Endgame Thor/God of Thunder - Chris Hemsworth

[Fosterson]

Maybe it's an excuse that helps if Hemsworth doesn't want to weight lift as much anymore?

Don't think that's a factor. Hemsworth is only 35. Jackman kept on working out for Wolverine into his late 40s.

 

[Ragnaroknroll]

You can't just expect him to miraculously recover from the emotional trauma of the events of IW and move on without long-term (physical and psychological) damage. He is still a broken man and his guilt for failing in IW won't have fully abated (he could just as easily see himself as inadvertently responsible for Nat and Tony's deaths). As the Russos have said, Thor at the end of EG is still a long way from recovering from his failure in IW. And that leads me to think that Fat Thor is here to stay (for better or worse).

It also makes sense from a practical perspective, since Thor in prime physical shape in GOTG Vol. 3 would render the rest of the team redundant. Keeping him in Lebowski form allows for the likes of Rocket and Quill to have their moments in the spotlight.

Mjolnir or Stormbreaker performing Asgardian liposuction at the end of Endgame would have been miraculous. I understand and was on board with him not recovering that quickly in this film.

But it doesn't take a miracle for him to get back in shape in the near future. I mean come on. For him not to do so would be out of character and would break one of Feige's supposed golden rules - namely "Respect the source material". Forget Thor's mantra of "never surrender", it doesn't even make sense for his Asgardian metabolism to not recover after coming out of his depression and abandoning that lifestyle.

I can deal with fat Thor for one film - but did Hemsworth really sign up for two more movies just to play Mr. Klump in a fat suit? Is that what his career has come to?

And keeping Thor useless so other characters aren't redundant (Iron Man, Captain America, Rocket, Quill, etc.) is just lazy writing. He's Thor. He's got godlike powers. Deal with it. Figure it out or don't make films about him. Don't nerf him into the ground every chance you get. His abilities never stopped comic book writers from thinking up new stories for him for over 50 years.

And how the heck are the Guardians of the Galaxy going to stand up against the likes of Adam Warlock? They need Thor in his prime.

Marvel can do what they want. But if they think Lebowksi Thor is such a hoot that they're willing to turn their backs on fans who have followed the character for decades just so he can be comic relief well then they won't be getting my ticket. I'll stick with my own head canon that says Thor got his act together, got back in shape and went on many grand adventures in space fighting Magus, Mangog, Jormungand, the Celestials, and Galactus and teaming up with Beta Ray Bill.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Thor will not be anywhere near his condition in Endgame next time we see him which will literally be YEARS from now. If anything I can bet there will be more of a build up to his return to fighting form in GOTG 3 than him staying in his depression fueled shape.

 

[Herolee10]

Thor's story is not over yet, so this is something for Gunn and, if they make a Thor 4 with Taika as rumored, for him to decide. The end of the arc here is the realization that he is not the person he is supposed to be.

That may be the case but it's still poor storytelling to not give him some kind of closure to his arc before he starts a new chapter in his life.

And really at the end of the day, what did Thor do/contribute in this film that resulted in Thanos's defeat? Nothing. Thor was not in any way useful in either taking down Thanos or reversing the snap.

I mean everyone keeps dancing around that topic. So far, I have not seen anyone who could find a reason to justify Thor even being in this film other than getting fat and joining the guardians at the end.

Thor was so depowered in this film that I am pretty sure there quite a few established individuals now that could kill him. Especially with a person not needing to be worthy or powerful to wield stormbreaker. Just take that weapon away and you can use it to kill Thor easily.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

And yet none of Thanos' mooks or the Black Order did that in the film. Only the the main villain, the most powerful non-cosmic entity we've encountered in the MCU so far came even close. And people keep singing this song that Thor was useless when he was kicking all kinds of ass on the battlefield alongside everyone else and went toe to toe with Thanos many times in the course of the third act in ways many of the other characters could not and live to tell the tale, aside from like maybe Carol and few others most wouldn't have survived the encounter. And once more... This is all very much in line with Thanos and Thor's throwdowns in team settings from the source material.

It's almost like people forget the words that sum up why a team like the Avengers exist in the first place.

"And there came a day, a day unlike any other, when Earth's mightiest heroes found themselves united against a common threat! On that day, the Avengers were born—to fight the foes no single super hero could withstand!

 

[Bren]

You were happy (I'm guessing) with his portrayal, performance and power.
Many weren't.

This isn't an all or nothing scenario.
Just because some wanted him to be a bit more effective and powerful doesn't mean we want or expect him to beat Thanos.

He gets this bad ass beard transformation into the final fight and promptly gets smacked around by the same guy Cap breaks his Mjolnir virginity on extremely well, gets almost crushed by Wanda and held to a standstill by Capt Marvel.

In the interests of powering him down and playing to Hemsworth's comedic desires, the Thor 'arc' just came across and messy and half baked.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

I am actually someone that has been consistent in stating that they did slather this arc of Thor with too much humor which overshadowed his dramatic material, up to and including meeting his dead him mother in the past.

But saying Thor was completly useless in the film and a failure now for all time and ruined forever because of how he was portrayed here is silly as an opinion to me. I get being disappointed but there's understandable to me, reasonable and rational reactions and then there is pure fanboy drama queening.


And Cap has a great showing against Thanos one on one... For like a minute and 30 seconds before he gets beat like a government mule and even gets his shield shattered. Thor faces Thanos' army and then Thanos AGAIN. He puts his all into the fight. And just like in the comics the vast majority of the time... He can't defeat the Mad Titan, JUST like those panels I posted. Cap to gets brushed off by Thanos leaving Tony to have to go in there and make the ultimate sacrifice.


I do think as with most of Marvel's output for ten years now that they could have cut the humor by 50% without in anyway impacting the films' quality. But even saying all that the arc he had in AEG was legit and worked, even if I felt the leaning into comedy was a big part of why this has shaken out into being divisive among the fans.

 

[The Batman]

You were happy (I'm guessing) with his portrayal, performance and power.
Many weren't.

This isn't an all or nothing scenario.
Just because some wanted him to be a bit more effective and powerful doesn't mean we want or expect him to beat Thanos.

It's not unreasonable to want Thor to have the same kind of showing that Steve, Wanda, and Carol got.

 

[HammerDown]

People keep forgetting Infinity War for some reason. Or they don't take that into consideration.
And i say this because IW was part 1 of the conclusion to the Infinity Saga. And in that a prime Thor was hailed as the movie's MVP performing stuff like this...

 

[Fosterson]

Mjolnir or Stormbreaker performing Asgardian liposuction at the end of Endgame would have been miraculous. I understand and was on board with him not recovering that quickly in this film.

But it doesn't take a miracle for him to get back in shape in the near future. I mean come on. For him not to do so would be out of character and would break one of Feige's supposed golden rules - namely "Respect the source material". Forget Thor's mantra of "never surrender", it doesn't even make sense for his Asgardian metabolism to not recover after coming out of his depression and abandoning that lifestyle.

Btw, I'm not weighing in on whether or not Thor should stay fat or not. I'm just speculating as what is most likely.

I can deal with fat Thor for one film - but did Hemsworth really sign up for two more movies just to play Mr. Klump in a fat suit? Is that what his career has come to?

According to the Russo's and Markus and Mcfeely, Hemsworth was fully on board with Lebowski Thor. So I doubt he'd object either way.

And keeping Thor useless so other characters aren't redundant (Iron Man, Captain America, Rocket, Quill, etc.) is just lazy writing. He's Thor. He's got godlike powers. Deal with it. Figure it out or don't make films about him. Don't nerf him into the ground every chance you get.

The problem is that the MCU Guardians are basically all street-levelers, and even the likes of Drax and Groot are nowhere near as strong as Thor. This creates a serious challenge for the writers, and thus makes a nerf more likely (not certain).

Honestly, even while fat Thor could still solo the Guardians with ease. Their amazement at how he was still alive when they found him in IW showed that he is on a totally different level to any of them ("This is a MAN!").

Marvel can do what they want. But if they think Lebowksi Thor is such a hoot that they're willing to turn their backs on fans who have followed the character for decades just so he can be comic relief well then they won't be getting my ticket. I'll stick with my own head canon that says Thor got his act together, got back in shape and went on many grand adventures in space fighting Magus, Mangog, Jormungand, the Celestials, and Galactus and teaming up with Beta Ray Bill.

Again, I'm not saying that Thor should stay fat; simply that its likely given the direction they've taken the character in over the last few movies and because of the success they've achieved while doing so.

 

[Herolee10]

It's not so much how the story begins but how it ends imho. Most of us were aware that Thor would not have a big role in EG like he did in IW since other characters needed to be given the spotlight that they had missed out on previously.

And no one here was expecting Thor to beat Thanos in EG on his own either. So even with all of that taken into consideration, no one expected Thor to be so useless and given an incomplete arc in EG.

Yes, people have said a hundred times that his story is not over. However that still does not justify giving him an incomplete arc. In any well written franchise, even though you have a character who will appear in several films down thr line, you always give them some kind of arc that has a beginning and end in each installment.

And who could take Thor's tragedy seriously when the film constantly portrays it as humor for moat of its run?

Not to mention again, despite all of the powerful feats of display since IW, Thor in the end was useless in stopping Thanos or fixing thr damage that he had caused.

 

[Fosterson]

Not to mention again, despite all of the powerful feats of display since IW, Thor in the end was useless in stopping Thanos or fixing thr damage that he had caused.

He helped to distract Thanos and get him away from the Gauntlet. Without his help, Thanos would have likely been able to do his snap.

And Thor's badassery in IW was definitely important in the long run. If Thor hadn't turned the tide of the battle in Wakanda, then most of the Avengers would have been killed LONG before Thanos ever arrived there.

Watch the scene again:



From 2:17 to 2:54, they clearly show us that the Avengers are on the verge of losing. Cap, Bucky, T'Challa and Nat are all getting overwhelmed and the Hulkbuster Armour is knocked down and starts to get ripped apart. Had Thor's arrival been delayed by any more than a couple of minutes, then most of the Avengers and the Wakandans would have been savagely mauled to death right there and then.

Without, Steve, Nat, Rhodey, and above all, Bruce, their plan in Endgame wouldn't have even been possible.

Sure, he wasn't able to deliver the killing blow to Thanos. But that doesn't make everything else he did redundant.

 

[Bren]

Maybe it's an excuse that helps if Hemsworth doesn't want to weight lift as much anymore?

Don't think that's a factor. Hemsworth is only 35. Jackman kept on working out for Wolverine into his late 40s.

I didn't say him maybe not wanting to weightlift as much anymore having anything to do with his age.

 

[JtheDreamer]

People keep forgetting Infinity War for some reason. Or they don't take that into consideration.
And i say this because IW was part 1 of the conclusion to the Infinity Saga. And in that a prime Thor was hailed as the movie's MVP performing stuff like this...

Everyone loves to fall back on those moments.

He literally shows up in Wakanda and throws his weapon (which we've seen a million times at this point). The Russos then quickly cut away from him after he gives his ground hammer attack (which we've seen a million times as well). Next time we see him he is flying through the Outriders vessels (something which somehow he couldn't do in Endgame?). In IW his Stormbreaker was supposed be the "Thanos killing kind" and yet in Endgame it was easily blocked by the Mad Titan, not to mention at one point even HELD by him. All this going on while he wasn't even wearing the gauntlet either.

Captain Marvel shows up out of nowhere doing all the things you'd think Thor could do. All we really got out of Thor was some loud grunts and him basically standing aside so that Cap could have his Moljnir moment. If you watch when the Big 3 first charge Thanos, there's a moment before the Russo's cut away where he's literally just squatting and cowering away.

His durability IS impressive, but it's commonly a cheap parlor trick when the writers don't know how to utilize him in battle. I mean c'mon, he can stand there while a neutron star is blasting him, but he can't put up more of a fight vs. Thanos WITH the Thanos-killing Stormbreaker?

 

[psylockolussus]

Chris Hemsworth is quite good in the comedic bits.

 

[HammerDown]

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

He's "cowering" about as much as say... Iron Man in that exact moment, which is to say, not at all. That's like saying that gets knocked down and still gets up to continue fighting is "cowering".

So silly.

 

[JtheDreamer]

He's "cowering" about as much as say... Iron Man in that exact moment, which is to say, not at all. That's like saying that gets knocked down and still gets up to continue fighting is "cowering".

So silly.

No, what's silly is your continued arrogance in this thread. I would screenshot it for you, but unfortunately it's not allowed at this point. The three of them charge Thanos - Cap gets tossed far into the background, IM is flying above and fires a beam down onto Thanos (which he blocks) and Thor is cowering in crouch position below the Infinity Sword. It's as plain as day Mr. Silly man.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

No, what's silly is your continued arrogance in this thread. I would screenshot it for you, but unfortunately it's not allowed at this point. The three of them charge Thanos - Cap gets tossed far into the background, IM is flying above and fires a beam down onto Thanos (which he blocks) and Thor is cowering in crouch position below the Infinity Sword. It's as plane as day Mr. Silly man.

Nah... Your umbrage that Thor fares the way he's pretty consistently done in the comics (with a couple of instances that stand out BECAUSE they are different than what usually happens) in AEG is what's silly to me. Especially since source material fealty is generally given such primacy in terms of adaptations by fans and supposedly Marvel Studios is praised by them for doing just that.

Using language like "cowering" to suggest some kind of character assassination all the while seeming to forget that Thor is in a team film with lots of plates in the air so he was never going to be the killer app to take out the main villain... Silly.

You don't have to love the film or what they did with Thor over all. I have consistently stated they did fumble the impact of the dramatic material for the character by leaning into the comedy and turning it up to 11, as Marvel Studios is guilty of doing far too often for my tastes. I get to a degree why that rubs some fans the wrong way.

But the criticisms, the hyperbolic responses, the language used to describe said displeasure around here?

Silly and over the top.

And a perfect example of the tone deaf caricature of what we fans are so popular in the public imagination.

If fans don't want pushback for constant use of silly hyperbolic language and positions on things the easiest thing is stop using silly and over the top hyperbolic language.

 

[JtheDreamer]

Nah... Your umbrage that Thor fares the way he's pretty consistently done in the comics (with a couple of instances that stand out BECAUSE they are different than what usually happens) in AEG is what's silly to me. Especially since source material fealty is generally given such primacy in terms of adaptations by fans and supposedly Marvel Studios is praised by them for doing just that.

Using language like "cowering" to suggest some kind of character assassination all the while seeming to forget that Thor is in a team film with lots of plates in the air so he was never going to be the killer app to take out the main villain... Silly.

You don't have to love the film or what they did with Thor over all. I have consistently stated they did fumble the impact of the dramatic material for the character by leaning into the comedy and turning it up to 11, as Marvel Studios is guilty of doing far too often for my tastes. I get to a degree why that rubs some fans the wrong way.

But the criticisms, the hyperbolic responses, the language used to describe said displeasure around here?

Silly and over the top.

And a perfect example of the tone deaf caricature of what we fans are so popular in the public imagination.

If fans don't want pushback for constant use of silly hyperbolic language and positions on things the easiest thing is stop using silly and over the top hyperbolic language.

I see you're still avoiding the fact that Thor's depiction in IW with his Stormbreaker (the "Thanos killing" kind of weapon) vs. a gauntlet armed Thanos is completely different than the 180 they went in Endgame vs. Thanos who's only armed with his Infinity Sword. Still avoiding the fact that he could've EASILY taken out the mothership that was raining fire down onto the battlefield, but didn't. He was just lost in the CGI madness somewhere.

Keep on railing about your translation of source material, by all means. The Russo's were not consistent in his treatment all for the sake of furthering the newly found comedic angle of the character first unleashed in Ragnarok. But hey, at least he got to go full God-mode in that film. Is the comedy improv entrenched Thor also "source material"?

 

[wobbly]

For what it's worth the way I see it is in IW Thor only had that one shot with Thanos and it was catching him off guard. Thanos being able to be caught out even with the gauntlet is how they nearly stopped him on Titan. In Endgame Thanos saw Thor , and near everyone else bar Mjolnir Cap for a brief spell, coming.

Also, as Thanos wasn't in Wakanda when Thor arrived there Thor was free to tear into the troops and rip those drop ships to shreds, whereas in Endgame they were focused on keeping Thanos from the gauntlet from the start of that battle.

This isn't to say I was completely happy with how they did it. I would have preferred Thor to have an 'uppercut' moment of his own on Thanos, especially when he had both hammers, but in the end I didn't think it was done poorly, just not ideally.

 

[KevTravels]

So will there be a Thor 4 or would we just see Thor in GotG 3? Or perhaps both?

 

[HammerDown]

One moment I didn’t really like in AEG was this...

It was a funny little thing but there was no need whatsoever for this to happen, other than giving Captain America even more of the spotlight and providing a bit of levity.

Wielding Stormbreaker is suppose to drive people “mad”. Thor himself said it so. It’s part of the weapons mythos and it’s something that should be respected otherwise it looses its weight and importance.

Also Thor basically says that only beings of Thor’s strength or superior can wield it and while it’s understandable why Thanos was able to hold it, it doesn’t really work with Cap... because he can wield Mjølnir because of the enchantment/he’s worthy. Cap is nowhere near as strong as Thor and that moment shouldn’t really happen or shouldn’t really carry much weight.

Hopefully in the future that “madness” angle won’t be dropped as some random thing Thor said. It would add so much more depth and importance if at one point and after prolonged use of Stormbreaker, Thor himself falls prey to the “Warrior Madness/beserker rage” an important aspect of both Nordic mythos and the Thor comics.

 

[Ragnaroknroll]

And yet none of Thanos' mooks or the Black Order did that in the film. Only the the main villain, the most powerful non-cosmic entity we've encountered in the MCU so far came even close. And people keep singing this song that Thor was useless when he was kicking all kinds of ass on the battlefield alongside everyone else and went toe to toe with Thanos many times in the course of the third act in ways many of the other characters could not and live to tell the tale, aside from like maybe Carol and few others most wouldn't have survived the encounter. And once more... This is all very much in line with Thanos and Thor's throwdowns in team settings from the source material.

It's almost like people forget the words that sum up why a team like the Avengers exist in the first place.

Love the inclusion of the source material here.

 

[Ragnaroknroll]

Btw, I'm not weighing in on whether or not Thor should stay fat or not. I'm just speculating as what is most likely.



According to the Russo's and Markus and Mcfeely, Hemsworth was fully on board with Lebowski Thor. So I doubt he'd object either way.



The problem is that the MCU Guardians are basically all street-levelers, and even the likes of Drax and Groot are nowhere near as strong as Thor. This creates a serious challenge for the writers, and thus makes a nerf more likely (not certain).

Honestly, even while fat Thor could still solo the Guardians with ease. Their amazement at how he was still alive when they found him in IW showed that he is on a totally different level to any of them ("This is a MAN!").



Again, I'm not saying that Thor should stay fat; simply that its likely given the direction they've taken the character in over the last few movies and because of the success they've achieved while doing so.

I hear what you're saying. I mean to me that's no different than Thor hanging out with Hawkeye and Black Widow and even Cap (although the MCU seems to have made him much stronger). To me only Hulk, Iron Man, Captain Marvel, Wanda, and Vision are really on or close to Thor's level.

Drax has been under utilized but he has been shown to have some insane durability (the GOTG2 space travel sequence with him tethered do the back). Gamora is clearly enhanced. Groot can hang. I very much enjoyed Thor, Groot and Rocket on the battlefield of Wakanda and that's probably Thor at his strongest in these films. I still think they can make it work with a fully powered Thor and really won't be on board with something else. Surely they can keep Thor busy with a foe on his power level while the other Guardians do their thing.

If they don't want Thor to be Thor then invent a new character I guess.