Thor has been on quite a journey throughout his career in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, dropping some incredibly memorable quotes all the time. An ancient Asgardian and living God of Thunder, the Mighty Thor is one of the Avenger’s strongest members, destroying terrifying foes with reckless abandon and a smile on his face. Thanks to his signature humor, almost medieval manner of speaking, and Chris Hemsworth’s pitch-perfect performance, Thor is responsible for some of the most entertaining and thought-provoking quotes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
A good Thor quote can mean a lot of different things. Thanks to Thor’s gradual transformation into a comedy character, many of his best lines are hilarious jokes or quick-witted jabs, often serving as comic relief in an ensemble cast or in his own film. However, sometimes Thor’s superficial antics betray his ancient wisdom, taking advantage of his advanced age to espouse some truly moving or even poignant quotes. Having hit some highs and lows throughout his journey in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, each of Thor’s film appearances has at least one incredible quote.
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“This drink, I like it! Another one!”
Thor
The start of Thor’s Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline may not be the most memorable film of Phase One, introducing audiences to one of the most important members of the Avengers early on. Here, Thor’s way of speaking is more Shakespearean than ever, something the script often manages to extract some hilarious humor from. The film’s best line easily comes during a brief scene in a local restaurant, where Thor is being studied by his wary new human allies on Midgard.
Trying coffee for the first time, Thor becomes a fan, exclaiming “This drink, I like it! Other!” before smashing his mug on the floor, scaring everyone. The hilarious misunderstanding that Thor meant no offense and was simply treating Earth’s simple family restaurant like an Asgardian mead hall is a pretty funny social mix-up. Overall, is one of the most memorable moments in the criminally forgotten first appearance of everyone’s favorite Thunder God.
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“I look like I feel like playing?!”
The Avengers
Thor’s relationship with his adoptive brother Loki has always been one of the character’s most fascinating angles. Although their brotherly bond is explored in later Marvel Cinematic Universe projects, their relationship begins quite antagonistically in the series, largely thanks to Loki’s selfish and vile quest to conquer Earth in The Avengers. Unlike Thor, Loki seems to have adopted human speech patterns much more easily, making the contrast between them even more hilarious when they confront each other.
While tracking down his delinquent brother, Thor demands to know where the Tesseract is, only to be met with Loki’s signature sarcasm. There’s something endearingly funny about Thor’s angry response, still living up to his status as a living Norse myth by slanting his speech with an awkwardly old-fashioned choice of words. There’s something to be said for the loss of Thor’s more old-fashioned way of speaking as the films progressed, a subtle charm of the early Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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“I’d rather be a good man than a great king.”
Thor: The Dark World
As good as Thor’s comedies are, his occasional serious speeches are often surprisingly moving, emphasizing his wisdom accumulated over a very long life. The moments in the Thor films that demonstrate his character’s dramatic growth throughout the quadrilogy produce some of the character’s best lines in the MCU. A great example of this are the conversations he has with his father, Odin, at the end of the first two Thor films. In the second film, his difficult conversation with his father stands out as particularly powerful.
Following the events of Thor: The Dark World, the God of Thunder became a changed man after witnessing Loki and Malekith’s ambitious attempts to seize power by any means necessary. Despite spending his long life longing for his birthright as king of Asgard, Thor ultimately rejects his inheritance when the time comes to reward his valiant sacrifices with the throne. Thor explains that, despite all his faults, Loki was actually more fit to rule Asgard than he otherwise would have been, having no ambition to lead and not wanting to conquer it any time soon.
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“Yes, well, that’s a very, very interesting theory. I have a simpler one: you’re not worthy.”
Avengers: Age of Ultron
In fact, Thor doesn’t have much screen presence Avengers: Age of Ultron. Separating from the rest of the Avengers midway through the story to entertain his own subplot with Erik Selvig, Thor doesn’t have much to do other than the spectacular fight scenes against Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch and Ultron’s robots. That being said, one of the biggest scenes in the entire film revolves around him. More specifically, it centers on his hammer, Mjölnir, and the Avengers’ attempts to lift it at the Avengers Tower party. It’s great to see the whole team just hanging out and spitting.
Thor throws a big punch after each Avenger is unable to lift their beloved weapon, barring a light jab from Steve Rogers on the table. Feeling duped, the Avengers’ more scientific personalities, Tony Stark, Rhodey, and Hawkeye, attempt to fabricate elaborate explanations for how the hammer actually works, hypothesizing a magical fingerprint scanner as the true culprit behind the enchantment. Thor interrupts them by calmly stating that they are not worthy, taking the hammer and throwing it in his hand as if it weighed nothing.
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“See, Loki, life is about growth and change. But you seem to want to stay the same.”
Thor: Ragnarok
Thor and Loki’s relationship evolves further in Thor: Ragnarok when the two are trapped on Sakaar after a humiliating defeat to their sister Hela, whose existence was previously hidden from them when she was sealed away by Odin. Although Loki may have finally set aside his lofty dreams of ruling the Earth, he still seeks power at the expense of those around him, doing everything he can to ensure his own safety. Just when it looks like he’s about to stab his brother in the back once again, Thor flips the script by predicting his betrayal.
Watching Loki writhe in pain thanks to one of the Grandmaster’s implants, Thor berates his younger brother for refusing to grow or change, yet reverting to his treacherous old self. This refreshing twist on their usual dynamic was a welcome beat in the Thor: RagnarokThe plot that subverted expectations. Not only that, but Thor’s lines predicted Loki’s ultimate change of heart in his own self-titled MCU series, where he learns to sacrifice a life with his loved ones to save the entire multiverse.
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“Well, if I’m wrong, then… what else can I lose?”
Avengers: Infinity War
Avengers: Infinity War sees Thor at his most ferocious and bloodthirsty, after losing so much to consecutive threats from Heal and Thanos. Watching his mother, father, brother, and entire homeland destroyed in short order, Thor is a rather tragic figure in the Marvel Cinematic Universe despite his heroism and shallow humor. This all comes to a boiling point during his conversation about killing Thanos with Rocket Raccoon, who tries to stop Thor from charging headlong into battle.
In fact, Thor’s entire monologue here is pure gold. He explains that, at 1,500 years old and with a death count twice as high, Thanos is just another enemy of Thor, even though deep down he knows that’s not true. Still, Thor insists that fate wants him alive, due to his survivor’s guilt to some divine intervention that somehow spared his life in every dangerous battle. Almost suicidal at this point, Thor’s thirst for battle with Thanos is punctuated by this chilling declaration, clarifying that he no longer has anything to lose.
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“I went for the head.”
Avengers: Endgame
The end result of Thor’s battle with Thanos is a bitter disappointment for the God of Thunder, nearly preventing Thanos from snapping his fingers with all six Infinity Stones and instantly erasing half of all life in the universe. As Thor buries Stormbreaker into Thanos’ chest, the Mad Titan taunts him that he should have gone for the head before finally implementing his insidious plan. If only his aim had been better, Thor could have killed Thanos and prevented the Avengers’ most significant loss ever.
At the beginning Avengers: Endgame, Thor now has more reason to stop Thanos when the team finds evidence of a second use of the Infinity Stones on a remote farming planet. Confronting him here, Thor is eager to decapitate Thanos once he has all the useful knowledge he possesses, letting his head fall to the ground with a sickening thud. When the horrified Rocket asks Thor what he did, he coldly responds with a simple “I went for the head“, following the advice of his enemy.
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“Eight years, seven months and six days…”
Thor: Love and Thunder
Thor’s most recent appearance in Thor: Love and Thunder it was riddled with problems, loaded with unfunny jokes that covered up his previous trauma. However, one aspect of the film that really worked was the return of Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, now dying of cancer and wielding the fractured Mjölnir as The Mighty Thor. For the first time in a long time, Jane is reunited with her godly ex-boyfriend, now suddenly on the same power level as a Norse superhero using his own lightning.
Hoping to keep things light, Jane spontaneously asks Thor how long it has been since they last saw each other, only for Thor to quickly respond with an incredibly accurate amount of time. Although he may not have shown it, Thor really cared a lot for Jane and clearly missed her dearly, even if things didn’t work out between them. Their bittersweet reunion in Thor: Love and Thunder is easily the strongest aspect of the film, something that is demonstrated by Thortouching words upon finally seeing his old flame again.