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I was just watching some episodes of Marvel's Avengers Assemble and a question came to mind.

In one of the episodes​, Odin argues with Thor about his stay on Earth and his liking for company with mortals.

It felt like Odin saw the inhabitants of Midgard to be inferior to Asgardians.

I was wondering if this was the case with Odin in the MCU as well.

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Odin has a complicated relationship with humans but he does appear to think Asgardians are somewhat superior to humans depending on the situation. In Thor when he casts Thor out he tells him:

Odin: You are unworthy of this Realm... unworthy of your title unworthy of the loved ones you've betrayed. I hereby take from you your powers. In the name of my father... and of his father before... I cast you out!

Thor

If he is unworthy of Asgard but appears to be worthy of Midgard Odin must think Asgard to be somewhat superior. However, later in Thor: The Dark World he compares humans and Asgaridans to be similar. Here he seems to be implying that neither are superior to the other.

Odin: Do you not truly feel the gravity of your crimes? Wherever you go there is war, ruin and death.

Loki: I went down to Midgard to rule the people of Earth as a benevolent god. Just like you.

Odin: We are not gods. We are born, we live, we die. Just as humans do.

Loki: Give or take 5000 years.

Thor: The Dark World

Later, though when talking to Thor about Jane he makes his feelings clear that he believes Asgardians to be superior to those on Midgard. His feelings seem to change per the situation but in some aspects I believe he thinks them similar.

Odin: My words are mere noises to you that you ignore them completely?

Thor: She's ill.

Odin: She is mortal. Illness is their defining trait.

Thor: I brought her here because we can help her.

Odin: She does not belong here in Asgard anymore than a goat belongs at a banquet table.

Jane Foster: Did he just...? Who do you think you are?

Odin: I'm Odin. King of Asgard. Protector of the Nine Realms.

Jane Foster: Oh. Well, I'm...

Odin: I know very well who you are, Jane Foster.

Jane Foster: You told your Dad about me?

Thor: Something is within her, father, something I have not seen before.

Odin: Her world has its healers, they are called doctors, let them deal with it. Guards, take her back to Midgard.

Thor: The Dark World

In Thor: Ragnarok he chose Tønsberg as the place for New Asgard which Thor later establishes. It seems he has a fondness for Earth and it has a special place in his heart.

Odin: Remember this place. Home.

Thor: Ragnarok

He will sometimes portray different feelings but that is usually to teach one of his sons a lesson rather than his true feelings on Midgard and humans. Note each time he makes it seem like humans are inferior he is teaching Loki or Thor a lesson. His true feelings seem to be mentioned in Thor: Ragnarok when he is speaking from the heart rather than giving a lesson: he does appear to truly love Earth and its people and so not thinking himself superior.

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    That's truly complicated! but yes, the last point describes out his feelings. Thanks for the answer
    – user1170874
    Commented May 27, 2020 at 14:20
  • I don't know that the MCU talks much about it, but Odin was a bit of a sneak himself, and not above trickery when it suited him - such as when trying to teach either Thor or Loki something. Or get one over on the Frost Giants.
    – Wayne Werner
    Commented May 28, 2020 at 3:33
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    I don’t think any of the dialogue you quote really suggests Odin thought of humans as his equals, or even close. The phrasing and the sentiments of it (“we are born and die just like them”, “I’m very fond of this place and these people”) echo things that, for instance, plenty of Victorian British colonialists said about India, while still holding very strong beliefs of racial superiority. (I’m not saying Odin’s views are necessarily like that, just saying that these quotes would be quite compatible with it.)
    – PLL
    Commented May 28, 2020 at 8:08
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    @TheLethalCarrot: Yes, and I think you’ve done a great job in finding the most relevant quotes to shed light on the matter, and discussing the ambiguities in his feelings that it shows. But I think the overall summary you suggest at the end isn’t really justified by the rest. (“His true feelings seem to be […] to truly love Earth and its people and so not thinking himself superior.”) He clearly does love Earth, but that seems quite compatible with still believing himself superior.
    – PLL
    Commented May 28, 2020 at 8:28
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    @PLL Fair enough, I see what you're saying. As I mentioned his feelings are somewhat complicated, or at least they appear so to me. To me it seems he doesn't think himself, or Asgardians, as superior to humans on an emotional level but that he recognises there are aspects of Asgardian life that are superior, such as their longer lives, military might and even medical prowess. I've tried to answer this more on the emotional aspect as I think that is what the question is more after.
    – TheLethalCarrot ♦
    Commented May 28, 2020 at 8:33
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In Thor: The Dark World, Odin argued to Loki that Asgardians and mortals shared similar characteristics:

LOKI : I went down to Midgard to rule the people of Earth as a benevolent God, just like you.

ODIN : We are not gods! We're born, we live, we die, just as humans do.

LOKI : Give or take five thousand years.

Arguably you could have "inferior" beings living and dying just as Asgardians do, but the point of Odin's speech in this scene was to try and bring Loki down to Earth (pun not intended); I took it as him meaning he did not think Asgardians were better than Earthlings.

Arguably at some other point in the movie he does says that "Illness is their [humans'] defining trait", but then again that didn't sound spoken as belittling. Simply a matter of fact.

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