Chris Hemsworth Lent His Thor Abilities To Loki In A Small But Mighty Way
Thanks to "Thor: Love and Thunder" and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, everyone knows about the Thor variant that is Mighty Thor, i.e. when Jane Foster wielded Mjolnir and became a blonde-haired Asgardian warrior herself. But what about Old King Thor, the embittered Thor from a future where the gods are no more in the world of Marvel Comics (think "Logan" but make it, er, Thor-y)? Or that time in the comics when the X-Men's Ororo Munroe — better known as Storm — gained a magical hammer to go with her weather-based superpowers, transforming her into the Goddess of Thunder?
Of course, no discussion of Marvel Comics' many variations on the God of Thunder would be complete without talking about Simon Walterson, aka. Frog Thor or "Throg." Created in the 1980s by Walter Simonson (who, as you can plainly see, remixed his name to come up with the character's moniker), Walterson was a human who was turned into a frog upon failing to repay the witch who allowed him to speak to his late wife. Renamed Puddlegulp by his fellow frogs, Walterson joined his amphibious brethren in their war against the rats. (What, you didn't know about the great frog-rat rivalry?) In doing so, Walterson encountered Thor, who himself had been turned into a frog as part of a prank by Loki. Once the battle was done and Thor had left, Walterson managed to lift a chip of Mjolnir that had fallen off, proving he was worthy of Thor's hammer and transforming him into, yes, Throg.
Because they are cowards For whatever reason, Marvel Studios has yet to announce a Throg movie for the MCU. However, the House of Ideas did allow director Kate Herron and Thor actor Chris Hemsworth to tip their hat to the character during "Loki" season 1.
Behold the mighty Throg!
As one of the zanier episodes in one of Marvel's zaniest Disney+ series, it's only fitting Throg made his MCU debut in "Loki" season 1, episode 5, "Journey into Mystery." The episode, to jog your memory, sees Loki (Tom Hiddleston) banished to the Void at the end of all time by the Time Variance Authority, bringing him face to face with alternate timeline versions of Loki like Classic Loki (Richard E. Grant) and Alligator Loki (whom Hiddleston has decreed the superior Loki). Alli-Loki wasn't the only herpetofauna Asgardian in the episode, either. As Herron noted to Buzzfeed in 2021, there was also a shot where we see Throg in a jar beneath the surface of the Void:
"That one I was very proud of and it was very fun. I had that shot designed for a while. I think I'd seen it in 'Futurama,' and a lot of animation does it, but I love the idea of going through the dirt and it reveals something. I always felt like that shot would be the place to insert an Easter egg. When we had Throg in there, it was so much fun and it was perfect. We also recorded Chris [Hemsworth] for that. It was just so much fun."
The MCU's Throg, as you can see in the above image, was given the variant code "T365" by the TVA, itself a nod to the character's comic book origins in "Thor" #365. "Loki" season 1 writer Eric Martin, who took over from Michael Waldron as head writer on season 2, has also confirmed there was a deleted scene that had Loki "getting pummeled by Frog Thor," but it was cut due to pacing issues (via ComicBook.com). I would say it's time to start #ReleaseTheThrogCut, but it seems Disney's already ahead of me.