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Is Thor: Ragnarok Really The Time to Bring Out The Laughs?

There’s a new Thor movie coming out in 2017 (11/3/17, to be exact).  It’s called Thor: Ragnarok.  Chris Hemsworth thinks they should finally make a truly irreverent, Guardians of the Galaxy-esque Thor movie.  They’ve done Shakespeare (Thor). They’ve done sci-fi Game of Thrones (Thor: The Dark World). Why not follow James Gunn’s lead for how to approach outerspace shenanigans?

Here are the money quotes from CinemaBlend:

“I think it needs to be injected with that sort of smart wit and unexpected kind of humor, kind of what James Gunn came in and did with Guardians [Of The Galaxy]. It was like off center and unpredictable and I think we can definitely use a dose of that, you know.”

And:

“I feel we had less of the sort of the naivety or fun or humor that the first [Thor] might have had. I wish we had more of that in the second [movie] … We’ve done regal. We’ve done Shakespeare, and we’ve shown that. I think now it’s time to go, ‘Ok, cool. Let’s try something different,’ and [What We Do in the Shadows director] Taika Waititi just had such a brilliant sort of take and funny kind of ideas about where we could, how we could do that.”

Sure.  That sounds like fun.  Slight problem, though, bit of a big problem, really.  Here’s what happens in Ragnarok in the Thor comics, without going into a specific plot summary:

Everyone dies.

The end.

Thor Ragnarok ComicsThat just about covers it. Ragnarok is what crazy, drunken Heimdell was ranting about in Thor’s vision in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

As per usual with Thor, this is all adapted from actual Norse mythology, but the comics have played it a bit fast and loose.  Yes, Ragnarok has been used as the reckoning forever looming around the corner, but it’s also been used as the name of a supervillain who’s actually a cyborg clone of Thor.  As a result, when the title Thor: Ragnarok was officially announced for Thor 3 there was plenty of reactions like, “It’s probably about the apocalypse, but it could also be that cyborg clone thing. Hey, don’t laugh.  We can’t definitively say that won’t happen.”

However, based on all the rumors of new Asgardian characters being introduced into the franchise for Thor 3 we seem to be leaning more toward the whole apocalypse side of the story.

NEODHf0RbS3xRX_1_bThen again, the Hulk is going to be in this, apparently doing a road movie kind of thing with Thor.  Wait, are they doing Ragnarok AND Planet Hulk?

Neither.  These movies always do their own thing, picking and pulling from various comics and graphic novels to come up with something new (e.g., Winter Soldier and Iron Man 3 are remarkably loose adaptations of the Winter Soldier graphic novel and “Extremis” story arc).  However, I’ve long since assumed that Ragnarok would be about killing off all the Asgardians thus removing a significant obstacle in Thanos’ designs on the rest of the MCU.  As a result, I am a bit surprised to hear Hemsworth talk about wanting a return to the fun and naivete of the first movie while incorporating the off center humor of Guardians of the Galaxy, although I cynically expect everyone to want to mimic Guardians just because it did so well and remains beloved over a year later.  At the same time, that lightheartedness has always been my favorite part of the Thor films, with the fish-out-of water humor on Earth in the first film nicely complementing the Shakespearian drama playing out with Loki and Odin back in Asgard.  Plus, even if Ragnarok does turn out to be the “In this issue, there’s a death on every page!” movie in the MCU it just wouldn’t feel like Marvel if they didn’t look for areas to add in some humor.  Maybe don’t crack a one-liner right after Thor dies, though.

You there. Yes, you, the person who just read this article.  How’s your day going?  Uh-huh.  Uh-huh.  Well, shut up about that.  Get to the comments and let me know your pressing thoughts on Thor: Ragnarok.  Right. Now.  Do it!

Please?

Source: ScreenRant

3 comments

  1. As a general rule the truly dark stuff feels much darker when it is offset with some fun. I want them to create a true rollercoaster of emotions, the way Disney did in its Golden age, by throwing the audience from one emotional extreme into the next.

    And I want Loki. Lot’s of Loki.

  2. Is this really a concern for Hensworth? Both Thor and The Dark World had a good amount of humor – I’d even say it was a stronger point of the movie. Sure, it wasn’t quite as funny as Guardians, but still funny. To have loads of humor would go against the story they’re trying to tell, but to have no humor would change the tone of the series.

  3. the lame one liners in the last couple MCU films have been quite enjoyable (for me). I think it could work. Unfortunately Thor is probably the lest popular of the isolated film series’ and it’s probably due to the fact that it is so filled with fantasy that it’s been a little unbelievable. Maybe if they make fun (of) with it ahead of time, it will work a bit more.

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