The Grand Marvel Rewatch: Thor: The Dark World

Face front, true believers! Welcome to the next astonishing addition to “The Grand Marvel Rewatch,” designed to get us all sufficiently amped up for Captain America: Civil War, which comes out May 6, 2016. Each Wednesday, The Cinema King casts his eye back upon the twelve films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and offers five salient observations about the caliber of the films and the way they might play into Marvel’s latest installment in America’s favorite franchise.

Today’s fantastic feature film takes us to 2013 for Thor: The Dark World, pushing Phase Two to worlds beyond for a lot of stuff that probably won’t factor into Civil War much, if at all.

1. Beaucoup Asgard. We get to see a lot more of Asgard than just the throne room this time around, and I think it’s a fantastic idea. Thor gave us the idea that there were only maybe seven Asgardians tops, with a few guards, but here we get to see that Asgard is a proper world – and if there’s one thing Marvel does well it’s world-building. The Dark World departs slightly from the rainbow bridge aesthetic and gives us something closer to the medieval ethos of Game of Thrones (no surprise, given director Alan Taylor’s TV background). It visually differentiates Asgard from Earth and leads me to want to see much, much more of it in Thor: Ragnarok.
2. Keeping it Loki. After stealing the show in Thor and The Avengers, Tom Hiddleston becomes the unapologetic star of this film as the antiheroic Loki. Far more compelling than Thor and certainly more interesting than the rather one-note villain Malekith, Loki lies, tricks, and makes mischief all over this film, often with no clear agenda. By film’s end, though, Loki assumes the throne of Asgard, impersonating Odin in the process. Is he girding himself against the arrival of Thanos, who’s likely displeased Loki didn’t conquer earth? Or is this his petulant way of claiming a throne? Lady Sif nodded toward this change in Odin’s personality in her last guest-star appearance on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., so I’m sure this will be a major plot point in Thor: Ragnarok. (Speaking of, can we get Lady Sif to join The Avengers?) 
3. The humans get short shrift. With Asgard being way more fascinating this time around, perhaps it’s no surprise that the earthbound cast are a little less than inspiring. As the spunky intern Darcy, Kat Dennings is still a delight, leading me to wonder why we haven’t seen more of her in the MCU at large. But Natalie Portman is a bit of a bore, her genius scientist reduced to a pouting schoolgirl whenever Thor and his abs are around. And I feel a little bit sorry for Stellan Skarsgard, who as Erik Selvig is given a role that is frankly beneath his dignity. The idea that he’d be changed by his experience with Loki in The Avengers is a compelling one, but the execution here has a bit more doddering and nudity than necessary. (We’ll see him again, fully dressed, in Age of Ultron.) 
4. Surprise cameos are the best. One of the greatest moments in this movie, if not the entire MCU, comes when Loki impersonates Captain America, with Chris Evans appearing in an unforgettable cameo alongside the patriot swell of Cap’s theme tune. The best part of this beat, aside from how funny it is to see Evans pretending to be Hiddleston pretending to be Evans, was the complete surprise of this moment in the movie theater opening weekend. We had no idea it was coming, but it’s the best of the best of a shared universe, something that contract disputes or press junkets might complicate or spoil. But we get it all the time in comics – why shouldn’t the films mirror this? 
5. One down, five to go... Aha! Ironclad confirmation on some matters of the Infinity Stones – which, again, I’m not sure are going to play much of a role in Civil War, but we’ll certainly see more of them as we approach Infinity War (and, I suspect, at least Doctor Strange). A midcredits scene introduces Benicio del Toro as The Collector (two weeks ahead of Guardians of the Galaxy) and the notion that the Aether is one Infinity Stone, the Tesseract another. And we have to keep them separate for some reason... are they dangerous merely by proximity, or might they attract unwanted attention – say, from someone like Thanos?

There’s so much more to be said about Thor: The Dark World, so be sure to check out my original review. Join me in the Grand Marvel Rewatch over the coming weeks, and hit the comments to share your thoughts about the MCU. And don’t forget to tune in next Wednesday for the next installment, in which we take a closer look at my personal favorite, 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Excelsior!