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November 25, 2013 by Karen Jensen, MLS

Reel Thoughts: Thor The Dark World (Spoilers)

November 25, 2013 by Karen Jensen, MLS   Leave a Comment

Thor: Marvel
So, I’ve been thinking long about Thor: The Dark World. I went to see it twice- once with Karen and the Tween, and then again with That Guy and my teen volunteers. 
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BYrHPgoCAAAfoTR.jpg 
 And both times I LOVED it, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought- it’s not THOR’S tale. It’s like how Ferris Bueller’s Day Off isn’t Ferris’ story, it’s CAMERON’S story- Cameron is the one who starts off all anxious and worried, but by the end of the movie, he’s confident in himself, and willing to take the hit for the car. 

Now There Be Spoilers

It’s the same with Thor: The Dark World. The story isn’t Thor’s- we had that in the first one where he went from giant kegger frat boy to actual justice warrior. It isn’t Jane’s story (although I’d actually like a nice Marvel One-Shot about Jane and Darcy and what they did in between the Thor movies, because Darcy rubbed of on Jane quite a bit from the first to the second movie).

It’s a cross between The Empire Strikes Back and LOKI’S story.

Stay with me for a bit.

When people think of Star Wars (and we’re not going to talk about the “prequel” mess), they either talk about A New Hope or Return of the Jedi because those were THE movies. A New Hope gave you ALL the characters and all the story, and wrapped everything up neatly, while Return of the Jedi gave you the the plot and the darkness and the background. No one says that their favorite was The Empire Strikes Back, because all of that movie was setting the bridge between A New Hope and Return of the Jedi.

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That’s part of what Thor: A Dark World is doing. Think about it. They had to start telling the story of the Infinity Gems (what this Marvel Universe is calling them) because it’s going to be a HUGE point in Guardians of the Galaxy and possibly either Avengers 2 or Avengers 3. We KNOW it’s part of Guardians of the Galaxy because The Collector is listed in the cast.   His best known role in the Marvel pantheon is with the Infinity Gems, and geek upon geekiest, Marvel frakking smacks at it in Thor. So we’re BUILDING UP TO having the Infinity Gems. So, Empire Strikes Back.

BUT WAIT! THEY’RE NOT DONE YET!!!

Dark World is also LOKI’S story. Think about it. We end the first Thor with Loki learning the truth about his parentage, and dealing with the fact that Odin has always loved Thor better- and he basically suicides rather than live in Thor’s shadow. In The Avengers, he’s joined forced to use the Tesseract to take over Earth as his own planet, but is thrashed. 

 So in A Dark World, Loki comes back to his adoptive homeworld in chains, disgraced by his “brother” and his “father”, but still loved by his mother. She DIES after he fights with her, and HE is the cause of her destruction- and HE knows it. Yet he still blames Thor because he should have saved her somehow. Yet, Loki joins with Thor to get Jane out of Asgard, and fights with him against the Dark Elves. Why? TO FAKE HIS DEATH.


http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y294/MiraxCorran/GIF%20Doctor%20Who/brilliant.gif
Doctor Who: BBC

 

WHY? To TAKE OVER ASGARD. That’s the last we see of Loki in the movie- sitting on the Throne, like he wanted, and King of Asgard because Thor has given up his claim. Is that the end of Loki? The end of his story? He ends up King and lives happy ever after? Does this smile give you that?
Depends on what Marvel has up their sleeves- but with such a character as Loki, and such a huge actor that they’ve made Tom Hiddleston, I sincerely doubt it. I don’t think he’ll come back in Avengers 2, but I can definitely see him in Avengers 3.
So really, Thor The Dark World isn’t about Thor at all. After all, he ends up on Earth a househusband (actually, I bet Avengers 2 happens pretty close after the ending of this movie- we already took away his alias in the first Thor, and he doesn’t have the medical knowledge that his alter character did in the comics). It’s about Loki, and setting things up for Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers.
But oh, what a wonderful ride.

Filed under: comic book based movies, Reel Thoughts, Thor

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About Karen Jensen, MLS

Karen Jensen has been a Teen Services Librarian for almost 30 years. She created TLT in 2011 and is the co-editor of The Whole Library Handbook: Teen Services with Heather Booth (ALA Editions, 2014).

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