Thor

The evolution of Thor in the MCU

If we'd asked at any point in the last decade which Marvel hero would be the first to get four solo films, I guarantee no one would have shouted "Thor". Iron Man, sure. Maybe Captain America, too. But Thor? Nooo! And yet the God of Thunder became the first MCU protagonist to bag the Achievement "Tetralogy" - even though the first two films were neither particularly popular nor particularly successful. How did he do it? By changing himself. Again and again.

Thor & The Dark World: Dark Shakespeare

Our first real encounter with the God of Thunder shows us an arrogant prince about to be crowned King of Asgard. Thor struts through the throne room, wielding his mystical hammer as if it were a toy and being celebrated by his fans, excuse me: subjects, as if there were no tomorrow. When the ceremony is interrupted by the Frost Giants, Thor wastes no time, travels to Jotunheim against his father's will and instigates a war. Which costs him not only the crown, but also his homeland. He is not much more than a petulant, overprivileged child who cannot handle power.

At all: The whole film is almost bursting with drama, takes itself incredibly seriously. Which is mainly due to director Kenneth Branagh. The British actor, director, screenwriter and Oscar winner, whom we will forever love for his Gilderoy Lockhart in the Harry Potter films, is best known for his Shakespeare adaptations. And sure, somehow the drama, the intrigue to Asgard with its royal family fits. But the serious tone, the sombre mood that falls tonally somewhere between The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, they just didn't fit Marvel. The fact that the characters speak as if a bard wrote their dialogue doesn't make it any better. Thor: The Dark World then changed directors. But under the guidance of Alan Taylor, responsible for some of the best Game of Thrones episodes, Thor only got darker. The characters, however, with the exception perhaps of Loki, became paler, even less believable. What the films lacked was simply: an identity.

Ragnarok and the Search for Identity

Appearance Taika Waititi. Today, everyone knows the director of Thor: Ragnarok, Jojo Rabbit or an episode of The Mandalorian. But at the time, it was already surprising that Marvel hired some guy who had made the wacky horror mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows. But Waititi had a plan. Knew exactly what Thor was missing, as he revealed to The Hollywood Reporter in 2017: "[Thor] is the franchise that has the least identity. It doesn't know what it is yet. So I came in and showed them what it could be." For his vision, he ignored not only the comic book template, but also the first two films. And, it sounds so easy, did his own thing.

Fans got a taste of Chris Hemsworth's new Thor even before the release of Ragnarok. For in 2016 and 2017, Waititi made what we thought were two brilliant mockumentary shorts explaining where the hell the God of Thunder had gone during the events of Captain America: Civil War. Namely, in Australia. More precisely: in a shared flat with Darryl Jacobson, who helped him with mundane things like emails. When he wasn't analysing the Infinity Stones and "the purple guy" in more detail or failing to contact Tony Stark (it was due to the lack of a phone), he occasionally gave lectures in kindergartens.

Humour & tragedy combined

Yes, Thor could be funny! It was a stark tonal shift that didn't please every fan. And yet, humour was the key to success for the franchise. And probably the main reason why Chris Hemsworth is still around as Thor in the first place. He told ET Canada at the time, "[Thor 1 and 2] were fun, but I was sick of it. It felt so hackneyed. I had built walls around my character - so we tore them down. Everything that was familiar, we threw out the window and tried something new." The fact that Hemsworth, in addition to his action movie protagonist charisma, could also be funny as hell and had a good sense of timing made the switch easy. And in Ragnarok, he got to live that side to the fullest.

For the fourth part, Love and Thunder, Waititi was not content with his successful formula, however, but incorporated some of the darker elements of the first two films. Of course, there were still mainly witty sayings, pop culture references and wacky stuff like wildly screeching goats. But it was also perhaps the coldest start to a film in the entire MCU. A villain who was more interesting and complex than most Marvel baddies. A tragic story. Not to mention the beautiful black and white sequence in the shadow realm. This almost strange mix did not go down well with everyone. Fans and critics were not entirely averse, but neither were they enthusiastic.

The key to longevity: change (and merch!)

Despite this: the mixture of humour and tragedy, even if it could perhaps be better balanced, is actually exactly what Thor should have been from the start. Accordingly, we are excited about the future. A fifth film could be something like the completion of the "real" Thor trilogy that began with Ragnarok. A bit like the Mission: Impossible films, which, as we know, only found their formula with the third part.

Either way, the fact that Thor, unlike most of the original Avengers, is still in the spotlight is thanks to his ability to change. And, perhaps a little, to his merch! Because Thor merchandise shows itself to be about as versatile as the God of Thunder himself. You want a Thor shirt? We've got it! Looking for an exquisitely awesome replica of Thor's hammer Mjölnir? We have too! Heck, Thor's hammer even comes as a keychain! You're more into axes? Then Stormbreaker might be for you. Thor-figures, -buttons, -lamps, -Funkos or even -Purses, when it comes to Thor merchandise there is nothing that doesn't exist.