angelicahasafeed asked: Hey, so I know you're really looking forward to the Thor movie... it seems I'll be having an exclusive Thor-centered episode of my radio show in the next month, but I don't have any ideas for what to do during the show / topics to discuss / call in topics & questions. Can you help me out?
I’d call my attitude toward Thor more of an optimistic trepidation at this point. It looks like it knows what it is, and if they keep a lot of the Iron Man production values & emphasis on practical FX, I think it could be a decent popcorn movie. ANYWAY, to answer your question, some discussion points:
- A bunch of dummies are somehow upset that they made Heimdall black.
- How is the newly-Oscar’d Natalie Portman going to deal with her involvement in a bunch of less-than-prestigious pictures being released after Black Swan? Thor, No Strings Attached, Your Highness.
- Tom Hiddleston, who plays Loki, has also been cast in The Avengers. Does this point to Loki being a major villain in The Avengers? Perhaps provoking the Skrull Invasion like he did in The Ultimates? FWIW, I wish they’d gone with the Ultimate Thor direction for the film.
- Kenneth Branagh’s last movie that was anything like Thor was Frankenstein in 1994 (the one with De Niro as the monster). It was a big budget popcorn adaptation with a slumming Oscar winner (I’m looking at you, Hopkins). It has a 44% Rotten Tomatoes score and failed to gross 50% of its budget. Discuss.
- There had better be a Rainbow Bridge in Asgard or somebody’s getting an angry letter.
- Is Thor Marvel’s Superman? Is Marvel’s decision to promote Thor to a top-tier character an attempt to counter DC’s upcoming Superman reboot? Young son of a dying/distant world is sent to Earth, proceeds to wow population and then kick some homeworld ass that followed him to Earth. Compare to the parallels between Iron Man films and Nolan’s Batman vision: Rich playboy douchebag decides to use his wealth to fight evil in service of the masses, defying the public’s vision of him as rich playboy douchebag.
- Marvel’s Avengers lineup seems to play into white American male fantasy: The strength of Viking/Germanic heritage will save us all; We’re still the same heroic nation we imagine we were in WWII; Someday I’ll be rich and awesome and get laid like crazy, but I’ll still help the common rabble; If you piss me off I can do whatever I want without consequence because there’s a monster inside me and it’s your fault if bad shit happens. DISCUSS.
- Why does Thor suck so hard in Marvel vs. Capcom 3? He’s the god of thunder for fuck’s sake.
