Breaking the realism?

[Aluchak]

Tony Stark is an engineering genius, Bruce Banner got radiated by Gamma Rays, Henry Pym invented a suit that shrinks him down to the size of an ant, and Steve Rogers is a man who signed up for the Super Soldier program. They all have something to do with science.

Thor on the other hand is an immortal with a giant hammer, long blonde hair, and is a norse god. How is that going to adapt well on-screen with all the other characters? Unless they pull a lot of creative licenses on him, making the only thing similar to the comic book Thor is the name.

[SuperFerret]

Science isn't the only force in a fictional universe.

[Aluchak]

Originally Posted by SuperFerret

Science isn't the only force in a fictional universe.

I don't think it will translate well on-screen though. If your a non-comic fan and you go into watch this movie for a fun night, would you being laughing your *** off every time Thor comes in and says "I AM THE GOD OF THUNDER!!! I WILL SMASH YOU WITH MY HAMMER!!!". I know I would.

[SuperFerret]

If Thor were real, I mean really, really real, and he said that, I'd laugh so hard my spleen would explode. But, realistically portrayed, Thor wouldn't exclaim that.

[Katsuro]

They could do it like The Ultimates, where the rest of the team treats him like he's crazy. Anyone who saw the standalone Thor movie would know that's not the case, and he really is the Norse God of Thunder, but if you're just watching The Avengers, you think he might just be a nut with some wierd technology.

[Canis Sapiens]

Originally Posted by Katsuro

They could do it like The Ultimates, where the rest of the team treats him like he's crazy. Anyone who saw the standalone Thor movie would know that's not the case, and he really is the Norse God of Thunder, but if you're just watching The Avengers, you think he might just be a nut with some wierd technology.

I think this could work very well. It would help the audience to become Thor's accomplice and identify with him - c'mon, we all love a misunderstood character.

And that could be the source of a LOT of pretty humorous scenes, too.

[Chewy]

Originally Posted by Katsuro

They could do it like The Ultimates, where the rest of the team treats him like he's crazy. Anyone who saw the standalone Thor movie would know that's not the case, and he really is the Norse God of Thunder, but if you're just watching The Avengers, you think he might just be a nut with some wierd technology.

I agree with this.

Also, this is a fictional world, and there is nothing realistic about becoming a giant green monster

[Rock Sexton]

Originally Posted by ChewySpider

I agree with this.

Also, this is a fictional world, and there is nothing realistic about becoming a giant green monster

It's not about realism...... it's about the levels of acceptability by the common movie viewer.

It's as simple as asking someone what's more believable (even though both concepts are obviously crazy) - a Thunder God who's from another dimension or a guy who's body was zapped with Gamma Rays which have caused crazy physical effects? The choice is pretty easy.

[SuperFerret]

Originally Posted by Rock Sexton

It's not about realism...... it's about the levels of acceptability by the common movie viewer.

It's as simple as asking someone what's more believable (even though both concepts are obviously crazy) - a Thunder God who's from another dimension or a guy who's body was zapped with Gamma Rays which have caused crazy physical effects? The choice is pretty easy.

Thunder God from another dimension. Way more believable than gamma rays, which destroy living tissue as a rule, doing anything but killing someone. We don't know anything about other dimensions, so the sky's the limit.

[Rock Sexton]

Originally Posted by SuperFerret

Thunder God from another dimension. Way more believable than gamma rays, which destroy living tissue as a rule, doing anything but killing someone. We don't know anything about other dimensions, so the sky's the limit.

I'm sorry, you could poll the public and you'd never get that reaction. Regardless, the common person doesn't know what exactly a gamma ray does, but they know it to exist or would connect it to some other kind of "ray". They know Thunder Gods don't exist. That's the difference.

[WarBlade]

Originally Posted by Aluchak

Thor on the other hand is an immortal with a giant hammer, long blonde hair, and is a norse god. How is that going to adapt well on-screen with all the other characters?

A bit of a side note here, but this setting clash was mentioned quite a while back by none other than Favreau himself...

Source

Third paragraph quoted below...

Jon Favreau: And I’m going to get a little more involved now with what goes on with the other movies. I’m very excited about Kenneth Branagh, I can’t wait to see his take on THOR and we’re really looking at the Cap stuff, very closely.

For one because we put the shield in there and Tony’s legacy… Howard Stark’s legacy somehow is related to… there’s some relationship between Tony’s father and what was going on in World War II, in the Marvel Universe, and Shield, so we’re trying to lay some pipe here so that when it all happens it feels somewhat inevitable.

But there are a lot of tonal challenges that are going to take place, more so in the other films I think. THOR has a tremendously… that’s going to be the most difficult one to integrate into this reality. And if it can be properly done then you get a great version of AVENGERS. If not, AVENGERS is going to seem like ROGER RABBIT with different cartoon characters from different worlds, you have Betty Boop next to Daffy Duck next to Donald Duck you know. (laughs)

And I don’t know that’s the experience it should feel like, it should feel like a unified Marvel Universe. And I know that the Marvel guys are very, very vigilant about that.

Another one. Source

Q: How has Marvel's plan to integrate their universe in films changed your plan, going from a franchise to a mega-franchise?

Favreau: It's tough because it first starts off like, "Hey, wouldn't it be fun if we stuck a Captain America shield in the background? Wouldn't it be fun if we have Sam Jackson play Nick Fury like in "The Ultimate Avengers"?' It's like, "Let's prove ourselves to our fans." So you do that. Now, between the Captain America shield and Nick Fury and then the after-the-credit scene that in the eleventh hour became the final scene of "The [Incredible] Hulk," that one was a big one for me. I was like, "Wow, we're forming a team. We're going to that guy and you're forming a team." That's clearly not the day after "Iron Man" ended. Where does it fit in the time continuum? I don't want to just ignore it or do what the comic books have done. I guess you could do what Marvel has said: "It's an alternate universe." They've gotten away with that one for a couple of decades, but how do you make all that work within that world? Because I think it is fun and I think that "Hulk" was successful in keeping a tone that did not seem inconsistent with our film, and certainly with Robert being in there. But we definitely now have a lot of things [to consider]. Look, I come out of improv, and in improv you say, "Okay, give me a suggestion of a place, a line of dialogue –" and here it's like, "Okay. Give me three scenes that I have to incorporate into my next movie." So it's a challenge. What's refreshing is that I don't go back and it's not like you have a studio executive who could care less, like, "I don't give a *****. Just make whatever, whatever tests best." In this case you have Kevin Feige who's like, "How are we going to solve this puzzle?" It's like a Rubik's Cube to them as well. Just all that brainpower addressing something makes you come up with interesting solutions. So we have a pretty good game plan. Then there are conversations that I've been having with them about "The Avengers" too. Remember, with "Avengers" you're not just dealing with tech. You're dealing with inter-dimensional portals and all the ***** that makes you jump the shark if you don't handle it right. So we were very restrained in how we used our superhero-ism in our movie and we did that by keeping it all tech based. Then "Hulk" went a little the same way. It's still kind of tech-based. You get to Cap and you say, "Okay, he was frozen in that thing –" and it's like, "Okay, I could maybe buy that, with the super-soldier thing." Then you get into Thor and it's like, "Okay, well now..." and so how do you make that all feel like it's in the same world as our movie is? That's going to be the challenge moving forward.

[Canis Sapiens]

Originally Posted by WarBlade

A bit of a side note here, but this setting clash was mentioned quite a while back by none other than Favreau himself...

Source

Third paragraph quoted below...



Another one. Source

I remember that. If anything, it shows that Favreau and the Marvel guys are giving the issue some thought. Nice find!

[marcvader]

I think everyone will identify with him as he will have been the star of his own blockbuster the year before. Thor has the chance to be a really charismatic and, as I've said in other threads, larger than life.

[Canis Sapiens]

But the issue here is not winning the heart of his solo movie audience... It's winning the hearts of the Iron Man, Cap, Hulk fans and average movie goers who will come to see the Avengers... you know, the ones who may not buy the idea of a Norse God mixed with all those sci-fi concepts.

[Shivsguy616]

In a science fiction world where a man can turn into a giant green monster, why would it be hard to believe that people can travel from one dimention to another???

[Rock Sexton]

Originally Posted by Shivsguy616

In a science fiction world where a man can turn into a giant green monster, why would it be hard to believe that people can travel from one dimention to another???

........... because unless Thor can be scientifically explained, it changes the paradigm upon which practically all of the Avenger members have been founded. Thor is fantasy. The rest of the group is science. Favreau couldn't have said it better when he eluded to the Roger Rabbit effect. It's the cohesion factor. Fans of the comic are going to have no problem with, but we all know they don't make up the hundreds of millions of ticket sales Marvel anticipates. A general audience member might find it corny if not done right.

There's something to be said about one's imagination when putting these concepts together after reading a comic. It's another thing when it's on film and it's taking place in real life settings - as Avengers will.

Thor is no doubt the most delicate piece of the Avengers. It's absolutely crucial they set it up right.

[marcvader]

The bottom line is that it's all fantasy and Marvel needs to market it as such. They need to have faith and be confident in the material. It's up to them to make it work and I'm confident they will. I'm thinking Thor will be huge, which will be important in the publics ability to accept him to be side by side with the others fighting a common foe. Superhero movies are superhero movies regardless of wether its science or magic based and i repeat the marketing of the Avengers will be vital.

[Marz69]

They may see him as a sort of weather man... Like Storm but only deals in thunder/lightening.

[TheCorpulent1]

While I'm not a fan of putting anything from the Ultimate comics into anything besides other Ultimate comics, I see no reason why anyone else on the Avengers would have to believe Thor is a real god. We, the audience, would know since we saw the realm of Asgard in Thor's movie by then, but it makes a lot more sense for other people in the Avengers movie to write Thor off as just a crazy guy.

Regardless of their opinions, though, he'll clearly be powerful enough to warrant a spot on the team. Just have Fury say something like, "He's probably crazy, but so long as he keeps breaking titanium for Uncle Sam with that hammer of his, we'll indulge him."

Originally Posted by Marz69

They may see him as a sort of weather man... Like Storm but only deals in thunder/lightening.

Thor can use any kind of weather, not just thunder and lightning.

[Colossal Spoons]

Thor might be a little ridiculous at times on the big screen, but somebody has to introduce magic to the new Marvel movie-verse

[SuperFerret]

I still don't understand why Thor won't mesh well with the rest of the Avengers. It's not like there haven't been other movies where magic coexists with science.

[Rock Sexton]

Originally Posted by SuperFerret

I still don't understand why Thor won't mesh well with the rest of the Avengers. It's not like there haven't been other movies where magic coexists with science.

I can't think of one movie off the top of my head where they successfully merged technology with magic. Technology's existence is reality's own magic, why magic itself is strictly fantasy related.

[TheCorpulent1]

Yeah, what does it matter where the power comes from, so long as he can punch a guy through 3 feet of concrete and shoot lightning?

[D-Man22]

Like someone said above I think Thor can be made like Storm with a hammer. It could work.

[TheCorpulent1]

It's sad that people say "Storm with a hammer" like it's a good thing. Thor's a thousand times cooler than Storm right off the bat, as far as I'm concerned.