Tag Archives: MCU

Film Meander: Black Widow – Essay Review *Spoilers*

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There was a brief period in the world of Metal (the music not the material) where the subgenre ‘female fronted’ was a thing. Not that there was a problem with women being in bands. There’s been women in Metal bands since the 80’s, but there was a period in the late 90’s and early 00’s where women fronting Metal bands was its own niche. Like it was an oddity or quirk that women would actually want to be fronting a band of (mostly) men and having them follow her lead whilst being centre of attention on a stage in front of hundreds, thousands, tens, maybe even hundreds (if you’re Nightwish) of thousands of adoring (again, mostly male) fans. Why would that be strange? Well, since men are, typically, the more aggressive of the two sexes, it seemed curious that women would want to get involved in a music full of chugging riffs, screaming solos, thundering drums and angry vocals. It’s not like women would enjoy that sort of thing, would they? Oh, wait…turns out they do. And swiftly, that subgenre disappeared never to be seen again. Bands like Arch Enemy started with a male vocalist and are currently on their second female vocalist. They’re not ‘female fronted’. They’re Arch Enemy who have had two astounding vocalists who happened to be women.

Anyway, what does this have to do with the latest product to roll off the Marvel Studios production line? Well, the film industry seems to be having its own ‘moment’ where it’s forgotten its own history. First, we had Black Panther in 2018 being declared the ‘first’ film with a black superhero. No doubt Will Smith (Hancock, 2008), Wesley Snipes (Blade, 1998), Shaquille O’ Neal (Steel, 1997), Michael Jai White (Spawn, 1997), Damon Wayans (Blankman, 1994), Robert Townsend (The Meteor Man, 1993) and Tobar Mayo (Abar, The First Black Superman, 1977) would say something to the contrary. Or was it that Marvel were just marketing their film to be politically aligned with the ongoing racial divisions that they decided no black superhero movies existed prior to Black Panther because, somehow, those films weren’t about black people as an oppressed race (despite Black Panter taking place in the most advanced country on Earth) and more about a fictional character that happened to be black? Fiction or warped reality? What’s more profitable?

Similarly, Hollywood did the same in 2017 when Warner Bros. released Wonder Woman. It was marketed as the representation women needed ‘right now’ in the world. But women have been in films since the beginning of the business and played all kinds of roles. Look at Doris Day in Calamity Jane. Just ask Meryl Streep or go and watch Marilyn Monroe in any one of her numerous films where she was the star. Or, more recently, speak to Jennifer Lawrence who fronted the $2.97billion grossing The Hunger Games franchise from 2012-2015. There are two entire categories at the Oscars for women. Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress. Funny that that’s the same number of catgories the men have. So, what’s all this ‘there must be more female fronted superhero films’ business all about?

Power and control.

There’s a reason it’s taken until the fourth paragraph to actually begin to discuss the topic of this post. Unfortunately, it seems that Marvel Studios are pandering to the political activists hellbent on forcing their agenda down the throats of people who just want to go to the cinema, be entertained for a couple of hours and go home.

The film itself opens with subtle messaging within the first few scenes. Awkwardly, the film begins in 1995 (Florence Pugh was born in 1996) in a typical Amercian suburban neighbourhood. We’re introduced to a fairly normal American family. Initially, a mother, a young daughter and…an older child. On first watch, I struggled to tell if the older sibling was meant to be a boy or girl with their multicoloured, multilayered Social Justice Warrior hair and androgenous physique and clothes. They look to be in early adolescence so, if a girl, there should be some signs of femininity. Turns out the older sibling is young Natasha Romanoff but she’s done up to, in my view, send signs of ‘representation’ that children should not be girl or boy and only choose their gender when the’yre older. This was the first turn off. Plus, this kind of thing wasn’t happening 1995 so the writers took some liberties with history here.

The rest of the opening sequence is fairly standard. Dad comes home, grabs a beer, the family have dinner then the proverbial shit hits the fan when the parents, who are really Russian spies, find out they’re being hunted after the father (David Harbour) has made a copy of a disk containing important information before burning its place of origin down. And now, the family have to leave.

Given the Cold War ended in 1989, the whole vibe of this subplot doesn’t sit well. Told you 1995 was an awkward place but with an age gap of 11 years between Pugh and Johannson in real life and their characters looking to be 4-5 years apart, more liberties were required.

Anyway, cue the family doing a quick pack-up before heading off to an airfield where, for reasons, a small plane is uncovered from some rubble in front of a hangar. The authorities have caught up to the family whilst the plane is in motion allowing for a fairly tense series of sequences allowing for the three eldest members of the family to engage in some heroics before managing to escape.

The rest of this opener plays out with the family being introduced to Ray Winstone’s Dreykov. His Russian is as convincing as Sean Connery’s but he’s no less watchable. Harbour’s Alexei hands the disk to Dreykov while his wife, Melina (Racehel Weisz), is loaded onto a military transport.

Seeing her mother being taken away, we see young Natasha’s training kicks in when the military attempt to take her sister. This sequence is interesting as it implies a very close bond between the pair. More on that later.

The opener ends with both girls being taken away and loaded into containers which leads into the opening credits where, in poor taste, we get another slowed down cover to take us through the montage. This time, Nirvana’s ‘It Smells Like Teen Spirit.’ AI found that to be anohter turn off since we’re watching young girls being forced into shipping containers and taken away from everything they know. But, hey. Marvel needs to show it can ‘serious’ and ‘edgy’, right?

We’re treated to news footage of the installation Alexei burned down along with disturbing images of the girls transformation into ‘Widows’. This raised another problem for me. Given we’ve only known of Black Widow since 2010’s Iron Man 2, why wasn’t the audience made aware far earlier in the franchise that Romanoff was an agent for a separate organisation? We knew she was an assassin but just now who she was doing hits for.

Montage ends and the film starts right after the events of Civil War with William Hurt’s ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross sending in a squad of elite troops to catch the Black Widow. The squad is complimentary as it’s the kind that might get sent in to subdue Captain America, Winter Soldier or Falcon. But Black Widow? Guess Marvel needed to show she’s a much bigger threat than she is. Romanoff is sly and it’s revelaed she’s actually on a ship travelling a Norwegian fjord and not in America about to be overrun.

Cue another change of scenery (this time MOROCCO since the audience can’t make educated guesses on locations anymore) and we now see multiple Widows in action where we’re introduced to Florence Pugh’s Yelena. We also get to see the villian Taskmaster who looks a bit like a mish-mash of Skeletor, the Terminator, Robocop, Kylo Ren and a Cylon but with none of the menace of either one.

We flick back to Natasha’s current location (NORWAY) where the radio kindly informs the audience she’s on the run because that wasn’t clear from two scenes earlier.

Up to this point, the general premise has been serious. It falls down when we meet Mason, Natasha’s ‘finder’. For a guy who is dealing with covert and undercover miliatry types whilst being one himself, he’s a bit…nice. A bit…soft round the edges. A puppy dog. The sexual tension between him and Romanoff is functional at best. He wants her and is doing his very best to impress but it’s clear she’s using for access to kit and a bit of ego stroking. The character is not written to be a tactical military fence but a wet paper bag.

Natasha apparently enjoys watching that other fictional spy, James Bond, whilst her film is currently emulating the style of Jason Bourne. Considering the Bond flick she watches is Moonraker and not a Daniel Craig Bond, take that as a sign for the general tone.

Taskmaster shows up (or SkeleTermiRoboKylon) and we get the first fight scene which is supposed to showcase Taskmaster’s ability to mimic their opponent but instead, shows they’re a bit crap at fulfilling their objective and taking the chance to kill Romanoff there and then.

One fight moves to the next. This time, Yelena against Romanoff in the Budapest safehouse. At this point, I have to agree with Gamespot’s review. The writers cannot decide what power level Romanoff is on. She’s not afraid of having a gun pulled on her. She’s happy to get slammed into a doorframe. Have a plate smashed into her face. Flung into a doorframe. But when a knife is pulled, she’s scared.

Naturally, as both women lay on the floor after calling it even, there’s not a scratch on them. If this was any male character, there’d be some signs of a fight but women are ‘strong’ and the writers are generously applying the liberties to prove it.

What’s really bizarre about Romanoff meeting her sister for the first time in years is that we don’t get that protective bond shown earlier. They fight, stop fighting then carry on like nothing happened. Where’s the history? Where’s the resolution? We don’t get any. Yelena knows of Tony Stark being her sister’s friend but not Hawkeye (his arrow marks are shown in the safe house) who’s her sister’s oldest friend. Odd thing that she wouldn’t know.

The sisters’ interaction is interrupted when a band of Widows bust into the safehouse (not really a safehouse then, is it?) and proceed to open fire in a covert, stealthy manner that wouldn’t make anyone think gang warfare had just broken out.

Despite being chased by those trying to kill them, there’s a point where the sisters are holding onto a falling chimney where a Widow jumps on to complete her mission. Rather than try and kick her off, Romanoff (see, I can’t call her Black Widow because she’s not the only one. Thanks Marvel Studios for ruining the oldest female character in your franchise) goes to save her. I suspect this is supposed to be an attempt to show her compassion. She knows what these girls have been through and that they’ve been conditioned and programmed to complete their mission at all costs. But showing this when they’re in mortal danger? Misplaced. Despite her attempts to save the Widow, she falls, seemingly, to her death.

Natasha gets the John Wick treatment and survives an unsurviveable fall with zero damage. Even at the end of John Wick Chapter 3, Mr. Wick was in a bad state but Natasha can just walk this off despite it not having been previously revealed she has a weaker version of the supersoldier serum like she does in the comics. So, as far the films go, she’s just a highly trained human.

The Widow that fell is also alive despite falling some sixty or more feet onto concrete. My disbelief has been fully unsuspended at this point.

We then get a brief motorbike sequence ending with the Romanoff sisters being chased by an armoured vehicle which has just smashed a car at speed before stopping to let the sisters get on the bike and set off so the chase can begin. This bit is like a point in some computer games where you’re in a boss area but the fight doesn’t start until the player does the thing needed to trigger the event. That’s what this bit is. All tension is removed when the big, heavy and fast armoured vehicle justs sits and waits when it should have continued relentlessly on towards the women forcing them to jump into action. Doesn’t happen.

What should have been a thrilling chase ends up boring and bland since, you know, the tension’s been removed and we’re ‘on-rails’ now. The sequence ends, predictably, with the women being thrown off the bike and down at least ten feet where some injuries should have been picked up after having been on a speeding motorbike. Nope. They just get up and steal a guy’s car and continue on because that’s what the childish writers of this script have put down. We get Yelena belting out misplaced and cringy humour about Natasha’s inability to drive a manual as opposed to ramping up the urgency at a time when their lives are in peril. The writers just don’t care and insist on slotting in cheap laughs where they’re not needed.

More boring action follows when the armoured vehicle reappears to reveal the Taskmaster as its driver. More poor jokes only serve to highlight that Yelena doesn’t like Natasha much but we don’t know why. The sequence ends with a preposterous shot of the car the women are in being potted like a snooker ball down the stairs of a subway station. I tried to switch off at this point, but I put myself through the remainder to get this post out.

Taskmaster does a bad Captain America impression as they pursue Natasha and Yelena through the subway. After this, we get a ‘reveal’ moment which is meant to be serious and show the viewer what Natasha went through in order to defect to S.H.I.E.L.D but it doesn’t come across right since we had a sequence from a recent Fast & Furious film right before.

With both women on the run, we move into territory remiscient of some of the intimate exposition scenes from Bourne. Except, Jason Bourne wouldn’t discuss his killer past whilst in front of a civilian behind the till of a petrol station. Good moment. Poor placement.

Despite this, the film moves on to a truly intimate and caring scene between Natasha and Yelena but it’s let down slightly with Yelena giving more exposition on details Natasha would know but the audience does not. Yet, Yelena is talking to Natasha. After this slight misstep, there is genuine weight applied and the chemistry and bond between Yelena and Natasha gets to come through.

We cut to Russia where we’re reintroduced to Alexei who, for reasons unknown and unexplained in this film, is in prision and has been for some time. I’ve never been to prison let alone a Russion one, but there are a lot of inmates (male) walking around topless. Anyway, the reintroduction is rather cool with Alexei telling a highly embellished story about a fight with Captain America when he was the Red Guardian, whilst easily defeating all oncomers who dare challenge him to an arm wrestle. This quickly and efficiently shows Alexei’s egotisical nature as he wanders down a fictional memory lane whilst getting a new Red Guardian tattoo on his back to add a touch of narcissism.

He’s broken out by Natasha and Yelena in yet another sequence that would be more suited to Vin Diesel particularly the end where Alexei is lifted one-handed by Natasha whilst the prison blows up. Alexei being twice the size of Natasha, more disbelief is unsuspended.

Further more, during the breakout Yelena questions Alexei’s chances of survival. But Alexei’s a supersoldier. Yelena and Natasha are not. But, for the purposes of the politcial agenda, the ‘strong’ women must go and save the ‘weak’ man. Cue another unbelievable sequence where Natasha easily sends several very accomodating stuntmen over a railing. Add on top of this that Alexei (supersoldier and spy) is depcited as stupid enough to not understand how communication in a helicopter works. And on top of that still, we’re given more exposition by Yelena into how girls are transformed into Widows by way of degrading Alexei’s intelligence despite having once been the right-hand of the man who created the Widow program in the first place. This only serves to highlight that the writers don;t know the material or their own script and it doesn’t make any of the characters look good. Again, this is furthered when Yelena jokingly suggests throwing Alexei out the window because he points out that Natasha suffered no repercussions for killing Dreykov’s daughter whilst Alexei was imprisoned for life for no apparent reason.

Another daft ‘funny moment’ occurs when Alexei informs the pair that their ‘mother’ is working for Dreykov outside St. Petersburg. Yelena informs back they don’t have fuel for that journey then we cut to show the helicopter falling from the sky, landing quite softly and all three characters waking out unscathed. Dumb. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

It is followed, rather jarringly, by a rather touching, if morbidly amusing, moment with Alexei displaying genuine paternal pride over his adoptive daughters.

And, quite fortuitosuly, Melina is maybe a mile away conditioning pigs. Seems that helicopter had just enough fuel after all.

Another reflective and seemingly serious scene follows with the ‘family’ reunited for the first time in over twenty years. The tone is dropped with flirting and faux family interactions. Again, either the writers or director didn’t have the gumption to choose a tone and stick with it. This plays out throughout the time we spend at Melina’s house. But we do learn that Melina was a willing participant in uncovering the science that stops a being having any control over its body. This detail gets flipped later.

Once out of Melina’s cabin in the country, we’re back to typical spy stuff. The family are found out and taken to Dreykov’s ‘Red Room’ skybase a la Moonraker. Don’t know how they were tracked. Maybe something to do with blowing up a prison a scene back but without any tension-building details, we just don’t know.

The next detail, I have issues with. In the existing MCU, we are aware of two major secretive organisations on Earth. S.H.I.E.L.D and Hydra. The very presence of a skybase run by Dreykov strongly suggests that his Widow organisation/program/initiative is on par with the other two as, later on, Natasha gets Dreykov to reveal the size of the operation and we are shown thousands of Widows around the globe. Yet, there’s been no mention or hint that this has been on the radar of either of the two known MCU entities.

From this point on, the film moves into fairly standard territory for Marvel. Dreykov isn’t really a threat. There’s a fight high above ground. There’s a big explosion above ground. And we get a fairly weak CGI fest. All boxes ticked.

The reveal of the Taskmaster would come as no surprise if you paid attention to the credits or the regular mentions throughout the film. The fight between Taskmaster and Red Guardian isn’t as much of a test as it should be. Supersoldier vs augmented mimic should be quite even and a source of tension but, again, I think the writers bailed out as it’s effectively man vs. woman and able-bodied against disabled. Forget opposing sides, politics reigns supreme here and practically the whole fight is diffused with quick cuts and Yelena’s non-supersoldier self saving Red Guardian.

The one thing I did like during the finale was Natasha getting Dreykov to hit her. Not because I like seeing old men beating women, but because it was her (literally and figuratively) overcoming the hold Dreykov had on her. The ‘Queen Bee’ mechanic is interesting but comes across a bit naff with Dreykov revealing he controls the Widows through pheromones and the very smell of his forces a Widow unable to do him harm.

We’re also shown that the operation can topple governments and make economies crash. No explanation how. The audience is just expected to accept it.

We’re given a scene not unlike Neo vs all the Agent Smiths when the Widows come to Dreykov’s aid and start laying into Natasha. They all cut the same shape and fight the same. There’s not much distinct about them save the Diversity & Inclusion clause which, of course, even evil Russians have to follow.

The purpose of this scene is to allow Yelena to deploy the ‘red mist’ antidote she stole at the start which will counter the pheromone control. Plus, for Natasha to sever her link to Dreykov since he wasn’t strong enough to do it, she has to break her nose which should render her without the sense of smell and her ability to breathe. But, she just resets her nose and all is well. It’s also the only time we see Romanoff bleed after everything she’s gone through at this point. Women are so strong that only they can make themselves bleed. Nothing or noone else.

Just before the CGI fest, Yelena chases down Dreykov and inserts her fighting sticks into one of the engines of the helicopter he’s boarding. The helicopter catches fire and Dreykov dies off screen. So, why use the antidote if killing Dreykov was part of the plan? With him gone, who controls the Widows? No one.

Yet, somehow, the antidote still works as Taskmaster is freed from her murderous rampage against Natasha thus avoiding another fight.

What I’ve noticed is that Hollywood seems to be trying to create a trope of ‘all women are victims and only do bad things because bad men make them’. It happened in Wonder Woman with Doctor Death allegedly serving Ludendorff out of fear and devotion rather than actually enjoy creating weapons of murder. We had it in Captain Marvel with Carol Danvers being controlled and manipulated by the Kree officer Mar Vell (Jude Law). With roles reversed, men are held to account and called out for their actions. This trend, should it take off, has to be concerning for all.

The main part of the film ends with Natasha confusingly being surrounded by Ross’ government squad. He’s caught up to her. She can’t run, hide or escape. What happens? Well, the writers cut to black and we get ‘Two Weeks Later’. Utter copout. Literally reinforcing the point that a female spy can go off, do bad things (albeit to bad people) and face no consequences.

In the flash forward, Mason gets her a quinjet just to gain her validation and the film ends with a peek at the pink blossom subplot from the start. No resolution.

And that’s it. That’s Black Widow. A film that tries to have the gritty tone of Bourne and the latest Bonds but with the cool assassin aesthetic of John Wick mixed with the preposterous stunts of Mission Impossible and latter era Fast and the Furious. It succeeds at being neither in trying to be all of them at once. I think here, Marvel, once again, backed out of going all in with genuinely serious subject matter. They did it with Iron Man 3 in 2013. They should have gone full Al-Qaeda on Tony Stark with The Manadrin heading up the Ten Rings but didn’t. Meanwhile, with the same PG-13/12A rating, Christopher Nolan broke Batman in the Dark Knight Rises the previous year.

They’ve done it again here. I think they should have given Natasha’s full arc. Show the audience how she was forced into becoming a killer as a child. Show us how irredeemable she became as a teenager then show her path to redemption as she became an Avenger. Killer from childhood and on to saving the world twice before sacrifing herself for half the universe to be brought back. The mission showing her defection to S.H.I.E.L.D is where this film should have taken place. We know the rest.

I also found the inclusion of her adoptive family interesting but unneccessary. This should have been about Natasha. Instead, she seemed like a side character in her own film where no one was the main character. She’s a spy and an assassin, true, therefore she wouldn’t a main focus of attention anywhere but this is supposed to the full and final farewell. Yet, we find that she’s not that special and there are literally thousands of young women who all act and fight like her so, she’s easily replaced.

Which brings me to Florence Pugh. I liked her. I thought Yelena was tough, snarky and very much focused on her mission. There was good chemistry between her and Johansson and I think she’ll be an intersting fit in fute MCU films.

David Harbour was convincing as Red Guardian though I’d have liked to see him do more. Same with Rachel Weisz’s Melina. Such is the problem with bringing in this much talent to a superhero film. They don’t get the screentime they deserve.

Johansson seemed done. There wasn’t the same investment in the role as depicted in all her previous entries. If I was in her shoes, I’d struggle to play a character one last time knowing she was dead in the previous film. Doing things in a non-linear fashion like this doesn’t allow the audience or the actress to move on.

Another odd point with the placement of this film is that Natasha is supposed to be on the run. Why is she hunting down Dreykov and engaging in a mission that brings the authorities right to her as they do at the end? Hence, I think placing this before her S.H.I.E.L.D days would have been better to allow the audience to see how she changed from being a human weapon to being a human that uses weapons in service of humanity.

Ultimately, this was a missed opportunity to find out a lot more about an interesting character that was never really fleshed out from Iron Man 2 through Avengers via Captain America. All we really learned was that she wasn’t that special and her younger replacement is incoming. That’s a deeply disrespectful send off for any character let alone the original female Avenger.

However, in a twist of perverse irony, this is actually the perfect film for the character to end on. She’s used to furthering politcal agendas and ending political regimes. Given the current attempts to start a gender and culture war, who better to utilise and exploit than a beautiful white female assassin designed to manipulate whilst being manipulated? And best of all, she’s untouchable.

Bloated God Complex

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There’s been a fair bit of discussion on the interweb (internet is a different thing and world wide web is too long to say) about Thor’s appearance in Avengers: Endgame. Namely, the directors are being called out about fat shaming.

First off. I don’t believe the Russo’s would use weight gain strictly as comic relief since they deftly handled the abuse Bucky Barnes received at the hands of HYDRA and they gave us that pin-drop reveal from Steve Rogers to Tony Stark in Civil War. They also gave us a fully realised Thanos. Yes, it’s funny to see Thor much more relaxed, physically but let’s consider how he got there.

Thor, at his core, is arrogant, ignorant and has quite a superiority complex which he uses to distract from what’s happened around him. He believes he’s entitled to victory and that his presence alone ensures it regardless of his enemy. This is the Thor we meet in his first outing. A carefree young man with all the machismo, bravado and over-confidence of a teenager who thinks they can wage a war because they’ve put over four hundred hours into Call of Duty. This Thor hasn’t been tested. This Thor had little to lose or fight for. He just loved showing off in front of his friends. Hammer first, talk maybe was the attitude. But that was to change. After being denied the throne and seeking revenge against the Frost Giants, Thor was bailed out then banished by the Allfather to Midgard for his stupidity. Odin hoped he’d learn his lesson. On Midgard, Thor was weak, relatively speaking, after being stripped of his powers and hammer, Mjolnir.

Whilst on Earth, he was found and taken care of by three scientists. One of whom was his love interest to be, Jane Foster. During this time, he was shown patience, kindness and understanding. Despite a fruitless attempt to regain Mjolnir, he was taught a valuable lesson. Humility. Thor was measured and found wanting. At that point, you could say the seeds of depression started to sink in. The banishment by his father started to hit home. You’ll notice that Thor isn’t so cocky after that point.

But once he’s put his life on the line and his brother Loki (standing in as king whilst Odin is in a coma) forgives him albeit not without sending a sucker punch, Thor regains his worthiness and he gets his powers, armour and hammer back. He’s no slouch in putting on a mighty show to display who really is. Or who he likes to think he is. After defeating the Destroyer, Jane Foster shows how damned impressed she is. So impressed it seems, she’d want front row seats of every battle forthwith.

With his quest complete, Thor returns to Asgard to beat the living daylights out of Loki. In the battle, Thor breaks the bridge to the Bifrost where Loki falls into the void of space. Neither he nor Odin was able to save him.

In the first film, Thor was rejected by his father, accepted by a group of strangers then experienced the loss of his adopted brother. Did we see Thor grieve? Did we see him deal with any of what he’d just experienced? He expressed anger and something resembling disappointment but I wouldn’t say we really saw him grieve over Loki. And Jane? Well, he busted the only means he could see her. Even Loki pointed that out but Thor kept on doing what he set out to do. If Jane had really mattered to Thor, he would have found another way to stop the Bifrost. If he had, Loki wouldn’t have fallen into space and found the Chitauri and/or Thanos and we wouldn’t have had the events of The Avengers. Nick Fury was right to point the blame at Thor for being the reason SHIELD wanted to use the Tesseract to make weapons, even if he had only half the information.

Moving on to the Avengers and we saw a different Thor. It seemed he’d matured and grown from what went on. But did he? Did he really? When he dragged Loki from the Quinjet in his introduction was he doing that because he wanted to find his brother or was he under Odin’s orders? We never found out but I suspect the latter. He didn’t show himself to be in desperation then relief once Loki was found. He demanded answers. And rightfully so. Loki was trying to start an invasion, after all.

Later on we see Thor feeling the stress. That moment where he was dropped by Loki from the helicarrier where he looks at his hand when trying to summon Mjolnir. He looks like he’s questioning himself. His immortality? His power? His alleged godhood, perhaps? We’re not sure but it is clear he’s being tested.

As the Battle of New York waged on, we get another moment where Thor and Captain America are duking it out on the ground. Both look weary but Thor really shouldn’t be. He’s arguably the strongest so why the fatigue? He’s adapting to the new situation. He can’t go in all guns blazing like he did on Jotunheim. He must be reserved and tactical. He has innocent lives to think of. Captain America is used to that but then, he’s all about saving lives. Thor, at that point, was all about victory and vengeance. Perhaps he was getting frustrated. He certainly didn’t look impressed carrying out orders from a lesser being and he didn’t look impressed with the victory either. But it wasn’t really a victory. It was almost a defeat. The Avengers won by the skin of their teeth and they knew it. The only team players were also the weakest, physically. The powerhouses were the problem. In fact, you could argue that Iron Man and Hulk did the heavy lifting given both are fairly practical and their respective professions demand they get the job done. Even Hawkeye got a good shot at Loki! And Thor? He was busy being thrown from the helicarrier whilst Iron Man was trying to save said helicarrier from falling out of the sky. A mortal man stuck himself in an engine whilst a literal God allowed himself to be fooled by his brother. He allowed himself to be stabbed as well when he should have fired a heap of lighting at Loki. Iron Man didn’t hesitate to open fire and we all know Hulk didn’t. Did Thor learn anything from this experience? Didn’t look like it.

As we move to Thor: The Dark World the opening shot of him is displaying his bravado once again. The hammer flew and the enemies fell. He showed no gratitude when Sif saved him from being struck by an arrow. He even managed to joke and smile as he reigned down destruction and death. You could say Thor went back to liking it easy. Where was the challenge on Vanaheim? Everything was dialled back so Thor could be the hero once again.

When it came to love, Odin advised he look to Sif rather than Jane Foster. But he chooses Jane. My reckoning on this choice is that Jane is easy to impress and eager to impress her would-be beau. She presents no challenge and offers herself freely as his trophy. Sif, on the other hand, presents a challenge. She knows Thor. She’s strong in battle and takes no prisoners. Thor can’t hide behind anything from Sif. So, he ignores her because his fragile ego couldn’t handle being with her. He’d have to work for her affections. She’d challenge him in ways he’d grow tired of quickly. In short, he’d have to be responsible. And Thor doesn’t do responsible. Thor does stories of victory. Thor saves the day. Thor…likes to drink with his friends.  With Jane, he can be flash and sexy. Sif, on the other hand, would tell him how many mistakes he’d made and how to do better in the next battle. Which would mean no nookie and Thor likes a bit of nookie.

Even when he reunites with Jane, he gets away with not having visited. Surely, he could have popped over after New York? Loki wasn’t really going anywhere and the World Security Council wanted him as a prisoner anyway. But he just up and left. His punishment? Two slaps and only one was because he didn’t visit. His reason wasn’t even a full explanation. The guy had been gone for months and didn’t have the decency to really give all the details to Jane. Not that it mattered since all he had to do to get her to stop questioning him was talk about fate bringing them together and she goes and gets all doe-eyed whilst her IQ drops about a hundred points briefly.  See. No challenge.

Shortly after, he’s impressing her again with a trip to Asgard only to be regarded as unimpressive. The healers don’t seem keen to heal her and Odin calls her a goat.

But by ignoring the express command of his father and king, Thor put Asgard in jeopardy. The Dark Elves attacked because Jane had the Aether within her. Had he listened to his father, Jane would have been on Earth. And Jane may not have encountered the Aether if she wasn’t looking for Thor and she wouldn’t have gone looking for him if he hadn’t led her on in the first film. His arrogance potentially led to Jane becoming host to the Aether but it certainly led to the Dark Elves attacking Asgard which resulted in the death of his mother, Frigga. Even after that, he still saw fit to question his father’s actions. The pretender to the throne was no match for the real king.

Odin, on the other hand, has become weary from rule. That’s the price of responsibility. It takes a toll. Look at Barack Obama before and after his presidency. Thor knows nothing of it yet thinks he’s entitled to question it. I would say that Odin must have felt somewhat disappointed that his son wasn’t up to muster. Plenty of show but no real substance. A king that does not make.

And Thor goes on to defy his father again by embroiling his friends to commit treason which also involves breaking Loki from prison so he can take Thor and Jane to the Dark Elf homeworld! Logic would dictate Jane be kept safe on Asgard. As king, Odin must be and is prepared to lose as many soldiers as necessary to defeat his enemy and protect his kingdom.  He’ll do whatever it takes. Thor will not. Thor endangers his alleged love in a heinously idiotic act that gives the enemy the home advantage. He allows Malekith to take the Aether from Jane and in doing so makes her even more vulnerable.

And who saved the day? Who ultimately stopped Malekith from using the Aether to take advantage of the Convergence to plunge the Nine Realms into eternal darkness? Jane! The equipment she’d been using to try and find Thor was used to take out Malekith. In doing so, Thor was happy to endanger the lives of the other eight realms but not his own? Asgard know the Dark Elves and had fought and defeated them. It would make sense to keep the battle contained especially since the battlefield is hosted by a well informed and well trained army where the king is a God of War. But Thor’s vain attempt to protect Jane endangered every other realm and saw a chunk of Greenwich destroyed. Hardly the actions of a person with their head screwed on right. But hey, it didn’t matter because he got to make out with his mortal plaything after being tricked by Loki (again!) and refusing the throne.

In Age of Ultron, not much happened with the illustrious God of Thunder. He seemed to mainly be a plot device, provide some brawn, give birth to Vision and let his Avenger chums play with his hammer. Do excuse yourselves if your mind went to the gutter.

It is a problem though. Each instance we see Thor, he just hasn’t learned or allowed himself to feel anything he’s gone through. Has he genuinely experienced the events or is he treating them all as part of some game? He didn’t shed a tear at his mother’s funeral. He barely expressed any emotion. Perhaps Thor is more of a metaphor for traditional masculinity in that he’s either horny, happy or angry. In the context of the films, that would ring true. He is a prince and, as such, is under emotional restrictions.

It’s not until Ragnarok that we see a good chunk of the veneer of arrogance start to come away. The opening scene is the familiar hammer swinging dance of death which Thor relishes in with abandon. He gets back home, finds Loki has taken his father’s place and goes off to find him. After a brief chat with Doctor Strange, the brothers are in Norway when Odin has his final conversation with his sons then passes. Still, we get nothing from Thor. It looks like he’s about to get angry about something then proceeds to blame Loki for the death of their father. Absolutely no discussion takes place on the revelation that they have a sister who their father imprisoned. That information alone should be enough for some kind of strong emotional response. But the audience is given nothing but a few sparkles which are directed at Loki perhaps wrongfully.

With his hammer destroyed by his newly introduced sister, Hela, Thor finds himself on Sakaar where he becomes prisoner to Jeff Goldblum’s Grandmaster. Even when restrained, Thor insists on a vain and futile display of might which the Grandmaster treats as just that. Vain and futile. And a bit amusing.

The first point in the entire Thor and Avengers series where Thor shows any real sign of emotion is when he’s getting his hair chopped off. He looks like he’s in real despair when Stan Lee’s barber heads for him with his, admittedly, rather deathly looking contraption. The Son of Odin was genuinely worried and even pleaded his locks be kept in tact. I know this was played for laughs but it’s also an interesting character point that his hair meant more to him than the loss of his mother.

So, he can unnecessarily puts his girlfriend in danger but absolutely no harm must come to his hair? Priorities. Which reminds me. He did warn Doctor Strange about the hair even though his hair was needed for him to be sent to his father.

If we assume the long flowing locks equate to Thor’s vanity then it should have mostly gone once he entered the ring with the Hulk. And that assumption seems mostly accurate. No hammer so Thor believes he has no power and no hair means he doesn’t have to worry about looking good in battle. What we see in the arena is a stripped down and focused Thor. He doesn’t know he’s fighting Hulk yet but even so, he’s thinking strategy. His eyes narrow as he awaits for what’s about to come out. He prepares himself for battle. Like a soldier. Like a warrior. In that arena, he is no god and he now knows and accepts it.

In the fight, Thor isn’t showy or flashy. He’s practical and tactical. He wants to win but he doesn’t want to kill his friend and he certainly doesn’t want to be killed by him. Against the Hulk, Thor can’t afford to be dramatic or over the top. Showing off would only make Hulk angrier.

On the brink of defeat and death, Thor taps into his real power. It’s this moment where the crowd see who he really is and he is adored for it. Thor himself is quick to realise that this is who he is. But interestingly, rather than show his friend mercy, he decides to go for Hulk and take revenge now he has the upper hand. Hardly the actions of a benevolent person, wouldn’t you say? Thor wants to show he’s a threat and wants to remind Hulk that he is the strongest Avenger.

Even though he technically won, Thor was cheated by the Grandmaster and Hulk was allowed to win. This didn’t bother him. He was alive. From this, we can take that Thor was alright not being the favourite….possibly.

After the fight, Thor is locked in Hulk’s quarters and here we see the Asgardian take a leaf out of Loki’s book. Manipulation. He tries to convince Hulk to break him out and one of his attempts of persuasion? He tells Hulk he doesn’t like Banner. He comfortably says this in order to achieve his goal. Ultimately, it fails and Hulk outwits Thor in a rather hilarious moment of karma. Hulk may not be smart but he’s certainly not stupid and he’s happy to point that out.

He tries to convince Valkyrie through some talk of nostalgic legend but really, this was another manipulation to free himself. Valkyrie was’t buying his story anyway but Hulk was convinced that Thor was his friend. A shame for Hulk that as soon as Thor was free, he jumped right out of a window to save himself. Yes, he explained he needed to save Asgard and stop Ragnarok but manipulating the very people you want help from only makes you untrustworthy. It makes Thor Loki.

When Banner returns, we see Thor’s insecurities shine through. He questions the computer’s statement of Banner being the strongest Avenger and sees fit to correct the giant holographic Grandmaster that he’s the God of Thunder, not Lord. Banner is going into shock but Thor can’t have that. Thor must manipulate Banner so he can have the Hulk available later. Thor is dismissive of Banner’s problems because he doesn’t consider them his problem. His only goal is Hulk. A genuine person let alone a God or a Would-Be King would take just a few minutes to use the relative safety of the Quinjet to explain the situation to Banner and ensure he’s comfortable. Thor needed to let Banner talk things out and he needed to help Banner work things out. From what we’ve seen of the character, this isn’t something he’s equipped to do so he wants Banner to ignore what’s happening to him because Thor can’t deal with Banner.

Banner knows this because Banner knows who he is and what he needs to settle himself. And Banner, rightfully, calls Thor out on another attempt at manipulation.

Ultimately, it looks like the only reason Banner and Valkyrie join Thor isn’t because of the man himself. Valkyrie, as a former member of Odin’s premier fighting force, still holds some semblance of loyalty to her fallen king whom she did have respect for. But mainly she wants revenge against Hela and sees Thor as a means to achieve that. Also, she may fancy him a bit in a childish sort of way. She thinks he’s cute and funny but nothing serious.  Banner wants to get back to Earth and Natasha and so sees Thor as a way out. Karma. At least now the manipulation is on equal terms.

A real point of growth is in the humiliation and foresight of Loki. Granted, humiliation isn’t really an acceptable form of growth but one step at a time. There are many layers or arrogant lacquer to get through. Thor must display his overcoming of Loki’s endless betrayal and the ‘Get Help’ distraction works nicely to Thor’s advantage. He gets to show his physical superiority over his brother which should serve as a reminder that whilst arrogant, Thor isn’t a bully. He could have easily bullied Loki when they were younger but didn’t such is the level of decency and fairness at his core.

The final battle against his sister shows Thor’s main weakness. He’s unsure of himself. Going up against his older sister, who’s age, clear motives and greater experience give her the advantage. She knows what she wants and has a plan for getting it. Thor, on the other hand, turns up and hopes to punch his way out as he has done every…other…time. The plan is simple and, arguably, idiotic. He knows nothing of Hela’s powers therefore has no strategy with which to fight. He arrogantly assumes he’ll win.

Fortunately, the script allows Thor to win but in a way where he has to make the choice of a king. His sister is far too powerful to be defeated by the combined forces of Thor, Loki and Valkyrie so he makes a difficult choice. He opts to sacrifice his homeworld for the good of his people. Such a sacrifice is a difficult burden to bear but Thor has no other option. Surtur had to be resurrected to enable Ragnarok thus defeating Hela.

With his homeworld gone, Thor had to set about finding a new place for his people to settle. The mission was about to start but then Thanos showed up in his monstrously sized vessel.

We never saw what happened between the end of Ragnarok and the start of Infinity War. All we were allowed to see was Thor beaten. Did his arrogance kick in again where he put his people at risk to show how mighty and powerful he is? Possibly, but we’ll never know.

The issue with Infinity War was that it was a real chance for Thor to show some real growth. Then he didn’t. Yes, we saw him grieve over Heimdall but he arrogantly vowed revenge from a position of weakness.

With his mouth shut by Ebony Maw, all Thor could do was watch helplessly as the final member of his family is murdered in front of him. He mourns the loss of his brother but no further vows of vengeance. Perhaps, Thor realised that Thanos was a very different opponent having watched him easily defeat Hulk, kill Heimdall and snap Loki’s neck like a twig. Maybe Thor thought this was one enemy he couldn’t defeat.

And then that arrogance stepped in again.

After being saved by the Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor quickly constructs a plan to kill Thanos. And, like his other plans, it’s simple and idiotic. Once again, he thinks he can solve his problems with a new weapon. He didn’t learn from his father in Ragnarok that Mjolnir wasn’t where his power came from. Thor is the power yet he chooses not to wield  it. His mentality is wrong and this is why he fails so frequently. He believes the forging of Stormbreaker will give his mojo back but it didn’t. How can he regain what he never had to start with? Both Mjolnir and Stormbreaker are items Thor associates with power rather than himself. Going back to the first Thor film, Odin even declared Mjolnir a ‘tool to build or a weapon to destroy’. What Mjolnir does is entirely up to the wielder yet Thor treats it like an ally. We can almost hear the thought run through his mind – ‘Just you wait until my hammer gets here.’

It could be argued that, yes, Odin did fail his son. Rather than have him believe that power was granted through Mjolnir, Odin should have empowered his son and told him he had the power within much earlier. It’s like telling a child they only won a race because they were wearing running shoes whilst everyone else had slippers on. Not that the child was legitimately the fastest regardless of footwear. It sends the wrong message. Even the enchantment on Mjolnir suggests the power resides within the hammer and those who are worthy may wield it. It diminshes Thor immensely. Is he only Thor because of Mjolnir? Then, who is he without it? Such misinformation would have had a profound impact on Thor as a person and may well be the source of his lack of real confidence and assurance.

If we compare Thor to his three main counterparts, Bruce Banner, Tony Stark and Steve Rogers, both are very much the embodiment of their superhero personas. Bruce was already a brilliant scientist who knew his abilities well before his accident. And because he knew who he was, he was able to manage the Hulk rather than be lost to him.

Tony is creative engineer and inventor and Steve Rogers has a very clear moral compass. All three knew who they were before they had any abilities or suits of armour. They don’t define who they are rather they enhance and project but, with Thor, it seems he’s defined by his hammer. Without it, he’s really not much. Just a spoilt brat who wanders around with a sense of entitlement but with no accomplishments to back up his arrogance. Tony earned his arrogance because he has heaps of evidence. Steve earned his place as leader because he’ll always make the good call, if not the right one, even if it means going against orders. And Bruce? He’ll always reason with people because he’s constantly reasoning with the Hulk but, as a scientist, he must present clear and logical reasoning in his work for it to be successful.

Thor, on the other hand, has none of that. He’s a Son of Odin and Prince of Asgard. Not a Defender of the Realm, Keeper of the Peace or Advisor to the King. He has no position or training to fall back on.  Just a title. And a hammer.

Ultimately, the journey to Nidavellir should have been pointless. Thor has innate power, so why not use it? The simple answer is, he would have to teach himself which would require learning about himself first in order to figure out what he and his power are capable of. For the sake of convenience and time, getting Stormbreaker made was a lot easier as it didn’t take years of practice and skill to make. It just needed one dwarf with those years of practice and skill and one God driven enough to get it done.

And when it was done, what did he do? He let that arrogance come through again, didn’t he? That fatal mistake of going for the chest rather than the head or arm allowed Thanos to complete his mission. And all because Thor wanted to bask in his moment of glory and let Thanos see him do it. His actions were reckless.

And now. After that long and arduous journey, I come to Endgame. I’m going to make as much use of the recency effect as I can since it’s been a little over a week since I saw the film.

First off, we meet Thor in the initial stages of depression. He’s isolated himself from the remaining Avengers and isn’t really talking to anyone. Rather than join the others and talk things out, Thor chooses to ponder on his failure.

When they locate Thanos, Thor allows his arrogance to get the better of him once again. A pointless beheading sees Thor’s ego get a sliver of satisfaction now he’s achieved the goal he should have achieved at the end of Infinity War. The death of Thanos also left his teammates scrambling for a plan since their main source of information about the stones was now dead. Another reckless move.

Thor leaves it to the other, arguably, more capable Avengers to do all the leg work in coming up with a plan. In the succeeding five years, the throes of depression are in full swing when we meet Thor in New Asgard. The survivors of Ragnarok and Thanos’ attack are all getting on with things. Even Valkyrie seems settled working on the harbour.

Thor, however, is lost. His arrogance has cost him far more than just failure. It’s cost him his mind. If we look at every other member of the team, they have all lost in some way, shape of form but they dealt with it at the time, learned and moved on. Thor’s arrogance only served as a buffer for the tragedy to come and when it did, it hit hard.

The loss count is staggering compared to his fellow Avengers and he never dealt with it. He thought he was fine. He projected an air of confidence and invulnerability when, really, he needed to assess each loss as soon as he could and work through the feelings. In all three Iron Man films, Tony is brought down a few levels and is forced to work through his defeats over the course of each film. His neurotic paranoia and cynicism are what drive him to make use of his inventive engineering skills. With Steve Rogers, we see him question his morality each time he’s faced with more and more ambiguous circumstances. With Thor, we see a static visage of someone who believes himself untouchable and unbeatable even when clearly defeated.

On to the weight gain. First off, Thor has chosen to drink his responsibility away. That and leading a sedentary lifestyle will lead to a beer belly. It’s funny to see because Thor maintains his arrogance and thinks himself more relaxed now. He’s comfortable with how he is and so should the audience. It’s a big learning curve ahead for Thor and, having been in that position myself, it’s a daunting task to take on. More so since to bring a God down takes a whole lot more than it does for a tin man and a super soldier. Tony Stark got a battered ego and had many millions of dollars worth of material possessions destroyed and Steve Rogers lost his friend, a chance to be with Peggy and seventy-five years of life which he got back in Civil War and Endgame, respectively.

Thor lost his girlfriend, mother, father, hammer, friends, hair, an eye, his only sister, his home and half his people. Add on all the failures and betrayals and family revelations and you can only forgive Thor for being so arrogant. Would you want to know exactly how your father got to his esteemed position and that he used your sister as a weapon to do so? No, I didn’t think so. As benevolent as he may appear, Odin acted tyrannically and possibly manipulated Hela into winning his wars. The guilt and shame brought Odin to change his ways and present himself as the warm, loving but hard father we see throughout each Thor film.

The weight of all that knowledge more than justifies Thor’s transformation. It’s not fat shaming at all. This is extreme grief and depression kicking in. And the callouts about other Avengers picking on Thor? Nonsense. That’s how they’ve always been. Rocket got called ‘Furface’ by Captain Marvel and no one takes offense but Tony Stark calling Thor ‘Big Lebowski’ is somehow offensive rather than an accurate description that Thor does indeed look and act like ‘The Dude’. Wayward, carefree and so laid back that something like responsibility is impossible.

And when he does suit up, he’s not what he once was. The trouble with depression is that a person regresses into a state of near nothingness and they can’t be the person they need to be. When talking to his mother during the ‘Time Heist’, the shame and guilt of presenting himself to her is too much. He’s acutely aware of what he’s become. But it doesn’t matter to Frigga. He’s her son and she knows that for him to have plunged to such depths, he’d have to suffered a great deal. This comforts him as well as being able to share a few more moments with her. He cannot, however, face Jane. He’s no longer ‘god-like’ in his mind therefore he deems himself unimpressive to the woman who has been so easily impressed by him.

The final fight is where Thor doesn’t shine. He’s slow, cumbersome and no longer filled with the same sense of purpose and thirst for glory as his former self. Even with Mjolnir and Stormbreaker, he struggles against a Thanos that has no Infinity Gauntlet. It’s understandable that Cap and Iron Man might struggle but Thor from Infinity War would have destroyed 2014 Thanos. Cap does more with Mjolnir than he does which only serves to highlight that not only is Cap’s conscience clear after Civil War but his intent is as well. Iron Man too, gives it his all even in his weakened state. He has a wife and child to protect now. Cap has the chance at a second life. And Thor? From what we’ve seen, Thor has very little going for him. He doesn’t fight like a protector of his people. He fights like he’s given up but here, his arrogance protects him. He keeps telling himself he’s the strongest and, in this case, it did enough to keep him alive albeit there was little conviction in his actions.

In the end, Thor did give up. With Thanos defeated and the loss of Natasha and Tony, he gave the power of ruler to Valkyrie in recognition that she is a leader and he is not. The arrogance and pride is all but gone at this point. He has admitted what he cannot do. He also admitted that he never found out who he is and by joining the (As)Guardians of the Galaxy, he’ll now have the support network he needs and deserves. It’s often the case that the best kind of support comes from those with a common element. With the Guardians, there are many. No real family; loss of family; sibling rivalries; trust issues; false confidence; abuse, I could go on.

In short, I hope we see Thor find peace in his travels with his new friends. I hope he can found out more about himself so that, come the next Avengers, we’ll see who he really is. He may have earned the title of Thor: God of Thunder at long last.