One of the initial trendsetters for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Marvel Studios’ Thor series of films frequently star regulars Chris Hemsworth as Thor Odinson, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster (and later, the Mighty Thor), as well as Kat Dennings (Darcy Lewis), Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård), and Tessa Thompson (Valkyrie).
The Thor franchise follows Thor Odinson on his journeys from Asgard to many other worlds, befriending, battling, caring, and losing– together with an entire host of colorful characters. Thor’s travels take him from Midgard (AKA Earth), Jotunheim, Sakaar, and eventually, throughout the galaxy on a space-Viking ship pulled by screaming goats.
These films certainly run the range– from critically acclaimed to seriously panned (for MCU standards)– so let’s take a dive into each of the four existing Thor offerings, see where they rank in relation to each other and look at all 4 Thor films ranked from worst to finest.
4. Thor: The Dark World (2013 )
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The often-cited weakest of the Thor films lands in 4th place– but its greatest crime? Just being a bit boring.
Helmed by Game of Thrones’ Alan Taylor, Thor: The Dark World is not horrendous by any ways, however it’s possibly trying too tough to live up to the high fantasy, Shakespearean splendour of its predecessor, without really going anywhere or doing anything fascinating. Being passed around artistically behind the scenes left the movie feeling like a passionless and bereft attempt at a Lord of the Rings reboot.
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Thor: The Dark World follows on from the occasions of Marvel Studios’ genre-defining, explosive The Avengers (2012) movie, starring the very first “Huge 6” combined by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson)– Tony Stark’s Iron Guy (Robert Downey Jr.), Steve Rogers’ Captain America (Chris Evans), Natasha Romanoff’s Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Clint Barton’s Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Bruce Banner’s Unbelievable Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), and obviously– Thor Odinson.
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Hemsworth is not provided a great deal of room to play with the character of Thor– and we understand he can deliver something more appealing after his more current MCU handles the hammer-wielding hero. Dark World doesn’t provide him much chance to begin creating an identity beyond a one-note, almost monosyllabic representation, which stands in sharp contrast to the deviously amusing Loki (as normal), played by Hiddleston. Portman is given perhaps even less to work with Dr. Jane Foster, and it’s a right embarassment.
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Taylor plays it too safe, and without Thrones’ more risque and significant aspects, Thor: The Dark World feels like a forgettable, paint-by-numbers attempt at a Marvel motion picture. Without perhaps the longer-form breathing room managed by the medium of tv, The Dark World seems like grand exposition moving into more exposition till it lastly begins getting into the action and humor.
All in all, it’s absolutely still watchable and satisfying in its own right. Not an especially jubilant Thor trip, but a hard “fine” however.
… And we’re just at number 4!
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3. Thor: Love and Thunder (2022 )
* SPOILERS FOR THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER *
As enjoyable as it is, Taika Waititi’s second Thor outing, the most current ticket office struck, Thor: Love and Thunder, is objectively … maybe not the best film, strictly speaking. At least it’s fun, though?
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This is the first time we have actually seen Hemsworth’s Thor after the epic saga of Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019 ), and we fulfill the eponymous God of Thunder feeling a little melancholy after the (numerous) losses he’s suffered over the years– the deaths of his mother, Frigga (Rene Russo), daddy Odin (Anthony Hopkins), and brother Loki.
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Related: As Bans Continue, Disney Completely Pulls ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ Release From Entire Nation
Last we left Thor, he had triggered with the Guardians of the Galaxy, particularly Peter Quill/Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), Groot (Vin Diesel), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), and Kraglin Obfonteri (Sean Gunn)– ultimately (and rather quickly) coming out of pseudo-retirement to handle the looming risk of Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale).
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Thor: Love and Thunder has a star-studded cast for sure, with Portman lastly returning as Jane Foster and now, the Mighty Thor, Thompson returning as newly-crowned King Valkyrie of New Asgard, plus newbies Russell Crowe (Zeus) and Bale signing up with the Marvel Cinematic Universe– and for the most part they are provided chances to shine– though eventually they stay underutilized, with inadequate screen time in the brief runtime to truly display one of the most of their characters and performances.
This motion picture acts as prime real estate for Waititi’s brand of unhinged, disorderly humor– which lands if you enjoy it, and possibly does not as much for those who don’t. Set to rumbling Weapons N’ Roses music, the film sits along the very same vein as Thor: Ragnarok, though eventually stopping working to regain its classic “hero’s journey” ambiance and even psychological beats.
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Supposedly, Waititi directed an almost four-hour-long movie– which was cut down to two hours to honor Marvel Studio’s stringent runtime requirements. It certainly feels as if Love and Thunder struggles with problems with cohesion in its storytelling and pacing, characters blowing previous apparently essential scenes and pivotal moments to leap straight into the (most likely expensive) CGI action. Thinking about Waititi’s recent less-than-positive remarks concerning Love and Thunder’s CGI, and the subsequent reaction requiring Marvel personnel to unionize– perhaps we get the idea that the director himself is dissatisfied with the state of the film.
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With so much that got cut out simply to pack into the two-hour runtime, the movie definitely feels rushed, and audiences are entrusted to only the trigger notes of a much deeper, likely much better thought-out, movie that offers time for its entertainers and humor to inhale the in-between areas.
2. Thor (2011 )
Can be found in at 2nd place is the one that started all of it– Thor (2011 ), directed by known Shakespearean star and director Sir Kenneth Branagh. This early Marvel Cinematic Universe film marks audiences’ first encounter with the titular Thor Odinson, as the arrogant and brash, young (in Asgardian years, at least) God of Thunder, first in line to the throne of Asgard, and set to be their next King.
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Hemsworth represents Thor as a practically dictionary definition of “adorable himbo”, with his defiance of his dad and King for magnificence and honor, while Hiddleston shines opposite as Loki, where he has the ability to flaunt the character’s inherent charm together with his sharp wit and manipulative cunning.
Branagh’s thespian roots shine through with his clear understanding of how to inform an impressive– the hubris of Thor Odinson in a traditional tale of household drama, gods, trickery, and backstabbing. Each realm and ensuing plot thread is also specified, the arrogance resulting in Thor’s daddy-defying actions and Loki’s betrayal and double cross– even Portman’s Jane Foster has inspirations that are developed quite clearly.
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Thor stabilizes the intro to several realms with a considerable offer of flair and difference, along with a reasonable quantity of humor and excellent action– presenting audiences to the warm, golden sunniness and conventional splendour of Asgard, the frosty dark-and-blue cold of frost giant-run Jotunheim, all alongside Earth’s (Midgard’s) greyish human normalcy. The high dream, nearly mythological method remained quite separate from the more scientific or “reasonable” bent that Marvel Studios (till that point) had actually taken with their other MCU offerings, like with 2008’s Iron Guy.
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It’s likewise essential to bear in mind just how much Thor defined the visual of the world and planet of Asgard and beyond for the whole Marvel Cinematic Universe, its Bifrost AKA the “rainbow bridge”, and even the presence of other alien realms connected to it and Earth– possibly serving as an early primer for Marvel fans, to better absorb the complex world-hopping of Stage 4’s Multiverse plotline.
1. Thor: Ragnarok (2017 )
I do not actually understand what else there is to say about this movie since it stands as one of the most extremely ranked, and relatively “ideal” MCU offerings to date, according to lots of Marvel fans.
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The extremely well-paced film functions as the turning point in Thor Odinson’s story, which takes an unique sci-fi bent after the high dream visual of previous Thor and Thor: The Dark World. Welcoming a new vibe, slicing off Thor’s flowing locks, and setting the character nearly back to no really lets the grand ending feel earned– and the subsequent loss of his house planet Asgard and of his bro Loki (Avengers spoilers, I think?) at the hands of Thanos (Josh Brolin) struck even harder.
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Jeff Goldblum’s Grandmaster is riotously fun, with classic, quirky Goldblum-isms playing awkward-funny off of Topaz (Rachel Home), while Marvel fans are introduced to Thompson’s Valkyrie as Scrapper 142– whose backstory skillfully ties the higher alien-rife galaxy with the traditional, Norse-fantasy visual of Asgard.
Korg (Taika Waititi) and Miek (Samuel Vincent) are likewise funny, welcome additions to MCU canon, with their B-plot where the gladiators stage a transformation on Sakaar adding to the world of the film without bloating it. Mark Ruffalo’s Banner likewise has ample time to shine, and has his fair share of character development before the world-changing events of Avengers: Infinity War.
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Related: ‘Thor 5’ Increasingly Unlikely After Current Update
Hela (Cate Blanchett) is a skilled villain, though previously unusual within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She plays Hela in a practically hammy, Disney villain, Maleficent-like way, but with simply sufficient genuine intimidation in her eyes, with her undead Asgardian army, feral zombie-wolf creature Fenrir and Mjolnir-shattering powers positioning a genuine risk to the film’s heroes.
Hemsworth is definitely able to play with Thor’s character here, and with Hiddleston functioning as his timeless foil, the brotherly parts feel possibly the funniest and consequently most emotional– nobody can forget expertly enhanced bits like, “when we were children he changed himself into a snake!” or the much-memed “get help” scene.
Thor: Ragnarok remains an accomplishment, with humor that hits in all the proper ways, plot and character development that does not feel forced, and a timely restoration of a more … staid (and stale) Thor formula.
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Eventually, the Thor series of movies do not dissatisfy– intergalactic area travel, crammed full of crazy humor, Norse-god-tier action, and filled with some truly poignant emotional beats, audiences remain in for a reward, no matter when you choose to enjoy these movies.
For the Marvel Cinematic Universe, perhaps lightning does strike more than once.
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What do you consider the Thor movies? Do you agree with this ranking? Share your ideas in the remarks below!
The ‘s significant ending to Phase Three, ‘Avengers: Endgame’ directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, caused the beginning of Phase Four with the Disney+ Original WandaVision, starring Elizabeth Olsen (Scarlet Witch) and Paul Bettany (Vision) back in 2021.
Marvel went complete steam ahead with Phase 4, releasing ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’ (2021) starring Simu Liu (Shang-Chi), ‘Spider-Man: No Chance Home’ (2021) with , Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire all as their own separate, Multiversal version of , ‘Physician Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ (2022) with Benedict Cumberbatch (Physician Strange) and most recently, ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ (2022) with (Thor Odinson) and ().
Other MCU Stage Four films on the horizon are Black Panther: Wakanda Forever premiering November 11, 2022, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania on February 17, 2023, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 on May 5, 2023, and Captain Marvel sequel, The Marvels on July 28, 2022. The Disney+ streaming service likewise uses MCU Stage Four TV shows such as critically well-known Ms. Marvel (2022) and Moon Knight (2022 ), and other future jobs such as Iron Man-related Ironheart.
Source: https://insidethemagic.net/2022/07/thor-all-four-movies-ranked-af1mmb/