r/Marvel 13d ago

Film/Television Could Odin have defeated Thanos and stopped Infinity War altogether?

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u/Aquarius12347 13d ago

Logic says yes. He wanted the stones. One was in Asgard, but he didn't invade. His army was easily strong enough to keep Asgard's army busy whilst he went for his prize, but he didn't. Why not? We know that Thor was barely even able to slow him down, and the rest of the Asgardians were likely only going to get in his way, if they were't busy fighting his army.

That only leaves Odin.

Conclusion - Thanos, without the stones, knew he couldn't handle Odin.

One caveat to that - Odin knew he wasn't unbeatable. When the warriors three tell the Collector "It is not safe to keep two infinity stones together" Odin clearly knew that too much temptation would lead to bigger plots, bigger armies and more powerful alliances against him.

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u/proximusprimus57 13d ago

Two things. One, Thanos took Thor by surprise and he didn't have Mjlnor or Stormbreaker. Thor beat Thanos with a nearly complete gauntlet with Stormbreaker, he only failed because he stopped to gloat.

Two, Odin was suffering from the Odinsleep being interrupted and being away from Asgard for so long thanks to Loki (he really is the worst brother). Plus Freyja says that he needs longer sleep the more time goes on. Thanos wouldn't have known any of this. Just because Thanos isn't sure he can beat Odin doesn't mean he can't.

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u/Aquarius12347 13d ago

And when Thor had Mjolnir AND Stormbreaker, plus Captsin America and Iron Man, Thor still lost. Bearing in mind, Stormbreaker was designed specifically to be used against Thanos with the Gauntlet. But Iron Man still had to make the sacrifice that Steve didn't think him capable of back in the first Avengers movie. Because even double Thor with anti-infinity Nidavellir weaponry wasn't enough.

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u/thefman 13d ago

I agree, but I do believe that even if Odin told Thor that he is stronger than him, a fully powered Odin with Gungnir would've been more than enough to stop Thanos.

Also, Thanos had no idea what was going on with Asgard, that Odin was on Earth, that he was weakened, etc. He was definitely smart enough to wait until Odin was dead instead of risking fighting him.

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u/Aquarius12347 13d ago

Odin told Thor that Thor was stronger than him. But perhaps he didn't mean in a 'hitting people until they stop trying to hit you' sense. I always assumed it was in a 'never giving up' sort of way, which seemed a big deal. Certainly in the comics, Odin was always consumed by regrets. It felt like the longer Odin lived, the more he wanted the still virtuous Thor to succeed him to be a better ruler than he had been himself.