Anna Daniels
In 2011, the idea of a Thor film must have been a tough sell. Sure, the Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk films existed, but those movies basically take place in the real world. Thor comes with a whole new setting full of magic, gods, and monsters, and trying to meld that mythology with the relatively grounded Iron Man films without totally breaking the audience’s suspension of disbelief probably seemed like an impossible feat.
When you re-watch the original Thor, it’s clear that this concern was on the filmmakers’ minds, because that movie is extremely non-committal about whether the magic is, in fact, magic. Various Asgardians suggest throughout the film that they aren’t really gods, mortals just believe that they’re gods. Later, when Erik Selvig accuses Jane Foster of believing in magic, she responds by paraphasing Arthur C. Clarke, saying “Magic’s just science we don’t understand yet.”
Given where future films were heading in just a few years, all this hesitance around adding magic to the MCU is almost adorable in retrospect. Doctor Strange is unapologetically about a wizard, and by Thor: Ragnarok, Marvel has completely abandoned its former hangups about freaking out the normies. Yes, Thor is the actual God of Thunder, and we’re also going to throw in a bunch of rainbow sci-fi nonsense, because it’s cool. We trust that a compelling story with likable leads will carry us through any setting, no matter how silly.
And you know what? They were right. Keep being weird, Marvel.
Written by: Looper
