Immediately after the release of the
trailer for Thor: The Dark World,
this article showed up with 14 Questions and Observations about the trailer. It's a pretty fun read, so go check it out, then come back here for my responses, and perhaps some more questions.
1. Is Thor leaner?
Response: Not sure how important this actually is, but I don't see a huge difference. Hemsworth is likely wearing a different costume, combined with another change of hair length, and I'm sure that he isn't the same exact dimensions as he was during Thor or Avengers. Remember, he actually go
so big for Thor that he didn't fit into his costume, and had to get smaller again. Maybe they were just trying to avoid that. I don't know, take a look for yourself. Personally, I think its the armor. Also, we saw his huge arms a lot in Thor, something the armor covers up.
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| As "Donald Blake" in "Thor" |
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| As Thor in "Thor" |
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| In "The Avengers" |
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| In "Thor: The Dark World" |
2. Jane Foster wishes she wasn't wearing flannel in Asgard.
Response: Uh, hi, this is Jane Foster, girl who has been studying stars and wormholes forever trying to understand something nobody else has come close to before. You really think that when she finally sees it and gets there, she's gonna be concerned about her wardrobe? If a scientist cured cancer in PJs, would he feel less successful that if he had done it in a lab coat? No. Obviously she'd dress up in the public eye when announcing it, if she ever gets that far, but I'm pretty sure she's more concerned with other things now. Plus, its Asgard. Pretty much anything Jane Foster would own would pale in comparison to the formal dress of the Asgardians. So, stupid point. Thanks for nothing.
3. Where's Captain Britain?
Response: OK, whining about heroes you wish were in movies, thought should be in movies, or makes sense that they should be in movies, is nothing new. Go whine somewhere else. Irrelevant, moving on.
4. No more Darcy?
Response: It's already been confirmed that Kat Denning's role in this film would be expanded from just that of a comic relief, so whoever wrote this must not be as informed as they think. Or they were just really stretching for 14 points. At any rate, Darcy was a pretty pointless character in the first film (in fact, Jane Foster was a pretty pointless character in the first film, so Darcy was just a pointless sidekick to a pointless character), so I would have actually been fine with lessening her role to focus more on characters like the Warriors Three, Sif, Heimdall, Loki, Odin, Frigga, and new characters like Tyr, Malekith, Kurse, etc., rather than focusing more on some chick who's main contribution to the movie is her chest. Nothing against Kat Dennings, but her character is not essential here.
5. Bifrost was unimportant.
Response: Again, whoever wrote this is either misinformed or uninformed. Yes, the Bifrost was destroyed. Yes, that was the primary method in and out of other realms. But Loki
clearly stated that there were other ways to get around besides the Bifrost, and said so in such a way that suggested that not many Asgardians know about, maybe not even Thor at that time. In The Avengers, Loki mentions the Dark Energy that Odin must have used to get Thor back to Earth. Cheap trick? Maybe, but it works as a plot device, and we can understand that while Odin was willing to use Dark Energy to retrieve his son and save Midgard, he would e less willing to use more Dark Energy to send Thor back so he can reunited with his human girlfriend that Odin disapproves of. So, not really that unbelievable.
6. Asgard is more Tolkien.
Response: First of all, if you think mountains and oceans are "Tolkien" then you're just too stupid to properly argue with. Tolkien didn't invent that scenery, and every movie that uses similar themes isn't "Tolkien" just because of that. Secondly, if you think that all of the palaces and grand rooms and "royal" parts of Asgard that we saw in the first film was the entirety of the realm, you're ignorant. They showed us the relevant parts of the world, to set the stage for how awe-inspiring these gods are. But this film is focusing on the darker aspects of the nine realms, and what the trailer is showing us could either be darker aspects of Asgard (something Joss Whedon chose to include during Loki's interact
ion with Black Widow) or part of Svartalfeim, the home of the Dark Elves, for whom this movie is named
. Trying to take away too much from the trailers is a common mistake, try not to focus on it too much.
7. Jane Foster is impressed.
Response: Again, this is obvious and stupid and irrelevant and unnecessary to say. She's only been studying this stuff for years and years, how would you expect her to react?
8. Lady Sif is not amused.
Response: While this seems like another obvious and pointless remark, this could actually have a lot of potential behind it. Jaimie Alexander reported in an interview that the sequel would dive in a bit more to the relationship between Sif and Thor, who are in love in the comics. Remember in the comics, Jane Foster was the love interest for Donald Blake, who was omitted for the MCU, and Sif was the girl for Thor, so to satisfy both, there was a bit of merging the two entities. Will we see something like that in the MCU? I don't know, but you can read more about my thoughts for Sif here.
9. Odin's back.
Response: Duh. He's the Allfather. King of Asgard. Thor's dad. Can't likely have a Thor movie without him. Unless, of course, he dies in this film, like the photos being released suggest, then in the sequel he could be in the clear. Unless some flashback or Mufasa cloud talking occur.
10. Jane Foster possessed?
Response: I love Natalie Portman. I can't really figure out why, but ever since seeing her in V for Vendetta I just have a ton of respect for her, despite not seeing her in much else. Black Swan was another great film for her. But she was pointless in Thor, and she didn't really impress me. She took the role only as a favor to the director, and didn't have any connection to the character, and it showed. Furthermore, the character was completely different from the comics version, now an astrophysicist instead of a nurse. Seriously, one of my few complaints with Marvel Studios is that they just turn any non-superpowered female role into a "scientist," and it makes me worried for Janet Van Dyne/Wasp. Anyways, when the potential new director for the sequel didn't get the job and they hired Alan Taylor instead, Natalie Portman threw a fit. It would appear that she is being punished by being given a lame role (again) and being possessed. Which is really an immature reason for doing something so drastic to a character, but I can't stop them.
11. Thor loves a good battle.
Response: Yeah, he's a warrior. Seriously, too many overly obvious "observations" in this article.
12. Is this Malekith?
Response: Of course it is! Who else would it be? It's not Loki!
13. Things do not look good for Jane Foster.
Response: Too similar to number 10.
14. Loki
Response, Part 1: Oh, you noticed his hair got longer? Good for you, so did everybody else. You're asking how often hair changes in Marvel films? Let's see. Fury is bald, so no change. Cap was frozen, so no change. Black Widow went have having beautiful long curly locks in Iron Man 2 to whatever you want to call the 'do she sported in Avengers, big change. Banner was completely recast (as was Rhodes), so I think we can at least consider both of those changed. Stark has stayed fairly consistent, but that's because he has an image to uphold, so no major change. Thor's hair was ridiculously different between Thor and Avengers, major change. Hawkeye had all but no role before Avengers, so not much opportunity for change.
Also, consider the characters progress. Deceiving his family to steal the throne, being sucked into a wormhole, dealing with Thanos/The Other/The Chitauri/whoever else he was working on, then being imprisoned. I doubt he's had much thought for his hair throughout all of that.
Furthermore, is this important? No. But it could be entertaining as another Rambo-esque fact. (In the Ramboo films, Sly Stallone's hair got longer in each film, and the knife he used got larger. Makes me want to look at Loki's weaponry throughout the films).
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| In "Thor" |
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| In "The Avengers" |
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| In "Thor: The Dark World" |
Response, Part 2: I think the first Thor film showed us very clearly that Loki, as the freaking
god of Mischief, knows some things about being sneaky and shadowy that nobody else, including possibly Odin and
The Dark Elves know about. So, while there may be a few different ways in and our of the worlds, if Thor needs a way to get to Svartalfheim discreetly,
without any of the Dark Elves knowing, then Loki is obviously the best chance he has at doing that. So yeah, Loki should rot in jail, but Thor needs him. And Loki wants any possible chance of escaping/redemption he can get, so of course he'll agree. Stop acting like you're smart by pointing out plotholes that don't exist in a movie you haven't seen yet. It's called good storytelling. Just enjoy it.
Well,
Now that I've got that out of the way, time for a few questions of my own.
1. Why is this truck floating? As far as I know, none of our Asgardian friends from the original film has Telekinesis as part of their superpower repertoire, so who is causing this?
I admit I'm pretty unfamiliar with Malekith, so let's see what wikipedia says about him:
Malekith has all the normal attributes of a member of the race of dark elves, although his abilities are as a result of above-average development. He possesses superhuman intellect, strength, speed, stamina, durability, agility, and reflexes.
As a dark elf, Malekith also has the ability to manipulate the forces of magic for a variety of effects, including teleportation, energy projection, physical malleability, flight (by transforming into mist), illusion casting, and the ability to change the shape and appearance of other beings or objects.
Malekith has a vulnerability to iron, which disrupts or cancels his magical spells.
So that's a definite maybe
2. Who is this guy?
The trailer shows a man we've never seen before doing some sort of science-y work with Darcy, but who is he? My excitement shouts out all the possibilities, most notably Hank Pym (referenced but not named in the first Thor film) but my brain tells me that's probably not the case. So who is he? Is the actor Chris O'Dowd, who's confirmed to be in the movie in an unspecified role?
3. Who is this girl?
Based on costume and accessories, I'd say this is the character of Lady Sif. But it looks nothing like Jaimie Alexander, the actress who portrays the character. So who is this? Am I wrong, and it's just a weird combination of lighting/angle/effects that makes it look like someone else? Is it another character (doesn't quite look like Valkyrie)? Is it (geeking here) a post-merge version of Sif and Jane Foster in one entity? The rest of the internet seems to think it's Jaimie Alexander, but it just doesn't look like the same girl to me.
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| Photo from "The Dark World" trailer #1 |
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| Photo from "The Dark World" trailer #2 |
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| Jaimie Alexander as Sif in "Thor" |
4. What is going on here?
Where is this battle taking place? Midgard? Asgard? Svartalfheim? Somewhere else? Who has that kind of technology? The Dark Elves? Friends of Loki? Who are they shooting at? I have no real guesses here.
