#mcu!balder

[lokiinmediasideblog]

How fid balder gp from thr favorite and beloved one in norse mythology. To being just that dude who keeps saying hes Thor's brother but thors like "no ur not" xD

It's so ironic indeed, because Balder is "beloved by all" and practically the Gary Stu of Norse Mythology (it's also why I don't care for his original mythological counterpart, sorry guys).

And it's so strange that technically, Loki got the short end of the stick from Marvel (being portrayed as a ghoulish villain that always fails for decades), but even that Marvelization and demonization gave Loki the most interesting dynamic with Thor, the Norse figure Marvel decided to make the protagonist (I personally consider Marvel's Thor to be a mix of myth!Balder and myth!Thor because in comics written prior to 2010, Thor's very Gary Stu-ish). Balder in the comics is a less hot-headed and weaker version of Thor with a yandere sorceress, Karnilla, obsessed with him.

I think Loki will always or usually end up being an interesting character due to their ambiguous nature in the myths and the large role they play in the mythology, no matter how much different he is in the depiction (Marvel's Loki, to me started out as a mix of myth!Loki, the Devil of Abrahamic religions, and myth!Odin because myth!Loki's magic was just shapeshifting themself and others).

It's a question of whether demonization is better than being overlooked and forgotten.

[lobeliamaximoff]

am I the only one who sees this?

[livingthewritelife-things]

Okay but if Balder's in the muc, where has he been for the past 10 years? He was never invited to a family function? He didn't want to help save Asgard? They didn't try and rescue him for Raganarok????

[worstloki]

I know we're on this Balder is the unfavorite kick, but it was Tyr who ended up completely deleted from the MCU

the MCU deleted many things in it's short period of rule, Tyr isn't special. that being said I think Balder and Tyr should both be forced to suffer through the bros.

[p4nishers]

I think this is the first time Balder's ever been mentioned? But it was definitely also a Thing in the comics- he was one of Thor's closest allies and most beloved friends before Loki killed him, and often shows up alongside Sif and the Warriors Three. I imagine the movies didn't include Odin's children beyond Thor and Loki so as not to complicate things, but a retcon to them having a brother who Loki killed before the events of the first Thor movie might work.

yeah you're right that would make sense i would love it if they took it further tho bc that story is genuinely one of my favorite norse myths ever and i think it would add even more to loki's character to have them kill someone purely out of jealousy. i really would like a mention of him again i'm so fucking curious on where they would take his and loki's story bc in mythology loki is ODIN'S blood sibling (weird af, right?) so they're technically an uncle of some kind to balder, but in the mcu since loki is thor's (albeit adopted but all the same) sibling it would make them also siblings with balder and for loki to kill their brother is just like such an intriguing thing to think about and i want to know how they would incorporate balder's murder in loki's story SO BAD

[squids-comics]

Odin may not be the best parent of the Marvel Universe, but he definitely has the comfiest pajamas!

[thot-chi]

A Marvel AU where children can be born from someone's magic. In other words rather than Hela having an unknown mother she was born of Odin's magic. Frigga's child of magic could totally be Baldur, who was banished from ever setting foot on Asgard by Odin after he married Frigga.

I'm sure Loki would have a child of magic and it could turn out really hilarious like kid Loki was so strong that he got to have one early but Loki being a kid was like 'I want a magic horse 🐎' and that's how Sleipnir was created. But then it can go in a very whump way of Loki's child of magic born during his captivity with Thanos, who killed the child and drove Loki mad.

I had always thought of this idea for some time but the only reason I'm putting this out here because I was imagining during the attack of the Dark elves in Thor 2, Frigga was about to be killed but Baldur shows up before that happens and fights. Of course this causes Odin to be distracted because he does not like Baldur at all. Anyway in some way Odin basically dies for a bit but lives again but it's enough for Hela to be free.

She's like planning her takeover when suddenly.

Baldur: My Love?!?

Hela, looking at her hit-it-and-quit-it: Fuck!

Everyone else:WOT?

Baldur:My love. It has has been ages since I had last seen you, where have you been??

Hela, glaring at Odin: Here and there.

Thor&Loki: A brother and a sister?!?!?

Baldur: But my love you told me you were with child the last I saw of you!

Everyone: what

Odin: WHAT????

Hela, nonchalantly: ah yes, I disguised it as a Jotun infant and hid it in a temple on Jotunheim. Don't know what happened to...

[Hela then looking at Loki in realization. Loki going through 750th mental breakdown]

Hela: oh shit.

*Buldur, looking at Loki with love and admiration* 😲😲😲

Frigga&Odin, realizing Loki is their bio grandchild, who they lied to his whole life.

Thor, freaking out that not only is he not the eldest but his elder siblings fricked and created Loki, making his brother his nephew.

Loki, finding out he's not a Frost giant. He has half-siblings, those half-siblings are actually his bio parents. His parents are his grandparents. His brother is actually his uncle. And that he is blood related to the likes Odin and Thor again.

[sonofcoulson]

Tales of Asgard

Series 2, Episode 5

Balder the Brave part II

Again, this is mostly taken from The Warriors Teen comic. The main difference being that they are not teens here but young adults. And also they wear proper armour instead of tunics. The storyline was a good fit for where I wanted to take the characters and only needed a few little tweaks.

We join our trio sunbathing and bantering before making their way through the temperate rainforest to the dunes at the edge of Asgard where the mines of Jennia plunge below the surface of the desert.

Unlike the blatant excuse to build some sexual tension in the comics, Sif and the boys go to bathe separately. Loki uses illusion to mimic the boys and Sif and manages to separate them. Thor rushes back to Sif who is dressed and drying her hair. He realises it was a trick and they race to Balder who is being strangled by enchanted vines. They manage to free him in time.

Sif says Loki is here. Balder croakily concurs. Thor is wavering now. He calls Loki. Loki, of course, silently presses himself into the foliage. Balder croaks they should get out into the open.

They go back to get their gear from where they were sunbathing and are worried. If it was Loki, he seemed to be trying to kill Balder. It could be any one of them next. If it's not Loki they possess a very similar skillset. Thor asks why anyone would be trying to kill them? Let alone their brother. Sif says he's no brother of mine.

They warily set up camp in silence. Thor wants to take first watch but Sif insists. The boys have a heart to heart about the current state of their family. Sif tells them to get some sleep.

The mirror user observes the tense trio and notes that Odin's other son is glowering in the treeline. An unwitting ally as she says in the comics.

The next day there are a few quips but the group is not as bantery as before. No sexist comments from Thor like the comic though.

Also, Sif does not suddenly go all girly at the thought of jewels as in the comic.

Then gang are suddenly swallowed by quicksand one by one. Loki approaches and appears to shed a tear as he proclaims it done, though not by his hand. Then he too sinks.

The trio come to in a chamber surrounded by strange childlike creatures with glowing red eyes. Thor, already riled up tries to bat them away and they start to swarm him. They start to creep onto Sif as well. Balder recognises them as the Jennia, keepers of the jewels. The feed on emotion. He advises the others to be calm and rid themselves of emotion. They do and the Jennia retreat, leaving a jewel.

When Sif states that anyone with hatred in their heart would be in for a worser fate, we expect to see Loki engulfed by Jennia. Instead we cut to Loki having been rescued/captured by the magic mirror user who is revealed to be...Karnilla...

Karnilla is the Norn Queen and believes that Odin owes a large unpaid debt to the Fates of Norn as he gained knowledge of the runes without permission.

"Such powerful magic for less than half a soul? We would have charged a much steeper price if we had known."

The Fates (Skuld, Verandi and Urd) warn Loki that Odin will pay a terrible price. Karnilla says "exactly ". Loki tries to pretend he doesn't care. Verandi tells him that he longs for Odin to love him the way he loves his other sons. She tells them to be quiet, how Loki has no love for family. How she has seen him trying to murder both his brothers and their companion.

Urd says he made a pact with hatred.

Karnilla asks her elderly assistant Haag to still their wagging tongues.

K: How hard can it be to destabilise a royal family?

That first ungrateful wench...you give a girl a little power and...

Ah sorry, you can't speak about her at the moment can you?

Then if your foolish wife hadn't actually fallen in love with you this could all have been done by now.

L: Sigyn? You sent her?

K: Where do you think she learned all those things that your mother wouldn't teach you? She thought I was putting you on the throne. I just wanted the chaos.

But she had to get herself thrown in jail defending you. Now I shall just have to take care of things myself.

Cut to the trio in the forests of Lilitha. Thor is nostalgic for swimming and climbing there in his childhood. Balder has noticed the trees seem to be dying.

The comics go in for some love triangle nonsense here. Not us.

Then Loki apparates in, tears in his eyes, genuinely conflicted.

Thor asks him how he has appeared here and why? Has Odin sent him? Is Asgard in trouble?

Loki names Karnilla and tells of her plot to kill Odin and take Asgard with the Utgard giants and the creatures of Niflheim. How she captured him while he followed them and tried to turn him against Asgard. He refused, she admired his previously unobserved backbone and weirdly kissed him. This allowed him to steal a little of her power, which meant he could apparate.

Sif is enraged! She knew Loki had been conspiring against them! How he nearly killed Balder. The spiders...that was you too wasn't it?

Loki lies and says it was all Karnilla.

Sif wants to run him through with her blade. Balder muses that it could be a plot to make them fail the quest.

Thor puts it to him, Loki says no even after everything he still loves father and that he needs them all. They (Thor and Balder that is) choose to believe him.

Loki conjures them horses from the fallen leaves (they are stunned by his magic prowess, this makes Sif a little more suspicious) and they ride to Asgard. Thor stays to finish the quest as Odin may want Svadren for the fight. Loki leaves a horse for him.

He fights a conjured stone golem which he assumes was conjured by Karnilla. He fights with particular fierceness as he has no time to waste. When he finally reaches the lake he sees it is dry. Magically drained. He scoops some into a bottle as a reminder to never fail again then rides like the wind to Asgard.

He finds it under assault by the forces of Niflheim (giants, orcs, ogres and goblins) and storms his way through. This rallies the troops.

Thor finds Sif and Balder and tells them the quest has failed.

Odin battles his way to them and tells them there will be no talk of failure. Defend Asgard!

Thor, Sif and the Warriors Three defend one side of the gate, Balder and Heimdall the other. Odin holds fast in the middle. Einherjar are positioned strategically. Loki is murdering Niflheimers too.

They hold fast. The Utgard Giants et al, see defeat is coming and decide to retreat.

Just as the celebrations begin Karnilla apparates in and shoots Thor straight through the heart with an arrow. Then she apperates into the throne room. Balder warns a shocked Odin that she may go for his vault. Odin grabs Mjölnir, calls for Sleipnir and races upstairs. Epic battle between Odin, Frigga and Karnilla. Odin and Frigga eventually win.

Coming back down they see they have not been able to save Thor.

Odin ritualistically pours the sand from the bed of the Lake of Lilitha on to Thor's wound. He gives a regretful and moving speech while Frigga, Sif and Balder mourn. The Warriors Three cling to eachother for comfort. Heimdall and the Einherjar remove their helmets. Heads bowed.

Then as the tears of Frigga, Sif and Balder mingle with the sand it turns to water and heals the wound. Thor lives! They bottle the rest of the magical liquid.

Just as everyone is celebrating, a dishevelled Karnilla appears holding Loki at knifepoint. If she can't have the kingdom, she will have a sacrifice for the knowledge of the runes. One of your sons must forfeit their lives.

They all show concern for Loki. Even Odin. Karnilla scoffs that their lives would be much easier without him. All the trouble he caused. She blames Loki for all the things he blamed her for. Even the stone golem. That he followed them and sabotaged them because his heart was full of jealousy and hate.

Sif says she knew it. Thor cries out , "You lie, witch!". Balder reasons that this may all be true. But despite all that, knowing the consequences of being found out, Loki chose to do the right thing and saved all of Asgard.

Dialogue from the comic:

K:How can you defend him? His hands are as dirty as mine.

My hands...that will spill blood once more today.

B: If you must take a life this day...take mine.

I forfeit it in exchange for Loki's.

And if the denizens of Asgard hate Loki, as you say, won't my death better satisfy your need for revenge?

K (releasing Loki and pointing knife at Balder): You fool! What kind of man would sacrifice his life for that of his enemy?

B: A man who knows no enemy.

A man who believes in the value of all life.

A man who believes there is good in every soul.

Even in yours, Karnilla.

K (releasing him too): This is not over, Balder.

She apparates away. Odin confirms she is gone.

He vows to have the sword forged.

Sif and the Warriors Three are sent with the four elements to Nidavellir. In a month he there will be a ceremony to bestow the sword upon the winner. That he has much to deliberate upon. Now he would speak to his other son. But Loki is gone.

One month later, at the ceremony, Svadren is given to Balder for his mercy and compassion. Celebrations!

Some time after that Balder and Nanna, Thor, Sif and the Warriors Three return to Lilitha with the last few drops remaining in the vial and empty them onto the lake bed. Slowly, the water returns. The friends swim, splash and horse about. Happy ending!

Post credits - Loki just sitting there in the family home hatred bubbling away under the surface. One of his boys runs through shouting for his father. Sigyn's mum comes and ushers him away as Loki glowers.

[purplefeathersandblackleather]

https://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/ent/see-daniel-craig-as-thors-brother-in-doctor-strange-deleted-scene.html

Oh my GOD. I had no idea this was so close to being a thing in the MCU. When it popped up in my news feed that Daniel Craig was supposed to play Balder, I nearly jumped off the bed in shock.

I'm glad we got Reed instead BUT THIS HELPS MY CANON SO MUCH.

(For those select few who know, you'll understand. If you don't that's fine lol)

[the-mjolnir-owner]

Oh so balder IS coming in. Very sad. Anyways. In the comics didn't thor prefer loki over balder

Anon, in the comics Thor prefers Loki over pretty much the whole casting. If they do bring Balder then he'd be a suprise! secret sibling number 2 exactly like Hela and... it doesn't sit well with me. Let's see how they'll explain it this time.

[doctor-disc0]

AU where the MCU is exactly the same except Balder is there in the background sighing in exasperation

[lokiinmediasideblog]

Something i dont get.

Marvel making thor: we're not gonna have balder. That interferes with thor and loki dynamic

Marvel in loki season 2: SIKE we're adding balder and loki knows abt him 😁

It feels like a cheap telenovela twist at this point due to not even being mentioned, lol.

[valkyrieandstrangeridingaragorn]

Just heard that balder IS being introduced on thor 5...glad im not im marvel anymore. Must suck for u guys

There'll be a Thor 5? Please no more 🙈 I've seen Thor mistreated by the narrative, turned into a caricature of himself and hurt in more ways than one including giving him a fourth movie just so that he could see another loved one die (in his arms!)... because he hasn't seen enough already?

Tell you the truth, I'm completely out of the loop of whatever Marvel is doing these days and after The Marvels (that I only watched because I love and adore and worship Carol) I don't care about them at all anymore. I've reached my limit with these guys. Maybe that will change in time, dunno, but as of right now I'm not watching anything else the MCU does.

And to think I used to be one of those who would watch these movies several times in theatres... They have taken us for granted as if we were going to consume whatever they threw at us out of some nonsensical belief that there was some form of brand loyalty crap in here. I don't think so. Either make good content or get lost. I'm only sorry for Sam because he's a great Cap and my Stephen is still awesome thanks to Benedict but I can only see Waldron crap for so long (and he's writing two Avengers movies!!).

[galaxythreads]

Apparently balder is coming to the mcu in the next (last) thor film. Anyway back to video games

i should care but like i don't. i can't express how much i don't. they'll mess up balder too which will be honestly impressive to watch.

[therese-lokidottir]

Do you heard run or that baldur will make appear in thor 5?

And I heard that he will be thor other half sibling that he didn't know he existing at all. And look likely baldur will 'replace' Loki but O don't know what kind replace. Replace as in thor dynamics or replace as in be new punching bag

I find this funny and sad for a few reasons. First off, no cares about Balder. I can tell no one cares about Balder because he's never done anything. Like, Valkyrie has been on other superhero teams and she's been on covers. Sif has done stuff, she headed a book for a while. Balder, none of that he's been there since the sixties and he has never risen above supporting character.

Of all the other potential Thor characters that they could use, Beta Rey Bill or Eric Masterson, Balder truly seems like the least interesting choice they could make. It feels like everyone else is dead and gone so now they have to scrap the bottom for anyone for Thor to talk to.

I know I'm coming off mean here, Balder not a bad character. It just I feel like the chance to interduce him past. They already played the secret child card with Hela. It be a bad move to do the same plot twice. Also, what is so funny is the complete lack of interest in Sylvie. Like, no one's even bothered throwing that theory out.

Honestly, I don't care about much of anything from MCU right now.

[p4nishers]

TBH I can't even think about the Lokius in the latest episode I'm just reeling over the Balder reference. That has to be a Chekhov's gun. Idk how much most people know about mythology/the comics but an extremely short summary of both is that Balder was the beautiful, universally adored god of light, and the favorite child of both Odin and Frigga- he was the brother of Thor and Loki.

And he's mainly known for the fact that Loki murders him out of jealousy. So Balder is a very interesting choice to bring up in the Loki series!

YES!! im so curious whether they'll take it further or acknowledge the fact that loki killed him, i mean, is it even canon in the mcu? who knows but i was genuinely so hyped at the mention i love norse mythology so much