After watching Thor: Love and Thunder in July, my mind returned to RPGs and Broken Wheel Cosmology. The following is limited to RPG worldbuilding, and is not a general review, nor is it written with deep familiarity of the cosmology of Marvel Comics.*
Briefly, and without spoilers, the premise is that a cursed, symbiotic sword (very D&D) drives the antagonist, Gorr the God Butcher, into a god-killing rampage. Thor and his companions pursue Gorr, traveling to strange worlds and risking their lives to stop his mad quest.
What does it take to kill a god?
Much is made of the Necrosword’s ability to kill gods, but… that’s hardly a unique quality within the Marvel movies. Indeed, in summarizing the (considerable) backstory of the three previous Thor movies and the various related Marvel properties, the film alludes to Thor’s brother, father, and sister – all gods – dying by various means.
Presumably this just means the Necrosword is just unusually good at killing gods… but it drains a lot of the mythic cache from the idea of a god-killing weapon.
What do gods need from their worshippers?
The movie’s prologue is Gorr’s inciting incident. His prayers to his god Rapu are ignored, and his daughter dies. Soon thereafter, he meets Rapu, who is indifferent to Gorr’s suffering, even when Gorr tells him that Gorr himself is the last of Rapu’s followers; Rapu dismissively says something to the effect that more will follow, and tries to kill Gorr.
Pretty strange! I’ve always assumed that in most fantastic cosmologies, the gods have some practical need of worship; either broad appeal among many mortals, or sustained worship from an intensely devoted minority cult. In T:L&T logic, why have worshipers at all?
Why worship gods at all?
The other side of the coin is, of course, why do people care about the gods? The gods presented in T:L&T are, at best, an indifferent and ineffectual aristocratic class; at worst, they’re actively parasitic. The film seems to vaguely imply that there are good gods out there, but the movie doesn’t show them. Besides Gorr’s prologue, the most detailed look at the gods in the film is a visit to Omnipotence City, where the assembly of the divine is more concerned with orgies than stopping Gorr.
In the real world, the inherent unknowability of the spiritual, and the resulting need for faith, mediates human relationships to the divine.
But in a world where ordinary beings can go see the gods at work – where they are knowable – why worship them?
The movie grapples with this question… briefly. In one of the most compelling scenes, Gorr interrogates Valkyrie, observing that her sister… valkyries were sent to die in battle at the whims of the gods. It's a good scene, but the heroes never make an affirmative case for the gods to counteract Gorr’s criticism.
What about D&D? The Marvel universe (cinematic or otherwise) is a good analogy for the world of D&D because they’re both kitchen sink assemblies from many different sources. Thor is mighty because he is a god, but he encounters aliens, mutants, magicians, and monsters who are as strong or stronger than he. Is there anything special about a “god” in such a world, or is this a “pay no attention to the man behind the curtain” situation? We should ask the same question in fantastic RPG worlds.
*I appreciate that I am probably only scratching the surface of the Marvel cosmology as developed in the comic books. Elaboration from those more knowledgeable is welcome.
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