Unquestionably, Korg has been brilliantly written, and he offers some comic relief in Thor Ragnarok and other Marvel films. However, this Kronan warrior is more than just Thor’s sidekick, and his personality actually has a lot more nuance than what is initially apparent.
Korg was a fictional character created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby who first appeared in 1962’s “Journey into Mystery” comics. Since then, he has played a variety of roles in the Marvel universe, and his presence and sense of humor provide these films a delightful element. Let us go into this Kronan warrior’s past and discover where he came from.
Unlike in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he was Thor’s opponent in the comic books!
Although Korg seems to be Thor’s friend in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, in the comic books, he was actually Thor’s foe. Korg resided on Saturn before coming to Earth, where he trained as a warrior before being dispatched to invade Earth. Then, he and other Kronan soldiers made their way to Earth and arrived in Norway.
A human is frightened away by Korg in this scene, and that person quickly runs to tell the other humans to avoid these monsters. Someone hears his warning, though, and is intrigued by the animals. He starts seeking for Korg and steps on a twig unintentionally to bring attention to himself. The human is seen by Korg and his other aliens and immediately runs back to the hills.
Later, this person transforms into Thor and at last shows who he really is. Thor then raises his hammer, “Mjolnir,” to make sure it is in perfect working order.
In the meantime, the Earth’s radar picks up the Kronan invader’s ships, and fighter jets full of pilots show up at the scene. However, Korg and his companions project large images of dragons and frighten the pilots, who retreat away. Other soldiers fire missiles at the Kronans, but these missiles hardly cause a scratch on the Kronan ships that are protected by a force field. Thor prepares to launch into a fight against the Kronans, but they trap him in a cage.
Thor then uses his strength to break the cage open and uses Mjolnir to destroy the weapons held by the Kronans. With no other defense strategy, they unleash their ‘Mechano Monster’ weapon, but Thor manages to destroy it as well. Finally, Korg and the other warriors are left with no choice but to retreat and abandon this mission.
Korg in the Marvel cinematic universe
Taika Waititi voiced Korg’s character across the Marvel Universe, and he was included in movies such as Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War, and Endgame.
Korg’s story begins in ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ when Thor meets Korg at the Grandmaster’s gladiator quarters on the planet of Sakaar. Korg was forced to become a gladiator under the Grandmaster after he failed to garner enough support to overthrow him on the planet of Sakaar. The only people who showed up for him were his mother and her boyfriend, who Korg really hated.
Though he lost this fight and was forced to work for Grandmaster, Korg jokes about it and shrugs it off by saying that he probably did not print enough pamphlets to ask for support. While staying at the gladiator’s quarters, Korg befriended another gladiator named ‘Miek.’ He also extended his friendship to Thor when he got thrown into the gladiator quarters. Korg tells Thor all about the Grandmaster’s champion and how no one has managed to defeat this creature yet. He even points toward the corpse of ‘Doug,’ the last person this champion had defeated.
Korg even stayed by Thor’s side when Loki used his powers to appear in this cell to warn Thor not to compete with the Grandmaster’s champion. However, once Loki disappeared from the room, Korg tried to attack him and even called him a ghost.
Korg helps Thor obtain weapons to prepare for his battle against this ‘champion,’ who is later revealed to be the Hulk. He offers a spear to Thor, but Thor looks for a hammer instead. Thor confides in Korg about his past life and tells him about Mjolnir and its special powers. Korg even brings up ‘Scrapper 142’, an Asgardian who had refused to help Korg in escaping Sakaar.
During the fight, Korg watches from afar, and he believes that Thor is being foolish by going up against the Hulk. However, he cheers for Thor once he starts winning the fight and even motivates the crowds to cheer for him. He supports Thor till the end, but the Grandmaster finally cheats in order to make sure that Thor loses.
After the fight, Thor makes an escape plan to leave Sakaar and return to Asgard. However, he sends Valkyrie to free Korg and his friends and tells her to find the ‘Obedience Disks’ devices used by the Grandmaster to keep his gladiators in check. While Valkyrie deactivates these disks, Korg and Miek wait in their cell, and Korg gets curious about the fluids dripping from Miek’s body. He wonders if this liquid is actually made up of Miek’s eggs, and he then tries to look into the liquid.
Valkyrie deactivates the obedience disks and then bursts into their cell, asking for Korg. Korg first awkwardly asks who Korg is among the gladiators and then finally takes the lead in the gladiator’s revolt against the Grandmaster. Valkyrie hands him Sakaaran weaponry, and Korg asks the other gladiators, such as Tasba and Biff, to help him in this revolt. While chaos breaks out, Korg breaks into the place’s hangar and even switches off the main trigger of the Obedience Disks. In doing so, he frees Loki from his prison, who then offers to help them in escaping Sakaar. The group then escapes the planet on a huge spaceship, and finally returns to Asgard to help Thor.
As Loki pilots the ‘Statesman’ ship near the Bifrost Bridge, they observe that Heimdall is in danger. Korg saves Heimdall and then introduces both himself as well as Miek. Korg then leads Heimdall and the Asgardians towards the Statesman ship, and they begin evacuating Asgard before the planet is destroyed.
Korg and his now free gladiator friends help the Asgardians to board the ship, while also protecting them from the attacks of the villainous Berserkers that were sent by Hela. Korg uses his high-tech Sakaaran blasters to shoot down on the Berserkers and helps save as many Asgardians as possible. However, he reaches a point of exhaustion and then watches from afar as a powerful lightning strike destroys most of the royal palace. Korg then realizes that Thor blasted this lightning strike, and he watches in awe as he witnesses Thor at his peak. Thor even fires some lightning at the Berserkers, which helps Korg and his allies defend themselves.
However, it so happens that Korg accidentally steps on Miek in the midst of all the chaos. He is ridden with guilt, and carries Miek’s body with him on the Statesman. Korg watches Asgard fall before his eyes as ‘Surtur’ finally destroys the entire planet and causes the apocalyptic Ragnarok. Korg initially suggests that they might be able to rebuild the planet while the Asgardians watch in shock as their home gets destroyed right in front of their eyes. Korg then realizes that Asgard is now beyond repair, and he apologizes for his insensitive remarks.
Korg then stood amongst the surviving Asgardians while Thor was named the New King of Asgard. Heimdall inquires Thor about his future plans now that Asgard is destroyed, and asks him if he has a new place in mind. While Thor thinks of a suitable place, he asks Korg about Miek’s home planet since it could be a good place to settle in. Korg then tells Thor that he stepped on him on the Rainbow Bridge and that Miek is now dead because of him. However, Miek then comes back to his senses in Korg’s arms, and the Kronan warrior realizes that he did not kill his friend after all. Korg then apologizes for the disruption and once again asks Thor to continue his speech. Thor then announces that they will travel to Earth and set up New Asgard there.
On their journey to Earth, Korg was one of the few people who survived Thanos’ attack on the Asgardian ship. During this incident, almost half of the Asgardian population, including Heimdall and Loki, were killed. The other half rushed to safety in escape pods before Thanos blew up the entire ship.
Later in 2018, Korg survived Thanos’ snap along with Miek and Valkyrie, among other friends. Korg then settled on New Asgard along with the rest of the survivors and spent the next few years of his life playing video games with Thor and keeping him company. He was also present when the Avengers visited Thor to convince him to return to the team in ‘Avengers: Endgame.’
He greets Bruce Banner and Rocket Raccoon and invites him to Thor’s room while they play Fortnite. While playing the game, Korg gets agitated when an online player called ‘Noobmaster69’ insults him, and he complains about it to Thor. Thor then threatens the player and promises to hurt him if he does not stop insulting Korg. In this manner, Korg provided some comic relief even in tense situations in the movies.
Later, he joined the Battle of Earth along with Miek and Valkyrie as all superheroes came together to fight Thanos. In this battle, Korg fought against ‘Cull Obsidian’, and he struggled to defeat him. Finally, Drax helps Korg in defeating Obsidian, and both Korg and Miek finally make it out of the battlefield alive. Once everything returned to normal, the duo returned to New Asgard.
What makes Korg such a powerful warrior?
Korg appears scary and intimidating, but he is a very kind-hearted and sensitive Kronan. Korg also has a good sense of humor, which helps diffuse tense situations. Though Korg is all fun and games, his strength surely cannot be underestimated as he is quite a mighty Kronan warrior at heart. He possesses superhuman strength, and like most Kronans, he can easily lift up to 100 tons at the very least.
He also has superhuman stamina, and his body produces a lesser amount of fatigue toxins as compared to other beings. At the peak of his physique, Korg can function at his maximum strength for up to twenty-four hours before he starts feeling tired.
Like other Kronan warriors, Korg had superhuman durability and could not be easily injured or killed in combat. He has a rocky exterior, which makes it hard for any weapons to break through his external skin and do any actual harm to his body. Korg can also endure powerful blasts and explosions and withstand high temperatures, and falls from heights without getting injured.
Korg’s body was made of silicon-like substances, and he could consume coal or even rock as his source of energy and food. He was a member of a very advanced species that had created many high-tech weapons, robots and spacecrafts. They also possessed the ability to create illusions of dragons among other beings, which was also demonstrated during Korg and Thor’s meeting on Earth in the comics.
Korg previously participated in gladiator competitions and has excellent combat skills. He can also wield various sorts of swords and shields, among other weapons.
Korg in Marvel’s animated series
Korg also appears in some of Marvel’s animated shows, such as ‘The Super Hero Squad Show’ and ‘Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.’
He was voiced by Dave Wittenberg in the Super Hero Squad Show, and only appears in an episode titled ‘Planet Hulk’.
In Hulks and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., Korg’s character is a native Sakaaran who ends up in trouble when the ruler of Sakaar uses him as a slave to conquer the place. S.M.A.S.H. agents help free all the slaves on this planet and ask for assistance from the Red Hulk to convince Korg to side with them.
Is there a Korg special Marvel series in development?
Though there are no concrete updates on any Korg series, there are rumors of Taika Waititi developing an exclusive Disney+ series for this Kronan warrior. Though nothing is decided yet, fans are hoping to see Korg get his own series as he is one of the most fun side characters in the MCU.
We can also then look forward to some answers regarding his origins, his fight against the Grandmaster, and even the reason why he hates his mother’s boyfriend. Moreover, a Korg series definitely means that we will be seeing more of Miek, as the two are each other’s closest companions. In any case, a Korg series promises a lot of fun and laughter; we hope this rumor turns out to be true!
Conclusion
Korg’s presence has certainly livened up many scenes across the Marvel universe, and he is definitely one of the most likable side characters in the MCU. While he has appeared in a few movies here and there, we surely haven’t had enough of this fun Kronan warrior. Hopefully, we will get to see him in ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’, and even more Marvel projects in the future!