I’ve watched the trailers for this movie and it sure looks cheesy. The whole thing really feels like they made a Thor movie just to lead into the Avengers movie, which I’m not totally convinced people want to see either.
Thor probably has the least compelling story for a Marvel hero yet and seeing him smash things with his hammer on screen is much less cool than it was in the comics, and it wasn’t that cool there either.
Who really wants this?
(I’m highly doubtful of Captain America also as that feels like a quick lead into Avengers but I need to see a trailer to decide at this point)
From the standpoint of comic fans, Thor is considered one of Jack Kirby’s iconic creations, and the comic is admired greatly for Walt Simonson’s work on it. Thor himself is Marvel’s iconic heavy-hitter, and is at the heart of much of Marvel’s continuity (as are Spider Man, the Fantastic Four, X-Men, and Avengers, of course).
From the standpoint of people making movies, Thor comics have been published for decades with steady sales, something they look for when tapping properties from other media as a “guarenteed ticket sales”. Heck, Thor is certainly a better seller than Man-Thing, which actually got a movie. And better than the Punisher, which got several movies.
Captain America is also probably Marvel’s second-most iconic character. And I don’t think that people who go see comic book movies (such as, my 8yo & 5yo nephews) are particularly turned off by “cheesy”.
The closest I ever came to being a superhero comic fan was being really into the Bill Bixby “Hulk” in the late seventies and early eighties. (I read the hell out of EC horror comics, but that’s something else.)
I like superhero movies. Superman, when I was a kid - Batman, Spidey, Iron Man, Hulk - I’m there. Loved Watchmen in the eighties, turned up for the movie. I like the stuff that riffs on the genre.
I can’t really imagine watching Thor. (Or Captain America, for that matter.)
These characters just stink of Comic Book Guy, and I have a hard time figuring how they will appeal to a broader audience.
Captain America in particular has low international appeal, IMHO, which will really hurt the overall box office take. Thor has very little buzz outside of geek circles, AFAICT.
An ordinary guy – why, it could be you or me! – believes he’s just a hardworking sort who genuinely cares about his fellow man, but then learns he’s a mighty god sent down here to grow up and live among mere mortals to learn humility. Except, having truly experienced what it means to be human, he now chooses to retain the life he’s known and the friendships he’s made as “his secret identity” while using his godly form to help as “a caped superhero”.
I gotta tell ya, that potentially beats the Fantastic Four on “compelling”, and I’m pretty sure it beats Ghost Rider and Elektra likewise.
And there’s nothing that just screams “edgy action” to adults like picking up a crook with Green Glowing Cosmic Tongs. Unless it’s delivering that miscreant to the police station on a Green Glowing Cosmic Spatula.
My father hasn’t read a comic book in forty years, but loved Thor as a kid and was very excited to hear there was a movie version coming out. He’s not all that dissimilar demographically from the sort of people who tend to head movie studios.
As a guy who used to sell comics to a legion of Comic Book Guys (at comic conventions), I can tell you that even Comic Book Guy doesn’t like Thor. Nobody ever came around looking for back issues of Thor. It was one of our worst sellers among super hero titles.
Captain America was another poor seller.
I have a feeling the comic book movie phenomenon is about to wane.
Walter Simonson did a Thor run in the early 80s that was as good as anything else ever done in comics that I have seen. I’ll go see the movie, but I suspect that I will be alone in the theater.
Unfortunately, you’re probably right, even though it should specifically be the superhero genre that wanes, so that other comic books get more opportunity.
Kenneth Brannagh has already ruined a perfectly good character with Frankenstein…
Trailer isnt that bad, the lead playing Thor (dont know his name) isnt bad, they seem to continue on laying the foundations of a Marvel ComicBookMoviesVerse with the appearance of Shield agents . Only thing that I dont get, why the fuck is there a black guy (apparently a god, is it an Asgardian?) in Asgard ?
Honestly, my biggest problem with it is that I don’t think Thor benefits from having his own movie.
With Captain America spending time with him during WWII is essential, because he’s a patriotic American supersoldier in the time of Iraq and Afghanistan. A morally clear movie about stomping Nazis is both fun and thematically appropriate, and emphasises why Steve Rodgers is patriotic enough to want to wear the American flag without being a dick.
With Thor, I think he’d be better off without his backstory explained in a separate movie. In the Ultimates SHIELD thought he was a powerful man that believed he was a god, and wanted him on the team simply because the former outweighed the latter. I thought this worked well, but it would be less effective if the audience has had it spelled out to them that yes, he is a god.
I’m not too thrilled about Thor (and I was never a Comic Book Guy). The new trailer looks better than the Comic-Con footage (which was just fucking awful), but I’m still not excited. And there’s no way this does better than Iron Man.
But Captain America? Fuck yeah! The world’s awesomest hero stomping Nazis during World War II? I am there!
They asked for Thor by going to see X-Men, Spiderman and Iron Man a few million times. I think Marvel’s trying to turn all their heavy hitters into cash cows. I don’t think Thor will spawn a franchise but as a one-off I think it’ll do fine It’s scheduled for May 5th so it’ll be the 1st summer tent pole movie and it’ll have 3 weeks before POTC 4 to rake it in.