Marvel’s Asgard is a place of extreme interest for every comic book fan. The place has a rich history and houses a plethora of great characters. Although Thor, Loki, and Odin are definitely the most famous Asgardians, this comic book iteration of the famous location from Norse mythology is home to a variety of other interesting characters with one of them being Balder the Brave.
Balder the Brave is a fictional character belonging to the Marvel Comics universe. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, he first appeared in the comic book Journey into Mystery #85 in October 1962. An Asgardian, he is based on the god Baldr from Norse mythology, and is the brother of Thor, god of thunder. He is also one of the close allies of the Avengers.
The rest of this article is going to focus solely on the character of Balder the Brave, as we bring you everything you need to know about him and his deeds. We are going to tell you some information about him and his life, as well as his role in the whole story. We are also going to answer a series of relevant questions about Balder the Brave.
Who is Balder the Brave?
One of the Norse gods of Asgard, Balder is the half-brother of the God of Thunder Thor, companion of the Warriors Three, and a faithful follower and son of Odin, ruler of the gods. Balder has aided Thor against many of his enemies, such as Skagg the Storm Giant and the fire demon Surtur when he warned Thor that Loki would free them, who planned for them to kill Odin after Heimdall, Thor’s adoptive brother, Loki, the Executioner and Enchantress, The Enchanters Three, The Wrecker, and Mangog.
Balder is also briefly made ruler of Asgard during Thor’s quest to find a missing Odin. Balder is loved by most who know him. Threatened with execution for ignoring the call to battle for the sake of a fallen bird, his men begged Odin to take one of their lives. Like the mythological version, the Marvel version of Balder is the catalyst that will trigger Ragnarök and end Asgard.
To prevent this, Odin cast spells to keep Balder invulnerable. This almost breaks when Loki had the blind god Hoder accidentally kill Balder with a mistletoe arrow. On the second occasion, however, Balder is traumatized by the experience upon seeing the souls of everyone he had killed in battle and gives up killing.
It is later revealed that in order to escape Hel, Balder was forced by Hela to kill all those “tens of thousands” he had previously killed in battle again, in an epic confrontation that lasted so long that Balder’s hair turned white when he finally emerged victorious from his long depression. While Balder treasures the friendship, Volstagg’s efforts do little to cheer him up.
Balder also has a love-hate relationship with Karnilla, the Queen of the Norns, who has aided Loki and Asgard on occasion; on one occasion Karnilla forces Balder to renounce Odin and serve her, while on another she joins Asgard against Surtur at Balder’s request. a unique member of the Asgardians. Karnilla’s lust for Balder inadvertently causes the death of Balder’s love Nanna, an act Balder has never forgotten.
Balder then accepts the warrior part of himself and goes on to save the people of Karnilla from the spell of a rogue giant. Balder and all the other Asgardians (with the exception of Thor) are eventually killed during the final Ragnarok, although it is later found inhabiting the Destroyer’s armor. Loki reveals that Balder is the son of Odin and Frigga, and Thor’s half-brother, meaning he later becomes Prince of Asgard.
When Thor is forced to kill his reborn grandfather Bor, Loki forces Balder, now a royal prince, to exile the God of Thunder. Balder then assumes the throne of Asgard. When Loki has the Asgardians relocate to Latveria, he is shown at a banquet hosted by Doctor Doom. Balder even asked that since the Asgardians are now in Latveria, why couldn’t they invite Thor as well?
Loki calmed Balder down to prevent Doctor Doom from reacting to the comment. Balder meets a restaurant owner named Bill (who fell in love with Kelda and followed her to Latveria) and gives him a cloak to keep him warm. Balder later witnesses Bill’s assault by Loki’s minions, after Bill discovered the evil nature of Loki’s plan with Doctor Doom. After defending himself, Bill dies in Balder’s arms.
Balder and the other Asgardians retaliate even after Doctor Doom kills Kelda. Balder and the other Asgardians are forced to fight Endrik (who has been modified with technological implants) and many other maimed Asgardians. Balder and the other Asgardians continued their fight with the maimed Asgardians while Thor battled Doctor Doom.
Balder kills the mutilated Asgardians to get to Kelda’s heart. After Loki brings Kelda back to life and Thor defeats Doctor Doom’s Destroyer armor, Balder leads the Asgardians back to Broxton, Oklahoma. Back in Asgard, Balder is worried about his stupidity in allowing what happened in Latveria to happen. Loki assures him that he is a good king.
Is Balder the Brave Thor’s brother?
Well, he is related to Thor in the sense that they have the same father, but not the same mother. So, they’re actually half-brothers rather than brothers, but they do have the same father, both of them.
What was Balder the god of?
In Norse mythology, Baldr is a god that is associated with light, wisdom, and courage, although he is never specifically defined as the god of any of these aspects. He is known as the most beloved and most beautiful among the Norse gods and is famous for his epic death, which heralds the coming of Ragnarök, the end of the world in Norse mythology. Like in the original mythological sources, Balder the Brave doesn’t have a specific aspect he rules over.
Balder the Brave: Powers and abilities
Balder is said to be the fastest and most agile of all the Asgardian warriors, with his speed rivaled only by Hermod. Thor once notices that Balder is able to move at the “speed of light” and realizes that Balder is too fast to land a hit on him and must use his lightning bolt to disarm him (and break the spell that three troll witches had cast on him).
Balder possesses superhuman strength superior to the average Asgardian male and like all Asgardians, superhuman stamina and longevity (via the golden apples of Idunn). He is immune to all earthly diseases and has some resistance to magic. Courtesy of a spell cast by his mother and the Asgardian goddess Frigga to try to ward off Ragnarök, Balder is nearly completely invulnerable while inside the Asgardian dimension, unable to take harm from virtually any living or non-living being.
Any projectile thrown at Balder that is capable of killing or injuring an Asgardian is magically deflected out of his way before he can hit it; however, he can be injured or killed by weapons made of mistletoe wood, or if he wants to be vulnerable himself. Balder could also die in the Asgardian dimension through means that do not involve weaponry: for example, he could starve or be suffocated; he presumably he too can be harmed by Odin’s power, and possibly by spells and magical energies used by others.
It is unknown if Balder also becomes vulnerable when he is in dimensions other than Asgard and Earth. Being Asgard’s god of light, after a period of intense training, Balder can also generate intense light and heat strong enough to melt Utgardloki’s entire fortress and shrink him and his fellow Frost Giants down to tiny size, an ability that has been shown to retain even in Midgard even after many months, as shown in the events of Siege.
Although possibly with the help of his enchanted sword, he can communicate with animals and has also shown minor magical talents, on rare occasions, such as shielding himself from mortal sight while flying to Earth on Odin’s steed in one instance, sensing that Thor was in danger on Earth while in Asgard, or teleporting himself and Sif (without the use of the latter’s enchanted sword) to Earth from Asgard in another.
However, while Balder can project some degree of energy, unlike most of his brethren, his ability to do so is far less than that of the other gods of light in other pantheons (i.e. Apollo, who can control the minus twice the amount of energy as Balder).
He is also a highly skilled weapons master (wielding Frey’s enchanted sword, capable of fighting on his own) with millennia of extensive experience and training, and is a skilled tactician and master horseman, having been entrusted with various special missions from Odin. Balder becomes a member of the Earth Council of Gods after Thor’s banishment.
How strong is Balder the Brave?
We actually don’t have a scale on which we can compare Balder’s powers to those of some other characters, but we guess that he is pretty strong. He is definitely stronger than all the Earth-based superheroes, although it seems that he is not among the stronger Asgardians in terms of powers and abilities.
Why was Balder not in the Thor movies?
Thor became the first MCU hero to get his fourth solo movie and despite such a vast expansion of his lore, Balder has not been present in any of the movies. Now, Marvel has not provided us with any official reason behind such a decision and it did not seem like anyone, save for a smaller group of diehard fans, cared that much about Balder in the MCU.
The reason is probably the fact that Marvel never had any plans for Balder in the MCU and that he wasn’t really necessary for the plot. The movies were really focused on Thor and, later, other characters and there was no place for Balder. He could’ve been introduced in the form of a cameo or something similar, but it seems that Marvel had no precise plan about what do to with him, which is why they simply left him out.
Is Balder the Brave going to appear in Thor: Love and Thunder?
Unless it’s a surprise casting we currently know nothing about, Balder doesn’t seem like he’s going to appear in the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder. There are several undisclosed roles on the cast list, but none of those actors actually fit the role of Balder.
This is why, at this moment and based on what we know, Balder’s appearance in Thor: Love and Thunder is unlikely. There was some speculation that Russell Crowe might be playing Balder in the movie, but it was revealed that he would be playing Zeus.
