Thor (May 2011)
Primary Characters- Thor
- Loki
- Odin
- Jane Foster
Secondary Characters
- Clint Barton/Hawkeye
- Agent Phil Coulson
- Director Nick Fury
- Erik Selvig
- Heimdall
- Laufey
- Frigga
- Lady Sif
- The Warriors Three
- The Destroyer
Notable Story Elements
- Asgard
- Bifrost/The Rainbow Bridge
- Casket of Ancient Winters
- SHIELD
- Original theatrical release
- Friday Family Movie Night sometime in the past year or two
- 23 Days of Marvel - March 21st, 2020
Easter Eggs
- Dr. Donald Blake was the original human identity of Thor after he was banished to Earth in the comics
- Hawkeye is referred to as "Agent Barton" but his identity is clear to any fan who hears that name and sees him snag the bow from all the available armaments
Like Captain Marvel, Thor was another character with whom I didn't have an early or extensive comic reading history. My friend Michael (first met as the older brother of my friend Alan) collected some of his books, and that was my introduction to him.
Later, he was part of the Avengers, and so got to know him there, but he never seemed a core part of that team, instead feeling like the guest star he was in many other series of the time, such as Power Pack, or his adventures with the New Mutants in Norse realms. The few books of his I did pick up had him facing off against Malekith the Accursed, the main villain from The Dark World.
Later, he was part of the Avengers, and so got to know him there, but he never seemed a core part of that team, instead feeling like the guest star he was in many other series of the time, such as Power Pack, or his adventures with the New Mutants in Norse realms. The few books of his I did pick up had him facing off against Malekith the Accursed, the main villain from The Dark World.
In recent years, though, I collected The Mighty Thor for a long stretch during Jason Aaron and Russell Dauterman's take on Jane Foster as Thor, and loved her enough that I ordered a custom Funko Pop-like figure of her from the talented Michael Brandes of MB Custom Toys. She was later joined by the Sam Wilson Captain America. I'm eagerly anticipating Thor: Love and Thunder, more to see the fun of Thor: Ragnarok continued and less to see their relationship rekindled.
Even when I had largely stopped collecting Marvel books in 2018, I still came back for War of the Realms. It was disappointing, though perhaps not as much as the inexcusably uneven Secret Empire event.
Between that time, though, there was the Thor MCU entry. I don't think many casual superhero fans knew what to expect, and it's not clear how its creators want the audience to connect to a demigod hero. Jane Foster plays the every(wo)man part, and theoretically that bridge, though she's equally a Mulder believer and Scully skeptic. Also, like Padme and Anakin, the most chemistry that exists between her and Thor is when they are brooding separately.
Between that time, though, there was the Thor MCU entry. I don't think many casual superhero fans knew what to expect, and it's not clear how its creators want the audience to connect to a demigod hero. Jane Foster plays the every(wo)man part, and theoretically that bridge, though she's equally a Mulder believer and Scully skeptic. Also, like Padme and Anakin, the most chemistry that exists between her and Thor is when they are brooding separately.
Many classic Thor elements are present, including the humbling loss of his powers and exile to Midgard/Earth. That's Anthony Hopkins' greatest moment in what is otherwise a fairly rote role. Loki fully grows into the God of Mischief in later Marvel films. This time, the emphasis is on his complex relationship with family, which pays off years later and adds weight to events of Infinity War.
The visuals are extraordinary, from the science fantasy of Asgard to frozen Niflheim to the wormholes between dimensions.
This is the film where all the threads of the MCU start knitting together. I do wish we'd watched it as planned, after The Incredible Hulk and before The Avengers, but with the hammer appearing at the end of Iron Man 2, we switched it up... and none of us really wanted to watch The Incredible Hulk this past Saturday night.
The visuals are extraordinary, from the science fantasy of Asgard to frozen Niflheim to the wormholes between dimensions.
This is the film where all the threads of the MCU start knitting together. I do wish we'd watched it as planned, after The Incredible Hulk and before The Avengers, but with the hammer appearing at the end of Iron Man 2, we switched it up... and none of us really wanted to watch The Incredible Hulk this past Saturday night.
The Incredible Hulk (June 2008)
Primary Characters- Bruce Banner/Hulk
- General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross
- Emil Blonsky/Abomination
Secondary Characters
- Samuel Sterns
- Tony Stark
Notable Story Elements
- Gamma radiation
- SHIELD
- Original theatrical release
- 23 Days of Marvel - March 22nd, 2020
Easter Eggs
- Multiple callbacks to The Incredible Hulk TV show of the '70s and '80s, including:
- The facial target in the experimental equipment
- Banner's eyes glowing green during transformations
- The theme played briefly when Banner is walking alone
- Lou Ferrigno's appearance as a pizza-loving security guard
- The use of the Mr. Green and Mr. Blue aliases, briefly a part of the comics just after Peter David's storied run on the title (I read only a single issue after he departed)
- Samuel Sterns' exposure to Banner's blood and the pulsing in his skull hint at his transformation into The Leader
I could probably write a regular blog just on my experiences with Peter David's time writing the Hulk. He became my favorite character while under David's care, and as a whole, it's still my best-loved series of stories today.
There's no getting around, it, though... the first Hulk movie was a stinker, and though The Incredible Hulk had a much more promising start, by the time Stan Lee chugs gamma blood, it starts to go off the rails.
Melanie's mid-movie commentary: "So far, most of this movie has been him running."
Mine, near the end: "Okay, so let's stage a second military operation on an active college campus. It went well last time."
For people who are not fans of seeing blood, needles, and pumping fluid - such as Melanie - be warned that there's heaping doses of each throughout.
Eli Roth, action villain. Oof. That the character is a special forces operative rather than a foreign agent is... okay, but he's still not believable in that role.
Hulk is strongest one there is. However, his Hyper-Leaping (Marvel Super Hero RPG terms, there) isn't really on display, and the iconic concussive clap and ground pound are used in the lamest and least plausible possible ways, almost an afterthought in the movie's closing conflict.
The pre-credits appearance of Tony Stark was theoretically the connective tissue between this film and the MCU, but he meets with Thunderbolt Ross to... recruit Banner... and Ross' whole shtick here is that Banner keeps eluding him. How Bruce gets from Canada overseas to India where he's contacted by Black Widow is also shrugged away.
Peter David leaned heavily into the Hulk's origin as the result of Bruce Banner's reckless but selfless action in the face of an imminent gamma bomb detonation, dashing onto the test field to save teenaged Rick Jones. Rick is a significant part of the supporting cast, and later becomes a key figure in the original Mar-Vell's Captain Marvel comics, the Kree/Skrull War, and other Avengers events. Unless he was subtly slotted in somewhere, I believe he's entirely absent in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That's a shame. He's as much Bruce's touchstone to humanity as Betty is.
For as much as I'm lukewarm on Thor and dislike The Incredible Hulk movie, it was still fun to watch them back-to-back and remember their goofiness in The Incredible Hulk Returns.
As far as rankings go, I like all the Marvel movies, and love most of them. I dislike this one, so its place at the bottom of the pile is likely set. Compared to the others, this one has almost no fun moments. "You wouldn't like me when I'm hungry," is about as close as it gets to a genuine laugh.
There's no getting around, it, though... the first Hulk movie was a stinker, and though The Incredible Hulk had a much more promising start, by the time Stan Lee chugs gamma blood, it starts to go off the rails.
Melanie's mid-movie commentary: "So far, most of this movie has been him running."
Mine, near the end: "Okay, so let's stage a second military operation on an active college campus. It went well last time."
For people who are not fans of seeing blood, needles, and pumping fluid - such as Melanie - be warned that there's heaping doses of each throughout.
Eli Roth, action villain. Oof. That the character is a special forces operative rather than a foreign agent is... okay, but he's still not believable in that role.
Hulk is strongest one there is. However, his Hyper-Leaping (Marvel Super Hero RPG terms, there) isn't really on display, and the iconic concussive clap and ground pound are used in the lamest and least plausible possible ways, almost an afterthought in the movie's closing conflict.
The pre-credits appearance of Tony Stark was theoretically the connective tissue between this film and the MCU, but he meets with Thunderbolt Ross to... recruit Banner... and Ross' whole shtick here is that Banner keeps eluding him. How Bruce gets from Canada overseas to India where he's contacted by Black Widow is also shrugged away.
Peter David leaned heavily into the Hulk's origin as the result of Bruce Banner's reckless but selfless action in the face of an imminent gamma bomb detonation, dashing onto the test field to save teenaged Rick Jones. Rick is a significant part of the supporting cast, and later becomes a key figure in the original Mar-Vell's Captain Marvel comics, the Kree/Skrull War, and other Avengers events. Unless he was subtly slotted in somewhere, I believe he's entirely absent in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That's a shame. He's as much Bruce's touchstone to humanity as Betty is.
For as much as I'm lukewarm on Thor and dislike The Incredible Hulk movie, it was still fun to watch them back-to-back and remember their goofiness in The Incredible Hulk Returns.
As far as rankings go, I like all the Marvel movies, and love most of them. I dislike this one, so its place at the bottom of the pile is likely set. Compared to the others, this one has almost no fun moments. "You wouldn't like me when I'm hungry," is about as close as it gets to a genuine laugh.
Ranking
- Iron Man
- Iron Man 2
- Captain Marvel
- Captain America: The First Avenger
- Thor
- The Incredible Hulk
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