Thor characters in the MCU

[seahammer]

I've been thinking about how lucky we Thor fans have been as we've had so many characters from Thor's 616 world (mostly) faithfully adapted to the big screen for the MCU. Sure there have been changes. Some have even been improvements (IMO) over the original versions, while others have not.

I want to start this thread by posting some side-by-sides of the 616 and MCU versions of characters, then open it up to a discussion.

Which characters were most faithfully adapted?
Which characters were improved?
Who has been done an disservice, if anyone?
Did I miss anyone? Other thoughts?

 

[seahammer]

Here is the side-by-side:

Thor:

Spoiler

Odin:

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Loki:

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Frigga:

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Sif:

Spoiler

 

[seahammer]

Fandral:

Spoiler

Volstagg:

Spoiler

Hogun:

Spoiler

Heimdall:

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Jane:

Spoiler

 

[seahammer]

The Destroyer:

Spoiler

Frost Giants:

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Malekith:

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Kurse:

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Bor:

Spoiler

 

[seahammer]

Stone Men from Saturn/Kronans:

Spoiler

Sleipnir:

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From Agents of SHIELD, Lorelei:

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Also from Agents of SHIELD, Carl "Crusher" Creel, The Absorbing Man:

Spoiler

And finally:

Erik Selvig (Eric Solvang?):

Spoiler

I don’t know if these two were ever meant to be the same character, but the similarities in their names and their professions are so close that I can’t imagine it being a coincidence, so I’m including him here.

I don't know if that last one even counts!

Anyway, I am very pleased at how everyone has been portrayed visually. I mean, they are pretty accurate, even with some changes. I'm glad that Hogun finally got his facial hair, but I wish that he had more screen time in the sequel (as are many fans). And I have to mention The Destroyer when talking about accurate visuals. He looks like he's right off the page.

Also, even though some people feel like Malekith didn't get enough development in T:TDW, I think that he was given a good backstory, which was pretty much nonexistent in the MCU [EDIT: oops! meant to write 616 here!] (IMO).

What do you guys think?

 

[ciscostudent561]

the characters were all very on point.
We've been very fortunate as Thor fans in that arena, not that I expect that level of accuracy.
A lot of fans weren't happy with Destroyer's power level. I think that had to do more with film budget then with writing. Also if the Celestials are never introduced, then there really is no need for it to have such high power levels. And again, the Destroyer armor was ridiculously accurate, in fact he looked much better then I could ever imagine.

Kudos MCU

 

[one4smoke]

Thor: Even though I don't think his strength level has been shown appropriately in the movies, visually I'd say IMPROVED.

Odin: Faithfully adapted, if not IMPROVED. It's Anthony Hopkins. Of course Odin would be good.

Loki: IMPROVED. Tom Hiddleston has made Loki a household name.

Frigga: Faithfully adapted.

Lady Sif: IMPROVED. Three words: Jaimie, Jaimie, Jaimie. And... Oh my heavens!

Fandral: Faithfully adapted by both actors.

Folstagg: Faithfully adapted, but.... Actor - love Ray Stevenson. Visually - expected more.

Hogun: Disservice. Expected more visually and acting.

Heimdall: IMPROVED. I was like WTH ..at first, but I must say... one of my favorite characters.

Jane: Disservice. Natalie Portman is just blah. Didn't exactly expect a whole lot from the character Jane, and didn't even get THAT.

Destroyer: Faithfully adapted. Visually, great. Would have given improved if the fight scene was a bit more.

Frost Giants: IMPROVED. Colm Feore was excellent as Laufey. And the Jotunheimr battle was the best.

Malekith: Disservice. Sorry, I'm with most on this. Not enough visually or mentality.

Kurse: Faithfully adapted. His strength was definitely shown.

Bor: Faithfully adapted, but kinda meh...

Selvig: See above.

And to add another...

Mjolnir: IMPROVED! All three versions are definitely better than the comics.

 

[seahammer]

This is the first thread I've started, so thanks for the response guys!

the characters were all very on point.
We've been very fortunate as Thor fans in that arena, not that I expect that level of accuracy.
A lot of fans weren't happy with Destroyer's power level. I think that had to do more with film budget then with writing. Also if the Celestials are never introduced, then there really is no need for it to have such high power levels. And again, the Destroyer armor was ridiculously accurate, in fact he looked much better then I could ever imagine.

Kudos MCU

Agree with all of that.

Hogun: Disservice. Expected more visually and acting.

Jane: Disservice. Natalie Portman is just blah. Didn't exactly expect a whole lot from the character Jane, and didn't even get THAT.

Malekith: Disservice. Sorry, I'm with most on this. Not enough visually or mentality.

Good points on all characters, but I'm only going to respond to these ones for now:

--Hogun I agree with. He was woefully underused, especially in the second film. I understand that screen time had to be balanced among all the characters, but I would have preferred more time for the Asgardians and less for the Earth-folk.

--I think the way Jane was imagined was an improvement over the source material. An independent woman who was self sufficient and the smartest person in the room is much better (obviously) than a 2-dimensional nurse who just fawns over the muscly hero. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, all of the added character strengths were cast aside in the actual portrayal, and Jane still just went gaga over the muscly hero. It's a wash, IMO, but it seems like the potential for improvement was there at some point in the writing process.

--I'm not a huge fan of Malekith anyway, and I always felt like he was a weak villain in the comics. We know that there was some stuff left on the cutting room floor for Malekith in T:TDW, so hopefully we'll get to see some of that on the Blu-ray. From what we've heard, his character may have been improved if all that stuff had stayed in the film.

Mjolnir: IMPROVED! All three versions are definitely better than the comics.

As much as I like the simplicity of the 616 Mjolnir, I agree that the MCU versions are gorgeous and work better on screen that the 616 version ever could!

 

[one4smoke]

Great thread! Too bad not more are participating... (so far)

 

[seahammer]

Great thread! Too bad not more are participating... (so far)

Thanks! I know that the "Thor world" section probably doesn't get much traffic, but this seemed like the correct place to put it. It'll be waiting for us here when Thor 3 rolls around , but hopefully it'll get some more visitors/comments in the meantime.

 

[seahammer]

I just saw that this thread was relocated, so bump for the new neighborhood.

 

[Herolee10]

I feel like Odin and Loki were severely weakened when compared to their comic book counterparts.

Loki is supposed to be a master magician, yet the only things that we've seen him do (magically wise and without the aid of some powerful weapon) is creating illusions. He can't really conjure anything up (unless you count when he temporarily brought out the Casket out of nowhere to freeze Heimdell). He can't project any type of offensive attacks and he needs a vehicle in order to travel.

Odin, as far as we've seen him of him, aside from regular Asgardian strength (that we've seen on screen), his only offensive attack is pretty much when he has his trusty staff on hand. I don't know if it was because of Anthony's age that they opted to not do anything big (action wise) with Odin or if they just didn't really think about it.

 

[Lord]

Well, in the 60s Ódin barelly did anything either, he would call his son to fight whoever did any damage in Asgard, even low tier villains.

 

[seahammer]

I feel like Odin and Loki were severely weakened when compared to their comic book counterparts.

I agree with this, but I think it is true of most MCU characters, or at least characters in Thor's franchise (including Thor himself).

Maybe we'll get to see Odin really unleash his stuff against Surtur in Thor 3 (God willing!), but it is more likely that the Odin-is-past-his-prime aspect will continue. This, of course, assumes that he is still alive somewhere, as I predict.

 

[seahammer]

Oh my! I just realized that I didn't put the Stone Men from Saturn in my original list. I just went back and added them. Is there anyone else I forgot?????

And on the subject of the Kronans, the MCU version takes more inspiration from the more recent take on their race in the Hulk series than from the 1962 version. I'm cool with that, as I like that version and it fit in well with the story in T:TDW.

 

[kaijunexus]

Is there anyone else I forgot?????

Sleipnir? The Asgardian and Dark Elf soldiers?

 

[seahammer]

Good suggestions. I'm trying to remember if the Einherjar really appeared in the 616, though. Anyone? I remember an elite Asgardian guard called the Crimson Hawks or something like that. Same goes for the Dark Elf soldiers. I guess Malekith sort of represents them.

Sleipnir, though. I'm definitely adding him! I wish we could get an MCU appearance of Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder in the future, too.

EDIT: Added Sleipnir. Good call, Kaijunexus.

 

[Wildcard]

I'm fine with the way each of the characters have been adapted & I think they've done a marvelous (no pun intended) job thus far. My only "complaint" would be I'd like to see Thor & Loki's powers expanded upon....they have quite a few feats under their belt from three movies but there's still so much more they should be capable of.

 

[seahammer]

I would like to see some more diversity in their power displays as well. Chris Hemsworth said this too (I think referring mainly to Thor's fighting style), in one of the behind the scenes videos when he was filming T:TDW. I don't think they really expanded enough during T:TDW, so hopefully he'll get some more creative showings in A2 or Thor3.

What kind of things would you like to see, Hulk-1700? Jason Aaron's current run has shown a few creative applications of Thor's powers. He recently had Thor charge up his fist with lighting when Mjolnir wasn't around! In the Gor arc Thor made it rain fire. I don't think that they'd do anything that exotic in the films, but I would like to see Thor do more without Mjolnir, and more weather control than just lightning (and that tornado in Thor 1).

 

[BigThor]

Thor - Hemsworth impresses from all angles, we honestly could not have gotten a better actor for The God of Thunder. While I was a bit disappointed with his power displays in T:TDW (Thor & TA impressed me more) he's still powerful enough to get the job done. I guess the days where Thor was portrayed to be a peer of The Man of Steel himself in sheer power are long gone now, oh well. IMPROVED

Odin - Sucks as an "All-Father", someone waltzed into Asgard murdered hundreds of Asgardians and KILLED HIS OWN WIFE! What does Odin do about? Not a damn thing, I literally have zero respect for MCU Odin as badass as he in the comics it just disheartens me to look at him in such a way. However Anthony Hopkins knocks it out of the park as far being true to the character, look, and demeanor of Odin. OK

Loki - Hiddelston impresses from all angles similar to Chris Hemsworth's Thor, I might even say I prefer their interpretations of the character's personalities. Like Thor, I think MCU has only done enough to get by in the power department although to a lesser extent that Thor. IMPROVED

Frigga - Rene Russon brings more life to Frigga than I could've ever espected, plus I've never seen comic book Frigga get down like when MCU Frigga fought Malekith! IMPROVED

The Destroyer - In my opinion I would say they did a stellar job of adapting The Destroyer's look in the MCU, I'd even say he looks better than his comic counterpart. But he was taken out far to easily for someone who was virtually unbeatable in the comics, if only he was done as much justice as Kurse. OK

Frost Giants - Although much smaller in size they seemed far more menacing than their comic selves, especially Colm Feore's Laufey and their designs were awesome. FAITHFULLY ADAPTED

Kurse - Man I can't stop thinking about what an amazing job Marvel Studios have done with this guy, I mean he's about as tough as his comic version plus he looks FAR more badass. IMPROVED

 

[First Avenger]

BigThor!long time no see.

 

[BigThor]

Yeah I've been gone for a few months, I'm back now for the most part.

 

[Wildcard]

I somewhat disagree in respect to Odin...I think the general idea was that he wasn't anywhere near full power, which is why he would take awkward pauses during certain moments. But it would be awesome to see Odin laying waste to some mofos ala Thor with the Frost Giants.

 

[BigThor]

Jesus Christ the man's been in two films, I'm tired of seeing Odin in a weakened state. What's the good in being the most powerful being in all of the nine realms if you're always somehow weakened.

 

[Wildcard]

Jesus Christ the man's been in two films, I'm tired of seeing Odin in a weakened state. What's the good in being the most powerful being in all of the nine realms if you're always somehow weakened.

I do agree here, which is why I want Hopkins to return as Odin for Thor 3, especially if the plan is to introduce Surtur. It would only be right to have Odin as part of the action in some way that helps tremendously.