Avengers Movie Primer: Thor

Are you ready for The Avengers on May 4th? We are, but you might need some help (And if you do, you might need some serious help).

We're going to tackle each movie leading up to the Avengers, and while we've already tackled The Incredible Hulk and The Invincible Iron Man, it's time to tackle The Mighty Thor!

Unlike the previous two characters I've reviewed, Thor is the first of its series. There's no prior movie to give you knowledge, everything you need to know will be right in the movie. If you know anything about Norse mythology, apply it to the movie, they try to be pretty accurate.

The movie starts off with a scene of a van, and inside are three characters we're going to know inside and out before the movie is done- Jane Foster, Erik Selvig, and Darcy. They are studying atmospheric changes. And that's about it, a storm gathers, and before we get to get an answer, we're thrust back in time a bit.

Odin, the Allfather and king of Asgard, begins a little story for his sons, Thor and Loki. From this story we are told the history of Jotunheim and Asgard, and the war of the frost giants in which the Asgardians are victorious. This has begun an age of peace, a truce between the frost giant king Laufey and Odin.

Frost Giants run from the Destroyer, and we get a comic book easter egg- the Infinity Gauntlet!

We fast forward a bit in time, now with Thor grown up and taking on his own mantle, as well as wielding the mighty hammer Mjolnir. A celebration is about to occur, where Odin would name him king of Asgard. This celebration is cut short, as a trio of Frost Giants invade, attempting to steal back the frost giant's source o power. Odin cuts their raid short with the use of the Destroyer armor, and sees that the power is returned to it's place in the vault. Thor becomes enraged, insisting on war, but is put in his place by a peacekeeping Odin.

 Of course, Thor doesn't really like this decision. After a bit of conversation, convinces the Warriors Three, Sif, and Loki to travel to Jotunheim for answers of the Frost Giant's minor invasion. The Bifrost bridge, the gateway and transporter between the realms, transports the group outside the main Frost Giant city. Things go wrong, and a battle ensues. During the fight, Loki realizes he is immune to the frost giants' attacks, for one reason or another. The group is forced to flee the battle after taking down quite a number, with Odin rescuing them all. Not before Laufey has words with Odin, declaring war on Asgard for Thor's actions. Traveling back to Asgard, Odin strips Thor of his powers, mantle, and Mjolnir, sending him and the hammer to Earth. At this point we are back in the desert, having Thor be the cause of the atmospheric changes and having caught the attention of Jane with his crash landing. Now we're back to where we started the movie.

The movie splits into three scenes that are going to come together. Track them:

1) Thor is taken to a hospital, and after a bit of fighting with doctors and insisting he is the actual Norse God of Thunder, Thor is rescued by Jane and Erik.

2) Remember the after-credits scene in Iron Man 2? That happens, except that before SHIELD shows up, numerous locals take a turn at pulling Mjolnir from the ground. All are unsuccessful, including Stan Lee, who shows up with a cable attached to a pick-up truck. SHIELD evacuates the area, and builds a research center around Mjolnir.

3) Loki approaches Odin about his past, and Odin reveals that long ago in the Frost Giant war he retrieved the innocent baby Loki in hopes of one day uniting the two realms in peace. Odin falls into his Odinsleep, and Loki takes the throne in his absence.

Now we get back into the swing of things. At breakfast in town, Thor is experiencing coffee for the first time when a local returns from the Mjolnir site, mentioning the hammer. Thor overhears, and insists on going. Jane takes him there at night. By this time, the site is now a fully functional mobile SHIELD base. Thor decides to infiltrate. Taking out nearly all of the guards, Thor makes it to Mjolnir, but is not worthy of picking up his hammer just yet. One more thing to note- HAWKEYE! It's not directly mentioned in the movie, but the "Eyes in the Sky" Agent Coulson requests is Clint Barton AKA Hawkeye, and is credited so in the ending credits. So no, when you go see The Avengers movie, Hawkeye is not completely random! Anyway, Thor is apprehended and detained in the facility, questioned by Coulson who is quite curious how he managed to make his best agents seem like medium-wage mall cops. When Coulson leaves the room, Loki appears and lets Thor know, lying of course, that Thor is to remain on Earth and that Odin has passed away. Feeling everything has been lost to him, Thor apologizes for what he's done. Loki leaves, but not before also failing at trying to remove Mjolnir from its pedestal. It should be known, too, that Loki is unable to be seen by anyone at the base, using his trickery magic.

Erik arranges for a rescue and succeeds, convincing to let Thor go. Now we split into two more plots that'll meet up in a little shorter time.

1) Loki travels to Jotunheim, convincing Laufey to kill Odin on invitation into Asgard

2) Thor talks to Jane, explaining the Asgardian world. The Warriors Three and Sif travel to Earth and reunite with Thor, informing him of the lies Loki has spread.

Now we get to the good part where everything alls comes together. To punish the Warriors Three, Sif, and Thor, as well as begin taking over Earth, Loki sends in the Destroyer armor to...well...destroy. It lands in the same spot that all of the other Asgardians have landed, with SHIELD being the first interceptors. At first Coulson is convinced it's one of Stark's weapons, but is disproved quickly. The Destroyer makes quick work of SHIELD, and heads for the town Thor is residing. After evacuating the city, the Warriors Three takes on the Destroyer, but is shown it's too much for them. Thor approaches the Destroyer, and pleas to have Loki take his own life in exchange for the humans.

Probably NOT the best idea in the World.

Loki hears this, and has the Destroyer bitch-slap Thor across town. No no, I mean literally, landing across the road at the feet of Jane. As Thor lies dying in Janes arms, the Mjolnir reacts, lifting itself from the ground and propelling itself towards Thor. Thor awakens, catches Mjolnir, and transforms into his Asgardian warrior garb once again. 

He takes on the Destroyer head on, summons a tornado to lift the Destroyer into the air and pummels it into the ground. After victory, Thor explains to Agent Coulson that he will be his ally, that the protection and safety of Earth is both their goal, and that he will be returning to Asgard to deal with his brother. He asks if Jane would like to see the Bifrost Bridge, and takes her with him to the site where the connection is made. Before leaving, the two embrace with Thor promising he will return for her at some point.

Still a better love story than Twilight.

 On Asgard, Loki saves Odin from Laufey, killing him, and declaring to his mother that when Odin awakes he will reward him for his heroics. Thor arrives and informs his mother of Loki's trickery, and the two begin battles. First, Loki flees to the Bifrost bridge, activating it's immense power to begin destroying Jotunheim.

Thor arrives, and after an epic battle he decides to destroy the Bifrost bridge to cease the destruction. He does this for the good of the nine realms, despite closing his only connection to earth and ever seeing Jane again. As the Bifrost explodes, Thor and Loki begin to fall, only to be caught and saved by Odin. Loki looks up to tell Odin he did this all for him, but Odin looks back in disbelief to see Loki plummet to his own doom. 

Back in Asgard, many celebrations are held, but Thor still grieves for his brother. Thor asks if Jane is ok, and is told that she is still searching for him, at which point the movie ends.

But wait, there's more! It's a Marvel movie, so after the credits we have another scene. Erik Selvig is in an underground bunker, and we hear Nick Fury call him over. He reveals that SHIELD has retrieved the Cosmic Cube (You'll learn all about that with Captain America's movie) and requires further study. Loki appears in a mirror, unseen by all, and controls Selvig to say it's worth a look.

So where does this leave us? Well for the Avengers we look forward to how Thor even makes it back to Earth. Secondly, we know Loki is now on Earth, but we're not sure what he's up to. We know that SHIELD has the Cosmic Cube, and that Loki knows this as well. We also got to see the first appearance of Hawkeye, but not what he can do. I feel kind of shortchanged, given everything that the Black Widow showed us in Iron Man 2! The Thor movie leaves us with as many questions as your standard episode of LOST! (Like, what happened to the Destroyer Armor?...I know, and if you read the Fury's Big Week Article, you'll find out!)

Be sure to look out for our other articles covering The Incredible Hulk, Captain America: The First Avenger, and Iron Man! Think you know all there is to know? Check out the wrap up with Fury's Big Week!

The Avengers is OUT! Go see it, or read about it!!!