Legendary author Neil Gaiman recently revealed that in the early 2000s, he was part of a team that worked on an animated Thor series that would’ve served as a prequel to the 2011 live-action film.
In a recent response to fans on Tumblr, Gaiman was asked about working on a potential Thor project if Marvel asked him. He then revealed he basically already had.
“Long ago — around 2006 — I was asked to create a Thor animated cartoon, and I got all excited, and the brief was it had to be set before the Thor movie,” he stated. “I did a deep Thor dive, reread everything Jack Kirby drew, came up with a whole story shape that ran a few seasons showing young Loki going from hero-worshipping his big brother to Going to the Bad, and then they told me I wasn’t actually allowed to have any of the characters at any point be different in any way from how they were in the Thor movie, so I said no thank you and stopped.”
Thor remains one of Marvel’s biggest characters
While no Thor prequel series ever released, the God of Thunder had plenty of time to shine in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In total, Chris Hemsworth appeared in nine different films and television series’ as Thor, in either starring or cameo roles. His most recent appearance came in 2022’s Thor: Love and Thunder, a film that received divisive reactions from both fans and critics alike.
With four installments released, and a fifth rumored to be on the way, the Thor franchise remains a cornerstone of the MCU. As Marvel Studios dives deeper into the Multiverse, it remains to be seen how Thor will factor into the company’s long-term plans; although his brother, Loki (Tom Hiddleston), is now an integral part of the Multiverse following the events of his Disney+ series, which saw him become the protector of the sacred timelines.