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HotHamBoy

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
16,423
McFEELY Thor is strangely the one that gets two movies' worth of story.
MARKUS For a guy people once thought of as boring, he's become very useful.


It really is an incredible character arc to track and the one that feels the most defined from film to film.
 

Arthands

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
8,039
They make a good point that the Tesseract was actually in Asgard in 2013 at the time Thor and Rocket went and that scene of Tony with the stealth suit fighting Heimdall sounds dope.

Also I'd love to know the context of the Living Tribunal showing up during the Infinity War Titan fight lmao

True but the one we had is rather great too. Seeing Stark talk to his dad, I love that.
 

HotHamBoy

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
16,423
How did you coordinate the moment where all the female Marvel heroes come together?
McFEELY
There was much conversation. Is that delightful or is it pandering? We went around and around on that. Ultimately we went, we like it too much.
MARKUS Part of the fun of the "Avengers" movies has always been team-ups. Marvel has been amassing this huge roster of characters. You've got crazy aliens. You've got that many badass women. You've got three or four people in Iron Man suits.

I have listened to some podcast of discussions of this film and while people have commented such and such opinion on this scene I heard a woman break into tears talking about how powerful that scene was for her.

But also, yeah, I mean it's just a good-natured victory lap
 

Kernel

Member
Oct 25, 2017
19,889
McFEELY Thor is strangely the one that gets two movies' worth of story.
MARKUS For a guy people once thought of as boring, he's become very useful.


It really is an incredible character arc to track and the one that feels the most defined from film to film.

It feels like Endgame undoes his character arc from Ragnarok.

He grows up, becomes more responsible, gets the pep talc from dad, makes peace with Loki and in the end he's just going to hang with the GoTG.

Not that I don't like it, it just feels like a step back for him.
 

Kinggroin

Self-requested ban
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
6,392
Uranus, get it?!? YOUR. ANUS.
This is what should have happened:

When Thanos grabs the power stone and punches Marvel almost KO'ing her they cut to Strange but he is looking more panicky as if this is the other reality the one where they lose.
Thanos goes to snap and we see a big green hand grab his hand mid snap and then it pulls back to show a completely insane looking hulk that says for - For Natasha and then Hulk fights
with more anger and power then we have ever seen before just an unstoppable hurricane of power. Hulk breaks Thano's arm ripping the gauntlet off and throwing it as the only thing he wants
is to feel his skull cracking underneath him and then Tony grabs the gauntlet and uses it.

Hulk isn't even as strong as Thor. Thor got bodied.

Hulk contributed the best way, all things considered.
 

T'Chakku

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
2,590
Toronto
How did you coordinate the moment where all the female Marvel heroes come together?
McFEELY
There was much conversation. Is that delightful or is it pandering? We went around and around on that. Ultimately we went, we like it too much.
MARKUS Part of the fun of the "Avengers" movies has always been team-ups. Marvel has been amassing this huge roster of characters. You've got crazy aliens. You've got that many badass women. You've got three or four people in Iron Man suits.

I have listened to some podcast of discussions of this film and while people have commented such and such opinion on this scene I heard a woman break into tears talking about how powerful that scene was for her.

But also, yeah, I mean it's just a good-natured victory lap
Which podcast would that be?
 

Serene

Community Resettler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
52,534
It feels like Endgame undoes his character arc from Ragnarok.

He grows up, becomes more responsible, gets the pep talc from dad, makes peace with Loki and in the end he's just going to hang with the GoTG.

Not that I don't like it, it just feels like a step back for him.

I disagree. In Ragnarok (and the prior movies), he's trying to be the leader everyone is looking for and now he realizes he's just not that guy. So joining a team where responsibilities are shared makes sense for him.
 

Anth0ny

Member
Oct 25, 2017
47,044
Hulk isn't even as strong as Thor. Thor got bodied.

Hulk contributed the best way, all things considered.

Hulk was the center of a storyline in the comics where HE was the main threat that all of the Avengers had to fight against. Him alone. And he was able to hold his own... because he was pissed.

There's a very easy story here for Hulk: Since he went off in space to work fake, rigged fights on Sakaar, he's gone soft. Hence the embarrassing display at the beginning of Infinity War. A super pissed off Hulk finally calling upon that 2012 monster in the final battle would have made all the sense in the world, and was really being set up with all of Banner's scenes in Infinity War.

What we got instead was real disappointing.
 

Kaelan

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
2,641
Maryland
What they said about Cap literally explains to everyone "why would he do that and stand by!!!"

"He's postponed a life in order to fulfill his duty. That's why I didn't think we were ever going to kill him. Because that's not the arc. The arc is, I finally get to put my shield down because I've earned that."
 

HotHamBoy

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
16,423
It feels like Endgame undoes his character arc from Ragnarok.

He grows up, becomes more responsible, gets the pep talc from dad, makes peace with Loki and in the end he's just going to hang with the GoTG.

Not that I don't like it, it just feels like a step back for him.
Actually, he stops trying to live up to expectations and destiny and just lives for himself after being able to reconcile with mom.

I disagree. In Ragnarok (and the prior movies), he's trying to be the leader everyone is looking for and now he realizes he's just not that guy. So joining a team where responsibilities are shared makes sense for him.

Dude just wants to party.

I think people forget he's like 1,500 years old.

Sidenote: this feels very prescient now



Talk about foreshadowing lol.
 
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SageShinigami

Member
Oct 27, 2017
30,474
Yep and Quill needs to fail....

Sounds like a pretty miserable life for Peter lol. his mother killed by his father, raised by a slaver who threatened to eat him and gave him some fucked up form of Stockholm, and the love of his life dies and there's no second chance.

As someone who doesn't like this iteration of Quill I'm amused, but I don't think that's how his story should play out if GOTG Vol. 3 is the end of the Guardians.

It feels like Endgame undoes his character arc from Ragnarok.

He grows up, becomes more responsible, gets the pep talc from dad, makes peace with Loki and in the end he's just going to hang with the GoTG.

Not that I don't like it, it just feels like a step back for him.

I feel like Thor's story isn't really over. Making Valkyrie into Queen of Asgardians is cool because it's progressive, but what should probably happen at some point is they evolve past a monarchy. Maybe his time with the Guardians can teach him that it's alright to share responsibility amongst qualified leaders.
 

Wag

Member
Nov 3, 2017
11,638
Other than the Avengers and Thanos (and Red skull) no one really knew where the Soul stone was, so it's not like it's vulnerable.
Yes but we assume that eventually someone's going to find it because red skull face guy said in IW that many have tried for the stone and failed.

So Far From Home is going to take place in the post-Endgame universe? If so then Peter's class will have changed a lot- half his classmates will be 5yrs older and done with high school, the other half will be dealing with everyone just returning from death and the recent war with Thanos on Earth.
 

Serene

Community Resettler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
52,534
For those not in the spoiler thread, the Russos did a Q&A in China where they confirmed that Cap marrying Peggy was a different timeline and that Cap warped back to this one to bring Sam the shield at the end.
 

rottenpie

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,323
Are you telling me that, when cap returns the Soul Stone, he can ask for the soul of Widow back?

BLACK WIDOW MOVIE - REVENGEANCE

nope

Q: Can you get the soul your sacrficed for the Soul Stone back when you return it?

A: No, the process is irreversible. Even if you have returned it to its original location, you wouldn't be able to get the person back. In fact, it's not really returning the stone, more like put it back properly. The tribute soul for the soul stone will forever be sealed in that place, therefore Black Widow is gone forever.
 

Brainfreeze

Member
Oct 26, 2017
1,689
New Jersey
Not sure I understand the arguments that Hulk's arc was leading to him getting a rematch with Thanos. Ragnorak showed the issues with the Hulk personality being dominant, Infinity War showed the issues (though only very briefly) with Bruce Banner being dominant, this movie was about finding a balance, and the character finally being happy. That's growth, and it's a satisfying arc that doesn't revolve around him punching people (which is good, since a lot of other characters were already laser-focused on punching Thanos). He comes to a peaceful resolution by realizing he's more helpful as a complete person than as an extra pair of fists.

Professor Hulk was the only possible way for us to have a character with both the strength to wield the infinity stones and the mental fortitude to perform the snap. And he brought everybody back. That was his arc. I really liked it, personally. This was Mark Ruffalo's best performance in the MCU yet.

If anything, I think the Bruce part of Professor Hulk got short changed. You have access to Hank Pym's technology and research, Bruce Banner, and Wakanda scientists, but Tony Stark solves time travel on his own in his free time at home? This should have been a bigger collaboration... but then maybe Tony's arc doesn't work as cleanly. At least Bruce got to do some work on time travel, so maybe we can trust that, with enough time, he could have cracked it as well.

-

Anyway, this was a good interview and I'm pretty satisfied with all of their answers. The multiverse stuff could definitely get messy, but I think it's all good enough for what this movie needed to accomplish.

I wish we got to see more of Drax's reaction to Thanos, and Quill's reaction to earth, but if we're lucky Guardians 3 will touch on that before moving on to the Gamora / Adam Warlock plotlines.

P.S. the suggestions that a) Black Widow and Hawkeye should have been romantic because their friendship wasn't enough and b) the Black Widow prequel is now "meaningless" are both bad and, funny enough, solving each other's issues. The Black Widow film can focus on Black Widow doing bad things with her skills when she's young, being brought out of the darkness by Hawkeye, followed by defeating the person who forced her to do the bad things (in Budapest). It will flesh out both characters, their relationship with each other, and have a bittersweet tone underneath since we know how their relationship ends. All of the pieces for that story have been clearly outlined in the movies, I think they'd be foolish not to take advantage of it.
 
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Kinggroin

Self-requested ban
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
6,392
Uranus, get it?!? YOUR. ANUS.
Hulk was the center of a storyline in the comics where HE was the main threat that all of the Avengers had to fight against. Him alone. And he was able to hold his own... because he was pissed.

There's a very easy story here for Hulk: Since he went off in space to work fake, rigged fights on Sakaar, he's gone soft. Hence the embarrassing display at the beginning of Infinity War. A super pissed off Hulk finally calling upon that 2012 monster in the final battle would have made all the sense in the world, and was really being set up with all of Banner's scenes in Infinity War.

What we got instead was real disappointing.

Well, we already know we can't draw much if any parallel to the comics. The MCU is establishing its own pecking order, otherwise the actually infinity war would have lasted 15 minutes.

The rest is, well, unfortunately (for you and some others) not the direction they took coming from the Ragnarok arc. I guess you could always do fan fiction, but I imagine that would only make what you didn't get even harder to swallow.
 

subpar spatula

Refuses to Wash his Ass
Member
Oct 26, 2017
22,138
I laugh whenever people say, "We brought X professional and NOT JUST ONE~!!!!!". Like, your physicists are kind of dumb 'cause they entertained the idea of time travel when that itself isn't actually possible, so you may as well get a science fiction writer to do this.

Like, Blizzard brought in Economists for Diablo 3.

Also, reading this interview, it's strange, it seems Feige is inserting ideas into the writers room. That's not a good thing. :/
 
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Ganransu

Member
Nov 21, 2017
1,270
I knew Tony and Cap's endings were meant to tell Iron Man learnt to sacrifice one's self for the greater good, and Captain learnt that he doesn't have to carry the world on his shoulders, he can live for himself for once in his life.

But while I buy Cap's ending, Tony's was... I mean, he already was ready to sacrifice himself in Avengers 1, the only difference is that he actually died from his sacrifice this time.
 

teacup

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
686
Also, reading this interview, it's strange, it seems Feige is inserting ideas into the writers room. That's not a good thing. :/

Why do you say this? Not all 'studio notes' are bad. People complained about how the MCU was too anti creative and controlling and it's given us some consistently great and well reviewed films thus far.
 

JigglesBunny

Prophet of Truth
Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
31,135
Chicago
Using Carol sparingly was the best creative choice in the film. She's effectively a cheat code, designed to be impervious to almost every threat thrown at her. When she's on screen, the stakes are near zero and that's one of the reason that her film didn't work for me, there was never a second of tension. Those sorts of power trips are far more entertaining on a page than on screen and it's why I think pushing her so hard is going to be really detrimental to the MCU going forward. Gone are the "why not call in the Avengers?" quips whenever a character's solo movie has high stakes, now it's "why not have Carol shoot down from space for five seconds, wreck shop and zip back up?"

Having Carol play a role at all in this film was just incredibly troubling, you knew she could basically tank the whole battle. I honestly wish they just kept her in the reserves until after End Game and then gave her the solo flick, there was never any need for her to work with this iteration of the Avengers and certainly not while they're on their way out and fighting a conflict that she could end just by showing up and waving it away. I guess what I'm saying is, given the hand that they were dealt (having Carol basically be required to appear), just keeping her at a distance from the conflict aside from her two little sequences was the perfect solution.
I knew Tony and Cap's endings were meant to tell Iron Man learnt to sacrifice one's self for the greater good, and Captain learnt that he doesn't have to carry the world on his shoulders, he can live for himself for once in his life.

But while I buy Cap's ending, Tony's was... I mean, he already was ready to sacrifice himself in Avengers 1, the only difference is that he actually died from his sacrifice this time.
Tony was ready to sacrifice himself in the first Iron Man when he tells Pepper to blow the arc reactor while he's still on the roof to take out the Iron Monger.
 

DIE BART DIE

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,847
Using Carol sparingly was the best creative choice in the film. She's effectively a cheat code, designed to be impervious to almost every threat thrown at her. When she's on screen, the stakes are near zero and that's one of the reason that her film didn't work for me, there was never a second of tension. Those sorts of power trips are far more entertaining on a page than on screen and it's why I think pushing her so hard is going to be really detrimental to the MCU going forward. Gone are the "why not call in the Avengers?" quips whenever a character's solo movie has high stakes, now it's "why not have Carol shoot down from space for five seconds, wreck shop and zip back up?"

Having Carol play a role at all in this film was just incredibly troubling, you knew she could basically tank the whole battle. I honestly wish they just kept her in the reserves until after End Game and then gave her the solo flick, there was never any need for her to work with this iteration of the Avengers and certainly not while they're on their way out and fighting a conflict that she could end just by showing up and waving it away. I guess what I'm saying is, given the hand that they were dealt (having Carol basically be required to appear), just keeping her at a distance from the conflict aside from her two little sequences was the perfect solution.

Tony was ready to sacrifice himself in the first Iron Man when he tells Pepper to blow the arc reactor while he's still on the roof to take out the Iron Monger.

I'm not a huge comic nerd so correct me if I'm wrong, but surely Carol has some sort of kryptonite that they could use going forward? Superman still works in films because of this very fact.
 

MetalMagus

Avenger
Oct 16, 2018
1,645
Maine
I laugh whenever people say, "We brought X professional and NOT JUST ONE~!!!!!". Like, your physicists are kind of dumb 'cause they entertained the idea of time travel when that itself isn't actually possible, so you may as well get a science fiction writer to do this.

Like, Blizzard brought in Economists for Diablo 3.

Also, reading this interview, it's strange, it seems Feige is inserting ideas into the writers room. That's not a good thing. :/

I know you're only in here to troll MCU threads, but I'm pretty offended at the insinuation that it's pointless or useless to consult ACTUAL EXPERTS on a subject in order to get a better perspective. In the age of President Fucking Trump, can we not laugh at the idea that it might be useful to consult with people who study theory and work out in practice for a field or concept that you're looking to use in your particular piece of media?

Like, you don't have to do it, but seeking out additional perspectives and sources of knowledge should never be laughed at - standing on the shoulders of giants is important, even if it's just for a comic book movie or action RPG.

Also, for how long you've been dragging these threads, you should know that Feige has been part of the writing process for years. Cap 3 was civil war because during one of the writers meetings he poked his head in the door and said, "Civil War." He's always been part of the writers room, but it's apparent he knows how much to push and when to back off.
 

luca

Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,523
It feels like Endgame undoes his character arc from Ragnarok.

He grows up, becomes more responsible, gets the pep talc from dad, makes peace with Loki and in the end he's just going to hang with the GoTG.

Not that I don't like it, it just feels like a step back for him.
It makes complete sense. He became king that the people always expected him to be. In Ragnarok he says he don't really wanna be king. That comes full circle in Endgame, when he finally let go of people's expectations, and just want to discover himself after 5 years of depression.

Also, reading this interview, it's strange, it seems Feige is inserting ideas into the writers room. That's not a good thing. :/
You say this after 22 films. Feige has highly like given directors' notes and wishes and big an integral part of conversations for all these years. It's a good thing, the man knows his stuff.
 

Soriku

Member
Nov 12, 2017
6,905
Thought it was interesting the way they were trying to write and shoot Black Panther and Captain Marvel before those respective movies came out and how that turned out.
 

subpar spatula

Refuses to Wash his Ass
Member
Oct 26, 2017
22,138
I know you're only in here to troll MCU threads, but I'm pretty offended at the insinuation that it's pointless or useless to consult ACTUAL EXPERTS on a subject in order to get a better perspective. In the age of President Fucking Trump, can we not laugh at the idea that it might be useful to consult with people who study theory and work out in practice for a field or concept that you're looking to use in your particular piece of media?

Like, you don't have to do it, but seeking out additional perspectives and sources of knowledge should never be laughed at - standing on the shoulders of giants is important, even if it's just for a comic book movie or action RPG.

Also, for how long you've been dragging these threads, you should know that Feige has been part of the writing process for years. Cap 3 was civil war because during one of the writers meetings he poked his head in the door and said, "Civil War." He's always been part of the writers room, but it's apparent he knows how much to push and when to back off.
do physicists even study / experiment / theorize about time travel?

just not a fan of writers being told to use things. let em write ya know
 

MetalMagus

Avenger
Oct 16, 2018
1,645
Maine
do physicists even study / experiment / theorize about time travel?

just not a fan of writers being told to use things. let em write ya know

Uh, why wouldn't people who study the very nature of time and space theorize about what's possible? Did you know that Stephen Hawking was one of the founding pillars about the multiverse theory in quantum mechanics? Einstein was one of the biggest minds for time and relativity theory and the field still predates even him.

I'm all for writers writing what they want to write, but everyone benefits when they actually put the time in to do research instead of making shit up whole-cloth or just pulling things out of their ass. When you don't know jack about what you're writing, you risk undermining your entire narrative.

It's like how writers who have only the vaguest idea about what entails computer hacking can come up with a scene like this and look completely ridiculous.

 

Ithil

Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,390
I know you're only in here to troll MCU threads, but I'm pretty offended at the insinuation that it's pointless or useless to consult ACTUAL EXPERTS on a subject in order to get a better perspective. In the age of President Fucking Trump, can we not laugh at the idea that it might be useful to consult with people who study theory and work out in practice for a field or concept that you're looking to use in your particular piece of media?

Like, you don't have to do it, but seeking out additional perspectives and sources of knowledge should never be laughed at - standing on the shoulders of giants is important, even if it's just for a comic book movie or action RPG.

Also, for how long you've been dragging these threads, you should know that Feige has been part of the writing process for years. Cap 3 was civil war because during one of the writers meetings he poked his head in the door and said, "Civil War." He's always been part of the writers room, but it's apparent he knows how much to push and when to back off.
I'll put it this way, if they had consulted no one, that poster would be in here railing about how they "arrogantly" refused to talk to experts.
 

Cuburger

Member
Oct 28, 2017
10,975
MARKUS In a way, he has been the mirror of Steve Rogers the entire time. Steve is moving toward some sort of enlightened self-interest, and Tony's moving to selflessness. They both get to their endpoints.

I feel pretty good about spotting this, more for Steve than Tony since Tony's arc is much more obvious, while Steve's is way more subtle. I even think "enlightened self-interest" is a good description because while I've pointed out Steve does act selfishly out of self-interest in Civil War, him figuring out how to make a decision for his own self-interest while learning from his mistakes when he is acting selfishly, Steve has changed from a person almost only willing to serve others and do what he thinks is right for others to questioning what it means to serve blindly and what it means to do something that is maybe based in your self-interest even if you can't prove it at the time but feel in your gut that it is the right thing to do to being willing to defy all authority when necessary but also be willing to completely deprive yourself of the one thing you most want in life if it may compromise your mission while also recognizing that once that mission is done and he has that opportunity to act in his own self-interest, he can afford to give up some of that huge responsibility he places on himself to do something for himself and allow himself to be happy.

It's such a subtle arc since Steve's struggle is mostly internal through all these movies and even his longing for Peggy is something we only see hinted (although an obvious hint) through his compass with Peggy's picture, but he never outright admits to another character how he'd do anything for a chance to be with her, partially because that isn't true since his sense of duty is so strong and also because he is forced to move on with his life and he wants to believe that he can. Steve always struggles with how can he uphold his (self-imposed) duty to fight for others while also finding a way to fight for his own right to be happy.

It's a damn good arc and I think it's something most people are at least subconsciously aware of, but I hope more people are able to see that's Cap, who everyone already thinks of as a perfect, righteous, noble person, has his own demons in his regret, his alienation and feeling like he doesn't fit in, and other emotions that keep him from feeling like a whole person despite his collected demeanor. It's really relateable to me as a person who wants to help others and be the best person I can be, but some of the other self-care can be tough at times, and even tough to recognize, especially when people look up to you and think you have it all together. It's why I'm glad Steve's arc didn't end with a sacrifice because that is something he was willing to do from the very beginning and what people came to expect from him. Instead, I'm glad he was able to navigate to a way to feel happy without having to compromise his duty to others which also means a great deal to him as well.
 

subpar spatula

Refuses to Wash his Ass
Member
Oct 26, 2017
22,138
Uh, why wouldn't people who study the very nature of time and space theorize about what's possible? Did you know that Stephen Hawking was one of the founding pillars about the multiverse theory in quantum mechanics? Einstein was one of the biggest minds for time and relativity theory and the field still predates even him.

I'm all for writers writing what they want to write, but everyone benefits when they actually put the time in to do research instead of making shit up whole-cloth or just pulling things out of their ass. When you don't know jack about what you're writing, you risk undermining your entire narrative.

It's like how writers who have only the vaguest idea about what entails computer hacking can come up with a scene like this and look completely ridiculous.


how do physicists help you write it, though? time travel isnt possible. no one knows what will happen if you go back in time. there are times when you consult experts but time travel is a meaningless thing to do. i can see it now. marvel called up harvard or whatever and asked for their top physicist. they told the operator they wanted a physicist well versed in time travel. the operator then calls the physics department saying marvel wants experts on time travel. queue laughter. you cannot compare to computer hacking because we have well documented processes of what happens within computer systems. a physicist who consults you on time travel is laughing at you while being paid. you may as well pay a street magician to consult on harry potter magic.
 

SugarNoodles

Member
Nov 3, 2017
8,625
Portland, OR
Someone once said it was sexist for her to die instead of Hawkeye because she's barren and he has a family so she's "lesser", but I think the arc with her was she felt she was denied a family and FOUND one that she'd give everything for, just like Hawkeye would. They literally say that after her sacrifice. "Did she have family?" "We were her family."
It's not really possible to "unwrite" the sexism that was imparted onto BW's character in Avengers 2.

It's good that they knew better than to reference it directly, but it still felt like the culmination of that concept.
 

Professor Beef

Official ResetEra™ Chao Puncher
Member
Oct 25, 2017
22,501
The Digital World
I'm just sad the explanation behind Professor Hulk was so bland. A 3 minute conversation about how he and Hulk reached a singularity would've been great, at minimum.
 

Parthenios

The Fallen
Oct 28, 2017
13,613
I knew Tony and Cap's endings were meant to tell Iron Man learnt to sacrifice one's self for the greater good, and Captain learnt that he doesn't have to carry the world on his shoulders, he can live for himself for once in his life.

But while I buy Cap's ending, Tony's was... I mean, he already was ready to sacrifice himself in Avengers 1, the only difference is that he actually died from his sacrifice this time.
I don't know that Tony's arc is necessarily learning to sacrifice. I see him in a similar vein as Clara from Doctor Who--addicted to the adventure and unable to give it up. The only end for someone like that is for it to kill them. Think about how many times Tony "retired" only to be right back in the mix next film.
 

Cuburger

Member
Oct 28, 2017
10,975
I disagree. In Ragnarok (and the prior movies), he's trying to be the leader everyone is looking for and now he realizes he's just not that guy. So joining a team where responsibilities are shared makes sense for him.
I agree with your take that it's been part of Thor's arc from the beginning.

Thor at the end of TDW

0:44 "I'd rather be a good man, than a great king."
Odin's response 1:07 "One son who wanted the throne too much, another who will not take it."

I get that Thor's arc in his trilogy could be seen as finally growing into his role as king of Asgard, and he did eventually grow to the point where he proved he could be a good leader (which I could see people taking issue with in Endgame), but Thor has never really wanted that. There were aspects of being the king as Asgard that he'd embrace, but in general, I think it's a responsibility that he reluctantly accepted.

That responsibility was a big reason he couldn't be with Jane in the first 2 movies and logically makes sense why they had to break up since they basically had a long distance relationship that couldn't sustain itself and Thor hadn't figured out who he is, how he can balance his responsibility of being king with his desire to have fun being a noble warrior helping others where they needed him.

I could see it would be disappointing that Thor would turn into such a bum that didn't do much for what was left of his people, but he also felt he let them down and so much so many times over the course of Ragnarok and IW, and that he felt personal responsibility that he'd let down his mother, his father, Loki, Heimdall, the Warriors Three by not being able to protect them. Not only was that something he felt the failure of as a leader, but he felt that failure as a person, as Thor. I think that's why the Mjolnir moment in Endgame mattered so much more than it did in the moment as a gag of sorts, because Thor had lost his sense of self-worth and his mom's pep talk helped him get it back but getting Mjolnir was the punctuation at the end that showed he is still worthy as a person.

On top of that, by Thor handing off the crown to someone who is fit to lead rather than being a monarchy that is determined by birth/blood, it gets to shed the burden to not just the character but of Asgard as well, so I'm fine with the direction they chose to go.