Thor and Wonder Woman's Progressions

Boilerplate warning - this is nothing but spoilers.

Wonder Woman was very similar to Captain America: First Avenger in tone and subject matter but the character arc was closer to Thor: Ragnarok. In both movies, the hero is a god or demi-god who has to face a more-powerful sibling. Thor fought Hela, the Goddess of Death. Wonder Woman fought Aries, the God of War.

Both heroes's weapons fail them. Wonder Woman was armed with a sword and shield that she'd been told were made to kill Aries. Instead the shield was lost in an earlier battle and Aries melted the sword. Thor threw his hammer at Hela at their first meeting. She stopped it with one hand the shattered it.

Both heroes had to discover the power within themselves. There were a few hints of Wonder Woman's potential early on but she really came into her own during the fight with Aries.

After Thor's hammer was shattered we saw some sparks from his fingers. The Grandmaster even made fun of it. It wasn't until he was fighting for his life against the Hulk that Odin came to him in a vision and his full powers manifested for the first time. He had a longer vision during his fight with Hela and gained full control of his abilities as God of Thunder.

But here's where the stories diverged. Wonder Woman slammed her bracelets together and vanquished Aries. All she had to do to was reach her full potential.

In contrast, after Thor hit Hela with the biggest lightening bolt ever, she dusted herself off and returned to the fight. She was simply more powerful than Thor. His only solution was to bring about Ragnarok. And he didn't even do it himself. He sent Loki to do it while he provided a distraction.

You can argue about which movie is better but Thor had the more mature hero's journey. He learned to sacrifice in order to be a good leader and he paid a price with the loss of Asgard and his right eye. Wonder Woman lost Steve Trevor. Thor went on to lead his people in the search for a new homeland. Wonder Woman joined the staff of the Louvre. For all its goofiness, Thor Ragnarok is the more mature of the two movies..