MCU: 10 Things You Learn Rewatching Thor

2. Thor's Humbling Is One Of The MCU's Best Character Arcs

Thor Helmet
Marvel Studios

It wasn't bombastic action that made the original run of Phase 1 movies so popular, it was Marvel's firm belief in character. As a result, audiences flocked to the original Iron Man to see Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, not the titular hero, and the same can be said about Thor.

Here though, it's harder to draw a line between the superhero and the actual person. They're one and the same, but that actually made it possible for Marvel to craft a protagonist that's different from the others in their stable. Unlike Iron Man or Cap, Thor starts out as a God and has to learn how to be human, rather than the other way around.

This thread is what makes the original Thor still exciting to revisit today, as his development from being an entitled douchebag to a humbled king worthy enough to wield the power of Mjolnir acts as the backbone of the entire film. In fact, it's handled so well, and the character transforms so much, that he practically had nowhere to go from there until he was reinvented in Ragnarok.

Advertisement
In this post: 
Thor MCU
 
Posted On: 
Contributor

Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.