Thor Odinson: God of Thunder Appreciation 2020

[CaptainMar-Vell92 of the Kree]

After what they did to Surtur I wouldn't be surprised if they throw Mangog in there just for name recognition.

I'm surprised Enchantress hasn't shown up yet.

Made him look too much like Volstagg in my opinion.

I'd be hyped for Balder and Karnilla, although I'm not sure I trust Waititi with Balder.

Keep away my brave boy Balder away from Waititi please.

[Wildling]

But why having Thor in a romantic comedy? WHY!?

Yeah Thor can do poignant but I don't think that should be the whole movie either.

[CaptainMar-Vell92 of the Kree]

Yeah Thor can do poignant but I don't think that should be the whole movie either.

Thor is about epic fantasy and cosmic adventures not sitcom antics. I guess you aren't familiar with the character.

[Wildling]

Thor is about epic fantasy and cosmic adventures not sitcom antics. I guess you aren't familiar with the character.

What I meant was capability for love, not a possible comedic angle from a MCU movie having Love in he title. Sorry for not being clear.

[Frontier]

Considering how Waitti handled Thor's breakup in Ragnarok I'm not sure I'm all that interested in how he'll handle a romance arc for Thor in Love and Thunder.

Plus it's not like Sif is coming back at this rate.

[PlatinumThorns]

Ya'll need to put some Waititi's name. He a fantastic director (and has gotent several Oscar notations) that single-handily saved Thor as a character. Sorry he's not some epic super Chad that's nipples deep in medieval Frost Giant battles, but before Thor 3 he was nothing more than a plot device that wore a bad wig and talked like Shakespeare. It's fine if you don't like it (this a is a comics forum and all) but the movies are supposed to be their own thing, and treat them as such.

[Doombot]

Marvel didn't know how to make Thor work as the character he is, so they made him into a comedy star and everyone should be happy because Waitti has been nominated for Oscars.

The movie is fun, but ultimately forgettable and really has nothing to do with Thor as a character. Marvel just never knew how to handle him to begin with. Kenneth Branagh has been nominated for many Oscars as well.

[Frontier]

I guess my biggest problem with Waititi is the character he was directing in Ragnarok felt more like Hercules then the actual Thor.

[CaptainMar-Vell92 of the Kree]

Ya'll need to put some Waititi's name. He a fantastic director (and has gotent several Oscar notations) that single-handily saved Thor as a character. Sorry he's not some epic super Chad that's nipples deep in medieval Frost Giant battles, but before Thor 3 he was nothing more than a plot device that wore a bad wig and talked like Shakespeare. It's fine if you don't like it (this a is a comics forum and all) but the movies are supposed to be their own thing, and treat them as such.

The problem is that the movies have pretty much become the definitive version of Marvel characters and comic book authors are then told to ape the movie version even when it creates big inconsistencies with previous characterisation.

Thor and Star-Lord are the biggest examples of that.

[Ascended]

Hey, all I said was that I was guessing it might be a rom-com. I'm just a dude on the internet, I don't know what Love & Thunder is going to be.

If it is a rom-com it won't surprise me. I think a few things point in that direction. But I could easily, easily be wrong.

[Ascended]

The problem is that the movies have pretty much become the definitive version of Marvel characters and comic book authors are then told to ape the movie version even when it creates big inconsistencies with previous characterisation.

Thor and Star-Lord are the biggest examples of that.

I think I'm an issue behind now, but I haven't got a MCU vibe from Cates so far. His Thor is far from the lovable idiot the MCU version often is.

[CaptainMar-Vell92 of the Kree]

I think I'm an issue behind now, but I haven't got a MCU vibe from Cates so far. His Thor is far from the lovable idiot the MCU version often is.

It says alot about how the character was handled when Infinity War and the first Thor movie were the only ones who did the character justice (Jane and her sidekicks aside).

[CaptainMar-Vell92 of the Kree]

Marvel didn't know how to make Thor work as the character he is, so they made him into a comedy star and everyone should be happy because Waitti has been nominated for Oscars.

The movie is fun, but ultimately forgettable and really has nothing to do with Thor as a character. Marvel just never knew how to handle him to begin with. Kenneth Branagh has been nominated for many Oscars as well.

Well, it's weird.

So, dating back to mythology we can say Thor is pretty uncaring by the complexities of life, for modern standards. Despite being the son of the god of wisdom and related to a trickster god, there has never once been a mug of mead and ale left sitting out that Thor could resist drinking to his displeasure. He's a noble warrior for viking standards, but he's a few vikings short of a raiding party.

So when it came time for Lee and Kirby to introduce Thor to the Marvel universe, this element stayed, either intentionally or by virtue of needing drama and "Tricked by a trickster god" is an easy way to get there. It's why one of Thor's most famous battles is him dive-tackling an illusion of Loki through an open door and into a pit of angry bees, while the real Loki stands off to the side cackling at the fact that his trickery worked again!

But eventually future Marvel writers came around, Thor's importance and powers were expanded (still less popular than Spiderman and the mutants though), and we started getting badass and ominous moments like "Ultron! we would have words with thee" and Thor wrecking Iron Man and astonish the people of Oklahoma in JMS run and that story where he has a philosophical conversation with a catholic priest.

Then the MCU comes around, and we need to re-introduce Thor. If you're going to start a character arc, you need to start somewhere, and Thor started out as a general dumbass blood knight. Not a dope like we're used too, but a cocky, arrogant young warrior who doesn't think things through. We see this in Thor and Thor: Dark World.

But we don't see it in Avengers. In Avengers (and especially in AoU) we see a Thor who is funny, but also the butt of the joke. His comical ineptness is played up, and Thor goes from "Young and arrogant" to "Actually, he's relatively even-headed, just a thundering dumbass"

By phase three, we love Thor for his meme potential. Dumb jokes, Chris Hemsworth's delivery - he's still powerful, but instead of being a wise warrior prince with a olde english accent he's more akin to a falstaffian character who isn't much different from the modern american fratboy.

So what does all this have to do with the comics universe?

Well, the MCU sinergy has completely remolded our image of Marvel Comics, and the Thor we're starting to see is undergoing character regression to more accurately match the MCU Thor. The problem is that the MCU Thor derives it's characterization from a version of Thor who believed garden hoses were snakes, and who hasn't been seen on the printed page since the late sixties. The only version of Thor that comes close at being a falstaffian fratboy is Mark Millar's Ultimate Thor.

I feel bad for Thor. Because he is such a fundamentally good character. His mythological background gives him an interesting pool of relevant texts to draw from, and the way he's been positioned in the marvel universe as a protector of humanity and magical hero (with a slight berserker rage tendency - enough to add some flavor to his style of rule, not enough to ruin it) makes for an interesting variety of threats he can face.

There was a comic story that I saw a while back that addressed this perfectly. It was a day in the life of Thor - and it saw him traveling the planet, protecting wild-life, drinking with the common people, experiencing the beauty of nature, and walking among the denizens of earth as Thor - not Thor, the idiot, self-important god of thunder - but as Thor, the noble warrior with a lust for life and an understanding that his role as leader is defined by his ability to help those who need, and not just by his ability to bash giant monsters on the head.

[Wall-Crawler]

Well, it's weird.

There was a comic story that I saw a while back that addressed this perfectly. It was a day in the life of Thor - and it saw him traveling the planet, protecting wild-life, drinking with the common people, experiencing the beauty of nature, and walking among the denizens of earth as Thor - not Thor, the idiot, self-important god of thunder - but as Thor, the noble warrior with a lust for life and an understanding that his role as leader is defined by his ability to help those who need, and not just by his ability to bash giant monsters on the head.

That story is from Jason Aaron actually, and probaby some of the best work he did with the character.

[Shadowcat]

Who would you pick as the villain of Thor 4?

The Enchantress.