Just the idea that no matter what Thor is up to, he always comes back to Earth is something special – Jason Aaron
When the film Alien was released in nineteen seventy-nine, it famously used the tagline “In space, no one can hear you scream” in order to tempt audiences to sample its horrific delights. It worked.
And it worked because it not only reinforced the idea that the crew of the Nostromo was in space alone with a xenomorph where no one could help them, it also reminded the audience that space is a vacuum, which means that there is no noise in space, as sound needs air to travel through, and no air, means no sound.
And that’s why no one could hear the crew of the Nostromo scream in space. The tagline hit a perfect cinematic trifecta, as it was clever, and both scientifically and factually accurate.
Wait a minute, if space is a vacuum and doesn’t contain any air, does that mean that there’s no oxygen in space? That’s right, that’s exactly what it means.
But if there’s no oxygen in space, how did Thor breathe in space in Infinity War before he was rescued by the Guardians of the Galaxy? The short answer is, he didn’t.
Thor didn’t breathe in space during Infinity War because no one can breathe in space, as there isn’t any oxygen to breathe. In that case, if he couldn’t breathe, how did he survive?
Ah, now you’re asking the right question, and we’re more than happy to explain just how Thor was able to survive for long enough to be rescued by his new crew, the Asgardians of the Galaxy in Infinity War.
When Thanos turned up to wreak havoc and destruction on the bridge of The Statesman in Infinity War and left Thor abandoned in the depths of space, it wasn’t the first time that the God of Thunder had been exposed to the vacuum of space and survived.
When Hela cast Thor and Loki out of the Bifrost during Ragnarok they were hurled into space, before crashing to the surface of Sakaar.
And remember the closing moments of Thor?
When Loki lets go of his brother’s hand and plunges into the darkest, depths of the cosmos, he is literally falling through space, and as he’s returned time and time again, most recently in the Disney Plus series, Loki, its fairly safe to assume that the God of Mischief managed to survive the experience unscathed.
So, given that we can assume that Asgardian physiology is able to cope with, and survive the harsh vacuum of space.
Whoa, wait a minute, Loki isn’t Asgardian, he’s a Frost Giant.
True, as Thor can also survive on the surface on Jotunheim, again, and we may be jumping the gun here, but we’re going to go out on a limb and postulate that maybe, just maybe Giants and Gods can survive in the sort of environments that would be instantly lethal to humans.
He Flies Through Space All The Time In The Comics
Having avidly read Thor in all of the book’s iterations since Walt Simonson’s groundbreaking run on the comic, we took it for granted that Thor would, and could survive in space in both Ragnarok and Infinity War as he spends an unprecedented amount of time hurtling through the void in the comics.
And the crazy thing is, we’ve never questioned his ability to survive in space, and Marvel has never really explained how he can survive in space, as they, like the readers, just assumed that he could do it because he was, and is Asgardian.
They Make Them Tough On Asgard
Having said that, there are a number of powers that, as an Asgardian, Thor has that probably make it possible for him to exist in the cold, unremitting depths of the Universe.
The inherently long life span of Asgardians (which according to Loki is somewhere in the region of five thousand years), implies that they have a level of stamina far beyond anything that humans could comprehend (as does the amount of physical damage that Thor quickly recovers from after his battle with the Hulk in Ragnarok), and as Thor fought and would almost certainly have beaten the Hulk were it not for the intervention of the Grandmaster in Thor: Ragnarok, we know that he’s incredibly strong too.
All of Thor’s staggering strength and stamina seem like a perfect combination for surviving in space.
And Then There’s The Forge
Honestly, we don’t know what more we can say to convince you that Thor could survive in space simply because he’s an Asgardian. Actually, there is this one other thing that should prove the point that we’re trying to make, and that’s Stormbreaker.
Remember how Hela destroyed Mjolnir in Ragnarok which left Thor without a weapon? You do? Good.
Then you’ll also remember that he traveled to Nidavellir to persuade the dwarves to forge him a new weapon.
But as the neutron star that powered their forge was out of alignment, it had to be reset if Thor wanted his weapon, and do you remember what Thor did?
He single-handedly realigned the neutron star in the cold depths of space which allowed the dwarf to make Stormbreaker.
How did Thor manage to survive that? Simple, it’s because he’s an Asgardian.
The Last Word On Space Survival
The truth is, Marvel has never explicitly put any sort of limit on Thor’s power or stated what he can and can’t do.
He can’t breathe in space because no one can, there isn’t any air for him to breathe, but he can survive in space for the same reason that he’s lived for nearly two thousand years, helped to fight off an alien invasion of New York, conquered the champion of Sakaar, found a way to beat his more powerful sister Hela, chopped Thanos’ head off and traveled through time to see his mother one last time and retrieve Mjolnir.
He was able to do it all because he’s Asgardian and he’s the God of Thunder.
