THOR: THE DARK WORLD opens Friday. Chris Hemsworth reprises his role as the Avenger from Asgard for third time. If this big movie is your third or first time seeing the Thunder God in action here’s a guide for Thor virgins or hammer wielding fans who want to get a refresher. Given the response to my Avengers for Virgins post I wanted to give an update of fun Thor basics and what to watch for in the sequel!
Comic Book Origin: Thor was co-created by the legendary Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby in Journey Into Mystery in 1963 and based on Norse mythology. The hammer wielding God of Thunder was a founding member of the Avengers as they assembled against the threat of his brother, Loki.
Where: Asgard is one of the Nine Realms. Earth is one of them but it’s called Midgard. The Asgardians are Immortals who inspired the Vikings and were the basis for their religion and what we know as Norse mythology.
Who:
Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is the God of Thunder, Prince of Asgard and son of Odin, King of Asgard (Sir Anthony Hopkins) and Queen Friggia (Rene Russo.)
Thor wields the mystical hammer Mjnolir which gives him the power to summon thunder, lightning, fly and travel between the Nine Realms. In the first film an arrogant young Thor was banished to Earth by his father to learn humility and to become worthy of wielding Mjolnir and earning his place back in Asgard.
Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is Thor’s adopted brother. He’s the God of Mischief, Lies and Trickery. Loki is a sorcerer who later learns he’s really the adopted son of Odin’s arch enemy, the King of the Frost Giants, and fuels the sibling rivalry into full blown war. Loki vanished into the abyss at the end of Thor but turns out he formed an alliance with an alien army to invade Earth and inspired The Avengers. After stopping the attack on New York City Loki was taken by Thor to Asgard. As Thor: The Dark World opens when new threat forces Thor to release his brother from prison to fight an ancient enemy.
Lady Sif (Jaime Alexander) is the greatest female warrior of Asgard who fights along side Thor and the Warriors Three in battle. Thor and Sif have a long running on-again, off-again romance in the comics.
Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) is a human astrophysicist who first meets a weakened Thor after his banishment to Earth in the first film. Jane and Thor fall in love, she inspires him to become worthy again but the portal from Midgard to Asgard is closed and they’re separated forever…until Odin sends Thor to Earth to stop Loki. S.H.I.E.L.D. had Jane in protective custody during these events of The Avengers.
Who’s New:
Malekith the Accursed (played by Christopher Eccleston) was created by the legendary Walt Simsonson during his classic Mighty Thor run. The King of the Dark Elves once formed an alliance with Loki and commanded an ancient weapon – the Casket of Ancient Winters. Malekith is currently appearing in Thor: God of Thunder by Jason Aaron right now.
Algrim the Strong is a Dark Elf devoted to Malekith who fights Thor and is transformed into an more powerful force of evil known as Kurse.
What to Watch For:
The Tesseract is an ancient power source once held in Odin’s vault but lost on Earth, found by the Red Skull in Captain America: The First Avenger and used to build Hydra and then used by Loki in The Avengers. In the comics it’s known as the Cosmic Cube.
The Gauntlet is another mystical weapon seen in Odin’s vault in Thor. This weapon holds five Infinity gems. Thanos once used the gem-powered gauntlet to wipe out half the Marvel Universe in the comic book epic known as The Infinity Gauntlet.
Infinity is the big Avengers storyline shaking the entire Marvel Universe. The final chapter is coming soon with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes returning home after an outer space war to find their home invaded by Thanos.
Thanos is the villain seen in the first post-credit scene of The Avengers. Thanos is called the Mad God of Titan over his obsession with death. Thanos worships Death like a Goddess. Thanos is said to be big bad behind the scenes in Avengers: Age of Ultron and possibly Guardians of the Galaxy and will finally face Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in Avengers 3.
That should catch you up and get ready to feel the Thunder as we reunite with Asgard’s Mightiest Avenger in Thor: The Dark World opening Friday.
Enjoy the film and always feel free to send feedback with a comment or on Twitter @comicsblend or on Facebook!
By Editor