Thor In Animation - A Retrospective
Thor would make his first of few animated appearances in the second season of the Fantastic Four cartoon � he appeared twice in this show and both appearances were first class. He aided the FF in battling Galactus in both episodes � he originally called for their help when battling Ego, The Living Planet in To Battle The Living Planet. There�s no mention of Donald Blake here and there isn�t any need for him, but what we do see of Thor is really, really good stuff. His design is faithful to his comic book costume and pops on screen thanks to the lively colouring that this show used (which looks exceptional when the animation is at it�s best). I really like the visuals behind this show, it�s bright and dynamic and really helps with the tone of the cartoon. 
The casting in this season was usually stellar too � they recast some of the villains from the first season and the new additions were all fine, but John Rhys Davies as Thor is utterly outstanding. Coupled with his great, Norse like dialogue and this was a guest star worth remembering. It was nice seeing his interaction with Reed and him having absolutely no interest in pitting his strength against Ben despite the big orange lug acting annoyed that Thor is genuinely stronger than him. I�ve always liked this characterisation on Ben�s part � since all he really has is his strength now, it�s quite human that he would threatened when someone stronger than him comes along. It added a nice bit of development to them both, especially Ben showing his appreciation when Thor saves him from the pits of Ego. 
The episode ends with one of the true highlights of the show, as Reed realises he�s essentially doomed the planet by lifting the embargo he and Galactus previously agreed to in the downright terrible original Galactus episode from season one and there�s an feeling of dread as the viewers know that Galactus is bound to return and feed upon our planet. So naturally when he comes back (or is forced back rather) and must feed upon our planet to survive, Thor is none too impressed with the giant and returns to help the FF and Galactus learns it�s none too wise to piss off a God of Thunder. This next sentence may sound strange but Thor�s appearance here wasn�t really epic, but still memorable all the same. I�m not sure how interested I would�ve been in a full on Thor animated series back in the 1990�s glory days but I think they pretty much got everything right with what I saw here in this show. So when it was this version that returned in The Incredible Hulk�s Mortal Bounds, I was really, really happy to see him again. This episode fleshes out the character a little more with the introduction of Dr Donald Blake, Thor�s alter ego. The episode sees a gamma virus spreading throughout Detroit and Dr Blake summons Betty Ross to help study and fight the illness, until she reveals that Banner is the only one capable of curing the disease and advises Blake to find the Hulk and Banner will follow. An interesting note, it seems the world at large assumed that Banner died in the gamma reactor explosion that turned him into The Hulk. Blake then turns into Thor with the intention of dragging The Hulk back to Detroit unaware that Hulk and Banner are actually the same person. As UPN was new and too stupid to greatly get in the creative team�s way, we didn�t have to put up with the inane censorship that hindered the Spider-Man and X-Men cartoons on FOX, which basically meant Hulk and Thor could pound the crap out of each other, which meant the fight scenes could actually add something to the episodes, rather than get in the way as they tended to do in Spider-Man especially. The episode itself is a highly enjoyable and would be Thor�s last guest starring appearance of the 1990�s. He appeared in the title cards of The Avengers: United They Stand and was mentioned a few times during the show�s run if one recalls (without ever explaining where he is, naturally). He was slated to appear in season two, before Marvel�s bankruptcy ended the show. I seem to remember seeing pictures of a toy showcasing his design, but that might be a case of my memory playing tricks on me (I believe I have badly damaged my brain cell due to the majesty of alcohol).
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