The Marvel Comics universe characters have a tradition of being often far more fluid and far less archetypal than those in the DC universe. If Batman and Superman are sort of the Greek Gods of comic books (almost unchanging in their basic natures, always fulfilling their predestined duty), the Marvel heavyweights of Spiderman, Iron Man, Daredevil and Thor are the Shakespeareans of comics. Under the guidance of far superior writers, they are forever confronted with the immortal question of to be or not to be (heroic) in their long careers. Perhaps seeing the connections, Kenneth Branagh manages to muster all his grounding in the Bard’s works in his first ever unabashedly pulp superhero film. After all, Shakespeare was a pop culture figure in his day too, for he wrote for the common man.
In this film, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) lands in New Mexico where he meets scientist Jane Foster, her assistant Darcy (Kat Dennings) and her supervisor, Professor Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard). Turns out he has been banished from Asgard by his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) for starting a war with their ancient enemies, the Frost Giants. This opportunity is promptly seized on by his opportunistic brother Loki to launch a few intrigues and betrayals of his own, while some minor Asgardian deities attempt to rescue Thor knowing Loki is up to no good.
Fans of the bard will do well to spot the various references, from the basic outline of Thor’s character development in going from hot headed youth to leader of men and figuring which Asgardian deities are reskinned versions of the cast from Henry IV and Henry V. Anthony Hopkins plays Odin with hints to the wise and benevolent Duncan from MacBeth, but with Lear’s tragic tendency to misunderstand and misjudge his children. Tom Hiddleston’s Loki is a mixture of everyday malevolence, jealousy and cloudy duplicity in the manner of Iago and Edmund.
It becomes quite obvious that Branagh had instructed his actors to channel certain Shakespearean personalities into their performances, and the end result works for the better of the film.
Do stay after the credits for another look at how the film connects into the rest of the Marvel universe if you happen to be a fan.