Alan Taylor’s 2013 fantasy film “Thor: The Dark World” is very often held up as the worst film in the expansive Marvel Cinematic Universe. It was the eighth film of the MCU, and was set after the events of 2012’s “The Avengers” wherein Thor (Chris Hemsworth) teamed up with other superpowered champions to fight off an alien invasion. The invasion was led by Thor’s treacherous brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston), and “The Avengers” ended with Thor hauling a handcuffed Loki back to Asgard, their home dimension.
Thor’s follow-up story, however, was mere superhero hooey. He arrived back in Asgard just in time for a cosmic convergence that allowed magical interdimensional portals to open randomly throughout the universe. Thor also witnessed the reappearance of a mystical force called the Aether that a Dark Elf named Malekith (Christopher Eccleston) once wielded. The convergence and the Aether resurrect Malekith, and he sets about looking for his magical McGuffin. He wants to plunge the universe into darkness or something. Thor will have to spring Loki from prison to help him fight the Dark Elves.
In addition to being rather generic, “Thor: The Dark World” also boasts no character development for Thor. Indeed, none of the characters undergo any significant changes, no sacrifices are made, and no realizations are had. Loki seemingly dies at one point, suggesting a tantalizing drama where Thor can mourn his brother while also hating his villainy. Sadly, it is later revealed that Loki survived, taking the sting off his death.
Critics weren’t keen on “The Dark World,” and fans were disappointed. Thor, it seemed, was the weak link in the “Avengers” universe. Even Chris Hemsworth was disappointed. Not just with the film, but with his performance. The actor spoke with Vanity Fair in 2022, and plainly admitted that he regretted not finding any significant ways to expand his character for the sequel. That wouldn’t happen until “Thor: Ragnarok” in 2017.
Chris Hemsworth didn’t like his performance in Thor: The Dark World
Thor seems like a tricky character to play because, well, he’s a literal god. The MCU tries to redefine the Norse gods of Asgard as hyper-powered space aliens who happen to look like gods, but in effect, they are gods. And, because they are near-perfect beings, they have little they need to learn. The only lesson Thor had to learn was already absorbed in Kenneth Branagh’s “Thor” from 2011. That film saw Thor as a little too war-happy and violence-prone. He was exiled to Earth without superpowers, where he remained until he learned how to be humble and sacrifice himself for others.
Once he learned that lesson, though, it seemed that Thor had nowhere to go. Hemsworth did his due diligence, but he wasn’t happy with the result. In his words:
“I wasn’t stoked with what I’d done in Thor 2. I was a little disappointed in what I’d done. I didn’t think I grew the character in any way, I didn’t think I showed an audience something unexpected and different. […] And then when ‘Ragnarok’ came along, out of my own frustration of what I had done, and this is not on any other director or anyone, this was my own performance. I really wanted to break the mold.”
Taika Waititi’s “Thor: Ragnarok” was a more whimsical film, where Thor became less of a stalwart god and more of a blustering buffoon. Hemsworth nailed Thor as a comedy character, and “Ragnarok” was a much better film as a result. It also contained a small element of tragedy, as Thor lost his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins), had his hammer crushed, had one of his eyeballs ripped out, and witnessed the destruction of his home, Asgard. The emotions are bigger, and the tone is lighter. It was a better “Thor” film all around. One can see why Hemsworth — and most Marvel fans — prefer it over “The Dark World.”
Lightening up Thor was Taika Waititi’s idea
The reason “Ragnarok” updated Thor’s character was because Hemsworth directly requested it. By 2017, the year “Ragnarok” had come out, Hemsworth had played the part in four previous movies. Thor became a bore. He was on the floor. He needed more. Hemsworth recalls the conversation he had with Taika Waititi about the character, and it seems that the actor and the director were very much on the same page. As Hemsworth said:
“And I said this to Taika and I think the conversation we had was, I said, ‘I’m really bored of Thor.’ And he said, ‘Yeah, I’m really bored of Thor, too.’ And then we decided not to be bored and any time that feeling came into play, we’d go in a different direction. We just dismantled the character, we wanted to have him be a little more unpredictable, we wanted him to be in a different set of circumstances than he’d been in before, and also have the humor come through.”
After that, Thor was a comic relief character, an over-the-top jock who wasn’t always aware of his immature suggestions. This is a far cry from the noble god seen at the end of Branagh’s “Thor” in 2011, but it was a welcome change. Hemsworth played the role again in two more “Avengers” team-up movies, and in Waititi’s 2022 release “Thor: Love and Thunder.” That last entry, however, might have taken the character too far in the opposite direction. By “Love and Thunder,” Thor was a straight-up clown, possessing the intelligence of a stone. While Hemsworth has not returned to the part since, he is one of the many A-listers and Marvel veterans who has officially joined the cast of “Avengers: Doomsday.”
