Here’s how well Thor’s prosthetic eye works:
The eye is extremely effective.
It is designed to adapt to the biology of the person using it, and since Thor is Asgardian, it means that the eye is able to match many of Thor’s superhuman abilities, such as his incredible durability.
The eye doesn’t enhance Thor at all, but it keeps up with him perfectly.
So if you want to learn all about how effective Thor’s prosthetic eye is, then you’re in the right place.
Let’s jump right into it!
Who Is Thor?
We have to start at the beginning.
Who is Thor?
According to legend, he’s the Norse god of thunder, but that’s not really what we’re talking about.
Thor is also a Marvel comic book hero inspired by the Norse mythology.
Even then, that’s not quite the whole story.
As you already know, marvel comic books have been adapted into a whole bunch of movies and TV shows.
They stretch across a joined continuity, and together, they make up the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
Marvel’s Thor is present in those representations, and the MCU version of Thor is distinct from other Marvel-based incarnations.
Today, we’re specifically talking about MCU Thor.
This is the Thor who is portrayed onscreen by Chris Hemsworth.
So far, Thor has had three standalone movies and has appeared in a number of other Marvel movies and depictions.
In the story, Thor is one of the most powerful members of the Avengers.
He is an Asgardian, and basically exists as a man-like god in the fictional universe.
He is virtually ageless, super strong, heals rapidly, and has a whole bunch of other powers, but those are the facts that will matter the most for today’s discussion.
Spoiler Warning
Before we can get to Thor’s prosthetic eye, I have to issue a spoiler warning.
This will involve major plot points in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
It also involves plot points from Thor Ragnarok.
If you haven’t seen any of these movies yet, then you will find spoilers for all three here.
If you want to avoid spoilers, now is a good time to stop reading.
Otherwise, I’m about to explain why Thor even has a prosthetic eye and how he acquired it.
Why Does Thor Have a Prosthetic Eye?
This story begins in the third solo Thor movie, Ragnarok.
In this movie, Thor discovers that he has an older sister named Hela.
She is representative of the goddess of death, and she is bad news incarnate.
In the movie, Thor’s dad, Odin, dies, and when he does, magic that he used to seal away Hela fails.
She shows up, and she proceeds to fight Thor and Loki.
She wins the fight handily.
She then takes over Asgard.
Thor goes through some adventures along the way, but eventually he is able to return to Asgard to fight Hela once more.
In that fight, he loses his left eye.
Ultimately, Thor is able to overcome Hela, but the damage to his eye is permanent.
Getting the Eye
The story continues in Avengers: Infinity War.
I’m going to skip a lot of plot points along the way, but eventually, the one-eyed Thor comes across the Guardians of the Galaxy.
Basically, they’re flying through space and happen to run into Thor.
They take him onto their ship, and that’s where he explains the dire circumstances he is in thanks to Thanos.
The Guardians agree to help Thor, and they split into two groups.
Thor goes to Nidavelir with Rocket Raccoon and Groot.
When they arrive, Thor and Rocket have a short conversation, and Rocket decides that he’s fully committed to helping Thor.
As a gesture, Rocket offers a prosthetic eye to Thor.
Thor immediately inserts it into his wounded eye socket, and that’s essentially how he ends up with the prosthetic eye.
For the rest of the movies (that are out so far), Thor continues to use the prosthetic eye, and it isn’t really mentioned.
From a plot and movie writing perspective, the eye is really there so that Thor can look like Thor without it creating a plot hole.
How Well Does the Prosthetic Eye Work? (4 Points)
To put it shortly, Thor’s prosthetic eye works extremely well.
It doesn’t outperform his real eye that it replaced, but it keeps up with him perfectly throughout the movies since he started wearing it.
That’s not surprising when you learn more about the eye.
It is designed to adapt to and match the physiology of whoever wears it.
So, when Thor puts on the eye, it effectively becomes an Asgardian eye.
This means it can keep up with the vision in Thor’s other eye.
It’s also extremely durable and seems like it can last for an indefinite amount of time.
You can look at a few components of its functionality to see that it’s an impressive prosthetic.
#1 Eyesight
The eye clearly gives Thor very good eyesight, but it doesn’t exhibit super eyesight powers.
A good example is when Thor first arrives on Nidavellir.
The place is completely dark because the star forge is not running.
Thor says, “I don’t think this thing works. Everything seems dark.”
It turns out that everything is dark and the eye is working fine, but this actually offers insight into the eye’s performance.
It is designed to match Thor’s biology, and in this case, it seems like the prosthetic eye is matching Thor’s natural eye perfectly.
He can’t see because it’s dark (which is to be expected), but neither eye can see better than the other.
It’s supposed to be a bit of a joke, but it shows that while Thor’s eyes work well, they don’t give him superpowered night vision or anything like that.
It’s probably safe to assume that Thor has very good vision—given his general superhuman prowess, but he doesn’t seem to have super eyesight. He’s not Superman, after all.
#2 Durability
Where the eye is most impressive is its durability.
It’s never clearly stated who the strongest Avenger is in the movies, and there are even jokes made out of this debate.
All of that said, there’s an argument to be made that Thor is the most physically durable Avenger.
He takes some serious beatings through the series, and he constantly rebounds from them.
Even after Thor gains his prosthetic eye, he has more than a few rough moments, and the eye seems completely undamaged throughout.
Three particular moments are worth mentioning.
The first happens shortly after Thor gets the eye.
He arrives on Nidavellir, and Eitri the dwarf hits Thor with all of his strength right in the face, near the prosthetic eye.
Eitri is super strong, compared to humans in the series, so this is a big punch.
The eye is completely undamaged.
Right after that is a much more impressive feat of durability.
Thor is on Nidavellir to get a weapon that will help him fight Thanos.
In order to forge the weapon, they need to use the power of the dwarf star right by the planet, but it has gone dark.
Thor restarts the star, but when he does, the mechanism that channel’s the power of the star to the forge breaks.
In order to make the forging work, Thor decides to hold open the mechanism.
This exposes him to the full power of the solar radiation at point blank range.
Thor opens the mechanism and withstands the star’s full power for several seconds before collapsing.
When he does collapse, he is severely burned and unconscious.
The new weapon, Stormbreaker, ultimately helps Thor channel his powers and heal rapidly, but through that whole sequence, the prosthetic eye is perfectly fine.
Thor immediately enters into battle after that event, and the eye gives him no trouble at all.
The third feat happens toward the end of Avengers: End Game.
I’m skipping a whole lot of additional plot points, but eventually, we get to a point where Thor, Iron Man, and Captain America are going to fight Thanos in a three-on-one battle.
The battle is vicious, and all three heroes take a beating along the way.
In particular, Thor gets his face smashed in pretty severely.
He is bloodied and beaten, but in the midst of all of the fighting, his prosthetic eye is still fine.
With these examples, it’s fair to say that the eye exhibits better durability than Thor himself.
#3 Longevity
Another property to note about the eye is that it lasts a long time.
Before it was Thor’s, the eye had a previous owner.
We don’t know how long it was in that owner’s possession, but Rocket stole the eye and carried it with him for another undefined period of time.
Only after all of that, Thor took the eye and used it.
From that moment, he has continued to use the eye for more than five years in cinematic time.
So, the eye has worked just fine, even through the abuse Thor puts it through, for more than five years.
And, it has shown no signs of aging or degradation.
So, it’s a device made to last, and if you compare it to anything in the real world, the longevity is extremely impressive.
#4 Special Powers
Ok, I baited you a little bit with this one.
So far in the movies, the eye has not exhibited any special powers—unless you want to count the impressive features that I have already listed.
The MCU writers could always choose to add powers to the eye later, but so far, that’s not the case, and it’s unlikely to happen.
The eye works really well and is impressive, but it hasn’t granted Thor any new abilities.
