To withstand a direct hit from Thor's lightning (the real deal, with Mjölnir, from Marvel comics and the MCU), even the most powerful combat or industrial laser would require protection on an absolutely divine level — because this is no ordinary lightning.A typical earthly lightning bolt is roughly:

• Peak current → 30,000–200,000 A (sometimes up to 300–400 kA in extreme cases)

• Voltage → 100–500 million volts (sometimes claimed to reach 1 billion V)

• Energy per strike → up to 10–15 billion joules (≈ equivalent to several tons of TNT)

Now, Thor's lightning (Marvel version):

• This isn't just an atmospheric discharge — it's concentrated divine energy drawn from the Odin-Force / God Tempest / Asgardian magic.
• Current and energy can be orders of magnitude higher — in the comics, Thor has blasted Galactus with lightning, destroyed planets, hurled bolts across space, and summoned storms the size of galaxies.
• Visually and in effects — we're talking tens to hundreds of giga/terajoules per strike, plus a magical component that completely ignores physics.

What kind of protection would be needed so the laser doesn't turn into a puddle of molten metal in 0.0001 seconds?

1. Multi-level current diversion system on the scale of “city-wide protection” ×1000

• Primary path: superconducting busbars made of YBCO or BSCCO (operating at cryogenic temperatures) → capable of handling mega-amperes with zero resistance.
• In parallel: an array of thousands of gas discharge tubes + MOV varistors rated at 10–100 kA each (like the most powerful ones from THOR Electric or DEHN, but scaled up industrially ×100).
• All of this must be grounded to a separate ultra-deep grounding rod (hundreds of meters into low-resistance bedrock).
  2. Bunker-level Faraday cage
     The entire laser enclosed inside a cage of thick aluminum/copper/steel (wall thickness at least 10–20 mm). Even better — a multi-layered composite cage incorporating graphene and superconductors.
  3. Optical isolation and galvanic separation
• All control circuits run on fiber optics.
• Laser power supplied through gigantic pulse transformers with insulation rated for 1+ billion volts (which don't exist in reality).
• Electronics housed in separate shielded compartments with autonomous power from supercapacitors/batteries.
  4. Active protection against EMP and induction
• Magnetic shields made of mu-metal and ferromagnetics.
• Ultra-fast TVS diodes and gas discharge tubes on every single wire (response time <1 ns).
• Fully optical data transmission throughout the system.
  5. Realistic verdict for 2026
     Even if you assembled all of the above on an industrial scale (cost: hundreds of millions of dollars, size: like a small house), a direct hit from Thor's lightning would almost certainly still destroy the laser.
     Why? Because this isn't electricity anymore — it's divine plasma + magic, which could simply materialize inside the enclosure, completely bypassing the laws of physics.

Final joke recommendation:
The most reliable protection against Thor's lightning is to be worthy of lifting Mjölnir.
Then the lightning simply won't touch you… or it might even supercharge your laser to planet-killer level!