more democracy to the Nine Realms, sure, but willing to throw her own children under the bus in order to achieve this. Or who even are her children. In the comics, Thor's biological mother is Gaea, and Loki is still adopted. Freyja is the mother of Aldrif, Balder and Laussa. But Freyja does like emphasize just how great of a mother she is, treating Odin's other children as her own like that was something to brag about instead of being like, the most basic level of courtesy.
So what exactly did Freyja do? As she ascended to the throne, Loki had been reincarnated as Kid Loki, an innocent version of him who hadn't done anything wrong. People were still treating him as if he was the original Loki though, and as if he was responsible for all of the atrocities committed. With the exception of Thor, who saw this as an opportunity to finally have a good relationship with his brother and start over. Still, Kid Loki got horrible treatment for the most part and was quite lonely, always talking to a bird that no-one else could see. And in this situation, what did Freyja do? Get him to do her dirty work. Continuously. The bird turned out to be an echo left by the previous Loki (not quite the same person though) who killed Kid Loki and took over his body (and this bird-Loki aka Ikol is the current Loki we have in the comics). Kid Loki had managed to redeem himself to a certain level and people didn't hate him as much anymore, and Ikol continued this work by trying to do good deeds in order to remove the evil ones from his past. At this point, nobody knew that Kid Loki's body had been stolen by another Loki. Freyja, who knew that Loki didn't want to return back to being evil, tried to force him back on that path because it was "for the good of Asgard". Because it secured them a familiar future with a known enemy. When Odin returned, not even he wanted to have anything to do with this. He told Freyja that Loki couldn't be forced into a model, and that he was going to wash his hands of this, making it entirely Freyja's responsibility.
From Loki: Agent of Asgard #11.
And when Loki finally calls her out on her shit? (Pictured above.) Honestly one of the most satisfying moments in comic book history. Freyja reacts by silencing Loki and casting him out into a limbo. It's ODIN who saves him from there... Freyja does come to realize that her plan wasn't exactly the best one out there as it blows up in her face, but what she did already happened. Now here comes the continuity part: Loki's solo ended and the story continued to Thor where *drumroll* Loki is working for Freyja......... ? Who is completely innocent of any wrong doing? Who is so amazing of a mother because she is on Jane-Thor's side when Odin is against her? Wow Freyja you're so perfect and understanding, Loki too totally likes you! It's as if nothing in the past few years between Loki and Freyja hadn't happened at all! ┐(´∀｀)┌ In the newest Thor series it is Freyja who is defending Loki to Thor, I wonder why? Does she finally feel guilty for the things she did? None of this is ever going to get addressed, right? Right...
So then we'll come to Odin. Who was portrayed in a surprisingly positive light in Loki's solo. Not a perfect person, but he did truly love Loki as his child and did try to help him. He acted quite maturely in fact, Loki didn't want anything bad towards him and Odin knew this, so he was also willing to extend an olive branch. He expressed that even with all of Loki's quirks and past actions, he did love him. And then came a Jane-Thor solo.
Odin is so terrible! He is so mean, and violent, and a total sexist!! Oh no he's against female Thor because he is such an old man misogynist, tsk tsk tsk. Odin was beyond reason in that series, needlessly angry all the time. And Freyja was an amazing leader because she brought more democracy to Asgard, Odin is a stupid conservative patriarch who wants so keep all the power to himself. The character murder that Odin experienced is honestly painful to behold. After everything I am expected to consider Freyja a good person and leader (no doubt because she's a strong womyn™) and Odin a terrible and violent sexist. What the Hel am I reading.
One of my most unpopular opinions in Thor fandom has to be the fact that I do not in fact hate Odin. First of, I think that his assholeness (in the MCU) is overstated by the fandom. He is not perfect and he has made mistakes as a father, mainly because he isn't very good at expressing positive emotions. Surprisingly common dad-problem in Asgard as well apparently, hmm. But to claim that he would have openly treated Loki like shit in his childhood is a claim that is not supported by canon. Same with Odin somehow shaming Loki for using magic. He's using magic himself for Norns' sake! The moment from Thor: Ragnarök, where Hela says that Thor doesn't look like Odin but that Loki "sounds like him" is honestly so great. Goes to show that Odin, Frigga, Thor, and Loki were indeed A FAMILY. And I really like how other people have started to get that as well in the fandom thanks to Ragnarök. People used to kind of have this view that Odin hated his kids and was angry 24/7 and people were also incest shipping Thor and Loki (much more, I feel, than nowadays anymore). But thanks to Ragnarök, this image of the Odin family has cemented itself a lot better in the fandom consciousness. Also, there is a demand for Thor and Loki brotherhood things, while back in the day it used to be more shipping focused...
And the second thing, which I had, is the treatment he's got in the comics. His character has been so utterly destroyed that I can't help but feel sympathy. Like he is a misrepresented underdog. So I guess I am Team Odin in a way, defending him in the MCU sure, but mainly in the comics because MAN. With Freyja it's more... MCU Frigga is an absolute angel whom I love, but comic Freyja annoys me so much, more and more every single time they try to hammer in just how perrrrfect she is. And you know how Odin and Frigga's marriage in the MCU feels like they do in fact love each other? In the comics they are (nowadays) portraying it like Odin basically forced her to it 'cause that isn't rapey at all and Freyja doesn't really love him all that much. Because he's such a terrible misogynist that he forces young women into marrying him and beats his children (in reference to Thor). So that's just... great...
Rant over.
