Marvel's track record is pretty good but it ain't flawless, no matter how hard your buddy in the Groot t-shirt tries to convince you otherwise. There are definitely some oddballs within the MCU, films that for whatever reason just didn't live up to the same quality standards and feel completely out of place. I would say the Thor franchise has two of those, the first two Thor movies actually, and star Chris Hemsworth would agree...well, at least when it comes to Thor: The Dark World.
Speaking with GQ (Are they always interviewing him? I feel like he's always in GQ about something.), Hemsworth gave his honest assessment of the Thor franchise before they decided to shake things up with Thor: Ragnarok. In short, he digs the first movie but doesn't think much of The Dark World...
"The first one [Thor] is good, the second one is meh," he admits. "What masculinity was, the classic archetype — it just all starts to feel very familiar. I was so aware that we were right on the edge."
One of the big changes made for Ragnarok was to deconstruct the idea of Thor as this masculine hero, this literal god. He's tough and heroic, for sure, but it's his flaws that are the most glaring. Whatever, it was the right move because fans loved it, and who knows? Maybe Thor will be the first Marvel character with a solo franchise that goes beyond a trilogy? We should find out after the events of Avengers 4 next year.
