In the MCU, what is a 'god'?

[Zardnaar]

They're the ones in spandex.

 

[Mercurius]

My sense is that the MCU, taking after the comics, doesn't address the question of God, and the term "god" (small g) isn't technical or specific, but merely refers to beings of great power, longevity, and probably who were worshipped at one point or the other.

Rather than "gods and mortals," I see it more as beings of different orders, evolutionary advancement, power, etc. Marvel has all sorts of powerful beings existing on different tiers or levels, and Asgardians are "god-like" relative to humans and most superhumans.

In other words, there are only beings - of different orders. Even the Beyonder is a being. God-like, but not God.

 

[Umbran]

The MCU has mucked this question up somewhat. Early in the MCU, they seemed to make a decision to have nothing be particularly spiritual, or outright magic. All magic could be seen as advanced science. This led to positioning the Asgardians as highly advanced aliens.

There is no canonical answer to the question - either in the comics or the MCU. Therefore, we cannot expect consistency with how the term is applied.

 

[Baron Opal II]

In the comics, gods are those who have the primordial power of creation, seeded by the Demiurge. This had the byproduct of allowing life to form on the planet. They will be consumed, and their energy recycled, at the end of days by Atun, child of Gaea. Odin is in this group, as is Mephisto, Zeus, Yama, Erishkagal, Hela, and Cthon (author of the Darkhold).

It's more complicated than that, but there is a "god level", and a number of underworld gods complain about not being believed in and their underwords are stagnant with the lack of new souls.

Thor Annual #10, I believe.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

This is my thinking as well. They're going to keep it vague because that's a whole theological debate that would get very thorny for a franchise worth billions.

I've been reading the first Ghost Rider collection and it's wild to see a time when you had Satan as an antagonist. Heck, at one point a person that may or may not have been Jesus showed up to save Ghost Rider from certain doom.

If the MCU is anything like the comics it will never be entirely clear and will change quite a bit from writer to writer. (As opposed to DC comics where one of the characters is the archangel to whom has been entrusted the vengeance of the Lord and Lucifer had his own series iirc).

 

[Mirtek]

Anyway, yeah. What is a god in the MCU?

Whatever the latest movie retcons it to?

Odin outright says that the Asgardians are not truely gods,

In movie two he says so. Yet in movie three he had a change of heart and is all "god of this, goddess of that"

And in movie 4 Odin is no longer around, but all of sudden having gods is perfectly normal and everybody and their dogs have them and it's not even unusual for them to be living with and protecting their followers.

 

[RealAlHazred]

In the MCU, what is a 'god'?

Puny.