Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Does Thor feel out of place in the Marvel movies?

This weekend I watched Captain America: Civil War like many other Americans. Afterwards, my friends and I had a discussion about what was good and bad, and my friend Brad pointed out that he enjoyed it much more than he did the Avengers films primarily because Thor wasn't around. Wanting to know more, he basically said that his brain has a hard time reconciling Thor as a character with the other Avengers because they have such different backgrounds.

Practically everyone else in the Avengers comes from some kind of scientific background. Captain America comes from a super soldier serum. Iron Man gets his powers from a suit. Black Widow is a trained agent and the Hulk comes from a gamma ray experiment gone bad. And then you've got these "gods" which are basically mythologicals inserted into all of this, and he doesn't like it. It's kind of like guns and laser cannons being inserted into a Dungeons & Dragons game...one of these things is not like the other.

So it made me wonder: does Thor feel out of place in the Marvel movies? I'd be curious to know your opinion on this? 

10 comments:

  1. He's a god - he's more powerful than any of them. I don't think he's too concerned with his training. Besides, just wait until the Guardians show up. Then he also won't be the only one from another planet.
    I like Thor. Really enjoy his movies and look forward to number three.

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  2. I like Thor, but agree that he doesn't really fit in with the others.

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  3. He was awkward in the cartoons too, but I like him more in the movies than the cartoons. As much as he may not "fit," I'm sure glad he's there because he adds a very interesting dynamic to the mix. (But then, I love genre mashups, so maybe it's the appeal to cross-over lovers?)

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  4. He's never once felt out of place to me.

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  5. I haven't seen this movie but I've seen the Thor movies and it is confusing: is he a super hero or a god? They present him as both but it does seem incongruous with other characters.

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  6. Thor just needs to be written well to fit into the Marvel universe. I believe the writers don't know how to handle him. Neil Gaiman could fit him in with the others seamlessly.

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  7. No. So what if he is a God? This concern screams xenophobia. So because he's not human or a mere mortal, Thor does not fit in a superhero movie with all kinds of fantasy elements already inside it? SHIELD sounds like more a weird fit in the Avengers movie than Thor and the organization fits into the movie really well. People just love putting stuff in boxes so much. Gods are dropped in all over the place. Even in real life with religion. Thor fits in just fine to me. Your friend is who I find out of place and touch.

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  8. So you don't want shirtless Chris Hemsworth in the next movies?

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  9. Now that you mention it, he is kind of out of place. (I didn't get his stand alone movie either.) But when someone decides to do a mash up of all the characters, all the characters are going to fit. Somehow.

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  10. Funny thing about Thor--I know a few ladies, including a co-worker, who innocently took their kids to see some superhero flicks and fell madly in love with Thor. Now they can't get enough of him.

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