Thor (film)
Thor is a 2011 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures,[a] it is the fourth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It was directed by Kenneth Branagh, written by the writing team of Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz along with Don Payne, and stars Chris Hemsworth as the title character alongside Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgård, Kat Dennings, Clark Gregg, Colm Feore, Ray Stevenson, Idris Elba, Jaimie Alexander, Rene Russo, and Anthony Hopkins. After reigniting a dormant war, Thor is banished from Asgard to Earth, stripped of his powers and his hammer Mjölnir. As his brother Loki (Hiddleston) plots to take the Asgardian throne, Thor must prove himself worthy.
This article is about the 2011 American film. For the 2011 Icelandic film, see Legends of Valhalla: Thor.
Sam Raimi first developed the concept of a film adaptation based on Thor in 1991, but soon abandoned the project, leaving it in "development hell" for several years. During this time, the rights were picked up by various film studios until Marvel signed Mark Protosevich to develop the project in 2006, and planned to finance and release it through Paramount. Matthew Vaughn was assigned to direct the film for a tentative 2010 release. However, after Vaughn was released from his holding deal in 2008, Branagh was approached and the film's release was rescheduled to 2011. The main characters were cast in 2009, and principal photography took place in California and New Mexico from January to May 2010. The film was converted to 3D in post-production.
Thor premiered in Sydney on April 17, 2011, and was released in the United States on May 6, as part of Phase One of the MCU. It received generally positive reviews from critics and was a financial success, earning $449.3 million worldwide. Three sequels have been released: Thor: The Dark World (2013), Thor: Ragnarok (2017), and Thor: Love and Thunder (2022).
Plot
In 965 AD, Odin, king of Asgard, wages war against the Frost Giants of Jotunheim and their leader Laufey, to prevent them from conquering the Nine Realms, starting with Earth. The Asgardians defeat the Frost Giants and seize the source of their power, the Casket of Ancient Winters.
In the present,[b] Odin's son Thor prepares to ascend to the throne of Asgard, but is interrupted when Frost Giants, secretly allowed in by his brother Loki, attempt to retrieve the Casket. Against Odin's order, Thor travels to Jotunheim to confront Laufey, accompanied by Loki, childhood friend Sif and the Warriors Three: Volstagg, Fandral, and Hogun. A battle ensues until Odin intervenes to save the Asgardians, destroying the fragile truce between the two races. For Thor's arrogance, Odin strips his son of his godly power and exiles him to Earth as a mortal, accompanied by his hammer Mjölnir, now protected by an enchantment that allows only the worthy to wield it.
Thor lands in New Mexico, where astrophysicist Dr. Jane Foster, her assistant Darcy Lewis, and mentor Dr. Erik Selvig find him. The local populace finds Mjölnir, which S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson soon commandeers before forcibly acquiring Foster's data about the wormhole that delivered Thor to Earth. Thor, having discovered Mjölnir's nearby location, seeks to retrieve it from the facility that S.H.I.E.L.D. has constructed, but he finds himself unable to lift it and is captured. With Selvig's help, he is freed and resigns himself to exile on Earth as he develops a romance with Foster.
Loki discovers that he is Laufey's biological son, adopted by Odin after the war ended. Loki confronts Odin, who wearily falls into the deep "Odinsleep" to recover his strength. Loki takes the throne in Odin's stead and offers Laufey the chance to kill Odin and retrieve the Casket. Sif and the Warriors Three, unhappy with Loki's rule, attempt to return Thor from exile, convincing Heimdall, gatekeeper of the Bifröst—the means of traveling between worlds—to allow them passage to Earth. Aware of their plan, Loki sends the Destroyer, a seemingly indestructible automaton, to pursue them and kill Thor. The warriors find Thor, but the Destroyer attacks and defeats them, prompting Thor to offer himself instead. Struck by the Destroyer and near death, Thor proves himself worthy by his sacrifice to wield Mjölnir. The hammer returns to him, restoring his powers and enabling him to defeat the Destroyer. Thor and Jane kiss each other goodbye before he leaves with his fellow Asgardians to confront Loki.
In Asgard, Loki betrays and kills Laufey. Thor arrives and Loki reveals his plan to destroy Jotunheim with the Bifröst Bridge. Thor fights Loki before destroying the Bifröst Bridge to stop Loki's plan, stranding himself in Asgard. Odin awakens and prevents the brothers from falling into the abyss created in the wake of the bridge's destruction, but Loki allows himself to fall when Odin rejects his pleas for approval. Loki ends up falling into a wormhole and arrives at Earth. Thor makes amends with Odin, admitting he is not ready to be king; meanwhile, on Earth, Foster and her team search for a way to open a portal to Asgard.
In a post-credits scene, Selvig is taken to a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility, where Nick Fury opens a briefcase and asks him to study a mysterious cube-shaped object,[c] which Fury says may hold untold power. An invisible Loki prompts Selvig to agree.
Additionally, Tadanobu Asano portrays Hogun, a member of the Warriors Three primarily identified by his grim demeanor and as the only member who is not an Æsir.[31] Ray Stevenson said of Asano's character, "He doesn't speak much but when he does, everybody shuts up. But also in the healing room where everyone licks their wounds, he's the guy who just goes about his business".[50] Josh Dallas portrays Fandral, an irrepressible swashbuckler and romantic member of the Warriors Three.[31] Stuart Townsend was initially cast after Zachary Levi was forced to vacate the role due to a scheduling conflict.[31][51] However, days before filming began, Townsend was replaced by Dallas citing "creative differences".[52] Dallas said he believed that Fandral "would like to think of himself a philanderer. He would like to think of himself, I was saying, as the R. Kelly of Asgard. He's a lover, not a fighter". Dallas mentioned that Errol Flynn was an inspiration for the character stating, "He was a big inspiration for the character and for me. I watched a lot of his movies and kind of got that into my bones. I tried to bring out that little bit of Flynn-ness in it. Flynn had a lot of that boyish charm that Fandral's got...."[50]
Maximiliano Hernández appears as S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Jasper Sitwell, Adriana Barraza plays diner owner Isabella Alvarez and Isaac Kappy plays a pet store clerk.[53] Joseph Gatt, Josh Coxx, and Douglas Tait portray Frost Giants.[54][55] Stan Lee and J. Michael Straczynski have cameo appearances as pick-up truck drivers,[56][57] Walter Simonson has a cameo appearance as one of the guests at a large Asgardian banquet,[58] and Samuel L. Jackson and Jeremy Renner have uncredited cameos as Nick Fury and Clint Barton / Hawkeye, respectively.[59][60]
Release
Theatrical
Thor held its world premiere at the Event Cinemas theatre in George Street, Sydney on April 17, 2011,[131] with the film opening on April 21, 2011 in Australia.[132] The following weekend it opened in 56 markets,[133] while the premiere at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, California took place on May 2, 2011.[134] Thor opened on May 6, 2011 in the United States,[132] in 3,955 theaters (of which 214 were IMAX 3D and 2,737 in 3D, a record amount).[135][136][137] The film is part of Phase One of the MCU.[138]
Home media
In July 2011, Marvel Studios and Paramount Pictures announced the release of Thor on Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray Disc and DVD. The discs were released by Paramount Home Media Distribution on September 13, 2011 in three editions: a single-disc DVD, a 2-disc Blu-ray-DVD combo pack, and a 3-disc Blu-ray/DVD/3D combo pack. All sets come with deleted scenes and a "Road to The Avengers" featurette. The 2-disc and 3-disc packs includes a digital copy, the first in a series of Marvel One-Shots, The Consultant, and 7 behind-the-scenes featurettes.[139]
Branagh said that the DVD includes at least 20 minutes of deleted scenes. Branagh stated the footage contains "things like the Asgardian parents, Odin and Frigga, played by the beautiful Rene Russo, there's some beautiful scenes in there that I think people will enjoy. And certainly Thor and Loki interacting in different ways that just fill in a little bit of a back story, that was part of our rehearsal and research."[140] In its first week of release, Thor took the number one spot on Blu-ray/DVD sales chart and topped Home Media Magazine's rental chart for the week.[141]
The film was also collected in a 10-disc box set titled "Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One – Avengers Assembled" which includes all of the Phase One films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.[142] It was released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on April 2, 2013.[143][144]
Reception
Box office
Thor grossed $181 million in the United States and Canada, and $268.3 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $449.3 million.[3] It was the 15th highest-grossing film of 2011.[145]
Thor earned $25.5 million on its opening day in the United States and Canada, including $3.3 million from Thursday previews,[135] for a total weekend gross of $65.7 million. $6.2 million of the gross came from IMAX 3D, while 60% of the gross was from 3D screenings.[136][137] It became the tenth highest-grossing film of 2011 in the United States and Canada,[146] and the highest-grossing comic-book film from May–August 2011.[147]
Thor's opening in Australia generated $5.8 million and placing second behind Universal Pictures' Fast Five. The film's box office was just 1% more than Iron Man opening in Australia in 2008, Marvel's most popular release at the time.[148] The following week, Thor opened in 56 markets and took in $89.2 million through the weekend.[133] The film's highest grossing markets were the United Kingdom ($22.5 million), Australia ($20.1 million) and Mexico ($19.5 million).[149]
Critical response
The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 77%, with an average score of 6.7/10, based on 296 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "A dazzling blockbuster that tempers its sweeping scope with wit, humor, and human drama, Thor is mighty Marvel entertainment."[150] Metacritic assigned a weighted average score of 57 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[151] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[152]
Richard Kuipers of Variety stated, "Thor delivers the goods so long as butt is being kicked and family conflict is playing out in celestial dimensions, but is less thrilling during the Norse warrior god's rather brief banishment on Earth".[153] Megan Lehmann of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "The hammer-hurling god of thunder kicks off this superhero summer with a bang".[154] In the Chicago Sun-Times, Richard Roeper liked the film "Thanks in large part to a charming, funny and winning performance from Australian actor Chris Hemsworth in the title role, Thor is the most entertaining superhero debut since the original Spider-Man".[155]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it a negative review stating, "Thor is a failure as a movie, but a success as marketing, an illustration of the ancient carnival tactic of telling the rubes anything to get them into the tent".[156] A.O. Scott of The New York Times disliked the film, calling it "an example of the programmed triumph of commercial calculation over imagination".[157] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times had mixed feelings, describing the film as "an aesthetic stand-off between predictable elements and unexpected ones". Turan praised the performances of Hemsworth, Hopkins, and Elba, but found the special effects inconsistent and the Earth storyline derivative.[158]