Obedience Disk vs. Thor, Explained

Thor is at the top of the Avenger list for strength and power. He is the Asgardian god who has commensurate abilities.

Thor has all the top superhero qualities–superhuman speed, strength, and immunity. His great hammer, Mjolnir, enhances his power by producing lightning and thunder.

With all this power, how could an Obedience Disk beat Thor?.

What are Obedience Disks?

Obedience Disks are devices meant to control captured and enslaved individuals. Scrapper 142 put one on Thor’s neck and it immobilized him after she captured him on the planet Sakaar.

Scrapper 142 is a warrior based on the Marvel comic character Valkyrie. She lives on Sakaar and serves as a bounty hunter to the Grandmaster.

The Grandmaster is Sakaar’s ruler and behind the Obedience Disk. A tyrant, he maintains order by hosting battles among slaves, called the Contest of Champions.

Obedience Disks lodge under the skin of the neck, even Asgardians like Thor. A remote control operates these disks, and this remote is the only way to detach them.

Scrapper 142 demonstrated the controlling ways of Obedience Disks by incapacitating Thor when he tried to break free from a chair he was bound to.

They repeatedly used Obedience Disks on Thor when he fought against his fellow Avenger the Hulk in the Contest of Champions. This enabled the Hulk to prevail in the Thor: Ragnarok movie.

In this clip, we see the Grandmaster’s manipulation, Scrapper 142 looking on, the spectacle of the battle, the Hulk’s rage, and how Thor is about to win, until the Obedience Disk disables him.

Thus, the Obedience Disk defeated Thor.

Obedience Disk vs. Thor

One way to explain this contest is that Thor could not contend with the Obedience Disk’s power.

Yet Thor did not stay down for long. Eventually, Thor stole Scrapper 142’s controller to get the Obedience Disk off his neck.

Thor kept the Obedience Disk, the controller, and he installed the disk on Loki’s back to prevent the latter from betraying him.

Thor ended up escaping from Sakaar with the Hulk, which, in turn, led to a revolt against the Grandmaster. So, Thor prevailed against the Obedience Disk and helped overthrow Sakaar’s ruler.

Obedience Disks often incapacitate their victim, leaving them under the Grandmaster’s control. Here, Thor found a way out from under its control.

However, if we inspect the film further, we may arrive at a different conclusion.

Thor: Ragnarok creator Taika Waititi said in an interview that the Obedience Disk took away Thor’s power in a way that parallels Thor previously losing his hammer. This adds credibility that Thor could lose in a fight.

Another commentary highlighted how Ragnarok undermined the mythology of Thor. Waititi added more humor and irreverence to the film and approached it with a desire to further break down Thor’s invincibility.

Obedience Disks controlled the Hulk and Thor, two of MCU’s most powerful characters. Even if the Hulk and Thor regained control of themselves, these disks temporarily defeated them.

The viewpoint here is that the disks took down Thor a notch or two. For a while, at least.

How can Thor get Electrocuted?

Obedience Disks work by producing electric shocks on the person, or victim, who wears them. One controlled the Hulk, and another controlled Thor.

In the comics, Obedience Disks could also attach to the chest where electrical shocks could channel.

Yet, there is a problem with the logic here for Thor. As one article pointed out, it’s counterintuitive to use electrocution against the god of thunder and lightning.

The thinking is that he should be immune to such control.

However, as this video explains, the MCU showed Thor is not immune to every form of electricity.

Part of the explanation for how Thor could get electrocuted is that a lightning bolt contains 100 million volts of electricity and is ten times hotter than the Sun’s surface. Hence, this level of energy could still affect Thor.

More likely, Thor could handle that type of electrocution, but not the Obedience Disk type because it ran into his insides and channeled energy at a higher rate.

This is one way of thinking about how Thor could get electrocuted.

Others think Thor was not electrocuted in Ragnarok, but injected with a neurotoxin. Yet, this does not seem likely, given Thor’s reaction and Marvel’s explanation of Obedience Disks.

Can Thor be Harmed?

Thor is presumed to be immortal. However, immortality does not always mean no possibility of death. In this case, it seems to mean Thor can live a long time and could be killed at some point.

Marvel Thor is based on Norse mythology. Both point to a special diet with the Golden Apples of Idunn as the source of Thor’s longevity. Thor can be harmed then.

The mythic side explains that Thor lives without aging due to the apples, but he is not immortal. In Marvel and Myth, we should not think Thor is incapable of being harmed.

The film Ragnarok takes its name, appropriately enough, from when Thor is predicted to die. This is the term for the end of gods and men in Scandinavian mythology.

Given this context, it makes sense that Thor can be harmed and that the Obedience Disk could be one of those rare items that could harm him.

As another article stated, immortality does not mean invincibility. Since Thor survived Ragnarok, it was possible that he could die in Thor: Love and Thunder. But he didn’t.

Thor and the Obedience Disk

Thor can be harmed and defeated. The Obedience Disk did both to him, but not for long.

Thor got out from under its grip. So, the Obedience Disk defeated him for a time, but he also prevailed over it.

Thor can meet his demise, but it has not happened yet.

Todd Wahlstrom

Todd Wahlstrom is a creative and analytical freelance writer and life-long Star Wars fan who has expanded into writing about the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He has written about recent shows such as The Mandalorian and Andor and classic topics like Darth Vader, the Jedi, and Boba Fett. His recent articles include the MCU’s Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor. Todd is the author of a non-fiction book, holds a Ph.D. in history, and enjoys hiking, running, and reading about science.