Thor: Ragnarok Hammers Theaters Across the World
December 13, 2017
There are spoilers present in this article.
Thor: Ragnarok serves as Marvel’s third installment of the Thor Films, Director Taika Waititi brings a new and fresh purpose to the god of thunder, Thor.
Chris Hemsworth’s natural flare of comedy is used in the franchise to create light situations out of bad circumstances. In the opening scene, Thor confronts a fire demon who wants to destroy him and his home, yet Thor goofs around, despite the extremely tense scene.
Hemsworth credits the humor to the work of Waititi, “In all of his films, [Waititi] strikes this beautiful balance of humor and heart. It’s all grounded in a reality, but it’s fun and enjoyable,” said Hemsworth. That kind of just evolved just throughout the script process . . . to just keep stripping that character down. Having him lose the hammer and all those things was to kind of create a broken version of the character — Taika Waititi
In the beginning of the movie, Thor loses everything, his hammer, and his father. Later, he even loses his idea of reality when he realizes his father did not always rule with kindness and that Hela is really his sister.
An unexpected friendship is formed by Thor and Bruce Banner, also known as the Hulk. Banner’s previous social shortcomings paired with Thor’s lack of relationships with any of the other Avengers made this duo especially unusual. Due to Thor not being very relatable in earlier films, he was more standoffish and did not attach to any of the other Avengers, this might have been due to him not being from earth or maybe him being royalty.
This affects the difference between the way Thor usually fights in this film, which he usually fights solo. He creates a team including Loki, the Hulk, his possible new love interest, Valkyrie. This team, which Thor tries to dub, “The Revengers”, eventually defeats the villain and saves the day through teamwork, which shows that Thor is becoming more of a team player.
The trademark of the character, his long golden locks, are replaced with a short trimmed haircut, which was a shock to many fans because of how well known his original style was.
Throughout the movie, Thor loses some of the most important relationships in his life, including a surprising break-up with girlfriend Jane and the loss of his beloved hammer Mjolnir, after it gets destroyed by the villain, Hela.
Later in the movie, Thor embodies the power that his hammer had held, showing him that he didn’t need the hammer to be potent.
Upon outrage from fans, Waititi explained that he did not initially intend to give the character such drastic changes. “That kind of just evolved just throughout the script process . . . to just keep stripping that character down. Having him lose the hammer and all those things was to kind of create a broken version of the character” said Waititi.
This transformation creates a new, more relatable Thor. His human-like flaws give him a lovability, a side of the character that wasn’t seen in the previous movies. He has always been slightly full of himself, portrayed as the son of the king and a perfect hero. People can relate to someone who is not perfect and to someone who has gotten a bad haircut.
This movie is an exciting new addition to the Avenger films in the Disney’s Marvel Cinema Universe. Thor: Ragnarok bridges the gap between past movies and future ones through characterization and plot. Needless to say, I look forward to seeing the new Thor in future Marvel movies.
