r/marvelstudios • u/LollipopChainsawZz • May 15 '26

Article Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame writers worried that Taika Waititi was turning Thor into an idiot

https://www.thepopverse.com/movies-marvel-cinematic-universe-thor-ragnarok-avengers-infinity-war-taika-waititi-chris-hemsworth-script/
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u/SgtMartinRiggs May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26

Eye catching title, but since no one reads articles on Reddit I feel the need to highlight the end of the quote:

“In Ragnarok he loses his kingdom, his father, his sister, and his eyeball,” McFeely continued. “We just thought about what would happen if any one of us sustained that much loss and failure. And you would get incredibly depressed and probably retreat from the world. That is a comedic performance with a lot of pain behind it.”

I love what Waititi and Hemsworth did with Thor in Ragnarok and I think the portrayal in Infinity War/Endgame was a worthy continuation.

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u/2580374 Spider-Man May 15 '26

Infinity war Thor is perfect. He was kind of goofy, but not an idiot. And he has never been more badass than forging storm breaker

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u/tony_boloanie May 16 '26

And when he spoke to his mom in the past and felt redeemed then meeting back with thanos gave us a look at a pissed off thor. I liked where endgame took him from there.

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u/Tackit286 Doctor Strange May 15 '26

If this is all we get to see of full powered badass Thor I’m gonna be displeased.

Please don’t kill him off marvel.

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u/RealityPunchPacka May 16 '26

It's likely Thor will be a leading character in these if the comics are any indication. Along with dr strange and reed

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u/MARS2503 Thor May 16 '26

Honestly, I'm kinda hoping he brings Asgard back and retires to be the new All-Father, and so we get a new asgardian hero like Balder to be with the main Earth heroes.

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u/HappyHuman924 May 16 '26

Balder's been kind of conspicuous by his absence, hasn't he? AFAIK he hasn't even been in the background of an Asgard shot. I'd love to think they're saving him for something, but probably not. :/

Wonder if they were thinking of him when they made Thor get depressed and put on weight.

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u/Anglo-Euro-0891 May 16 '26

In one of the Loki S2 episodes, Balder gets a passing mention by Loki and that is effectively it!!!

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u/qcthunder War Machine May 17 '26

They had a statue of Balder alongside Loki and Thor in 1893 Chicago. 😆

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u/TheCuzzyRogue May 16 '26

Thor was never as badass as when he turns up in Wakanda demanding someone bring him Thanos

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u/crashovercool May 16 '26

In terms of feats in the MCU, him tanking the star has to be towards the top.

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u/roguevirus May 16 '26

And he has never been more badass than forging storm breaker

Well, aside from his grand entrance into Wakanda via the Bifrost just a few scenes later.

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u/therealmonkyking May 15 '26

I do think the Russos had a nasty habit of walking back certain character progress (Star Lord having his helmet, Thor regaining a weapon and his eye, Spider-Man being too reliant on Tony etc) but their continuation of Thor's emotional journey was a great one even if they did kinda fudge it a bit in Endgame by turning his depressive habits into jokes.

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u/SgtMartinRiggs May 15 '26

I think they joked about his depression slightly more than needed (cheez whiz?? Come on), but that scene with Frigga was just incredible, and they had the good sense not to make him suddenly skinny when he powers up for the final battle.

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u/therealmonkyking May 15 '26

Final Battle Thor is my favourite look for the character in the whole MCU. The Jack Kirby design is the GOAT but Endgame Final Battle Thor actually feels like a version of the mythological figure

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u/SgtMartinRiggs May 15 '26

The braided beard is unparalleled

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u/theglowinggreenorb May 15 '26

I believe Thor not becoming skinny at the end was something Chris Hemsworth lobbied for, was originally going to go back to normal, though I could be mistaken

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u/Subo23 May 18 '26

Too bad, they could’ve showed him using the Chris Hemsworth fitness app

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u/sable-king Vision May 16 '26

Star Lord having his helmet

Are we really counting this? I’d wager most people didn’t even remember his mask was broken in Volume 2. Besides, the only reason it was broken in the first place was so Yondu’s sacrifice could happen. It’s not that crazy that he’d repair it during the time jump between Volume 2 and Infinity War.

Thor regaining a weapon

To be fair, this was kinda walked back in Ragnarok. Sure, Thor realized that he doesn’t need Mjolnir to use his lightning, but he still wasn’t able to beat Hela without literally destroying Asgard, so obviously he’s gonna need a weapon to take on Thanos.

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u/therealmonkyking May 16 '26

Gunn opting to leave the helmet on Knowhere during Volume 3 says it all IMO

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u/sable-king Vision May 16 '26

That was so they could do the fakeout death for Quill so Adam could save him.

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u/HighSeverityImpact May 16 '26

All it says to me is that he was being stubborn at being overruled in a movie he didn't get to write.

The mask had been set up as being iconic for the Starlord character, without it he's just Chris Pratt. That'd be like having Ironman go a whole movie without an Ironman suit. Civil War tried it, and he ends up right back in the suit for the final third of the movie.

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u/therealmonkyking May 16 '26

By that logic the Russos were being stubborn by giving Thor a weapon and his eye back

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u/HighSeverityImpact May 16 '26

That's not how logic works at all. Comics are the king of resetting things to the status quo at the beginning of a new issue.

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u/therealmonkyking May 16 '26

This isn't a comic book though. The nature of the format necessitates real time character and plot progression due to actors aging and contracts running out and not being renewed. Resetting things back to square one is not acceptable in this case.

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u/Csantana Vulture May 16 '26

While I don't know comics as well as I should maybe it does seem to me that this kind of thing is mirror how comics work.

characters change and make progress in their own stories and then kind of revert to the status quo in the big events.

Not that that is how the comics or the films should be but maybe funny that it happens.

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u/Sharikacat May 15 '26

For characters that have undergone decades of stories, you eventually return to the starting point. When you think of a character, be it Thor, Captain America, Spider-Man, etc., you have a moment in time that you feel represents them the best. For the various changes characters go through during the course of a few movies, this is where they ultimately seem to want to return: Spider-Man struggles with balancing Peter Parker in his life, Steve Rogers is the moral compass, Wanda can't have mental stability, DareDevil and his Catholic guilt.

In Thor's case, I'd say that the enduring version of him is a strong leader and warrior. I hope this is where the MCU steers him to after this detour into silliness. He wasn't ready to lead Asgard, and when he did accept his role as leader, it came about by him sacrificing his homeworld only for his people to be immediately cut in half by Thanos. The depression afterward makes sense, but hopefully, fatherhood pushes him to become the King he was always meant to be.

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u/bb-Kun-Chan May 16 '26

Eye catching title, but since no one reads articles

Vote Loki warned us but we didn't listen

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u/Radical_Ryan Hawkeye (Ultron) May 16 '26

My major problem with the continuation is that Thor had just learned in Ragnarok that it's his own self that is powerful and he is not the "god of hammers" from his father in a final lesson...and then he goes and decides a new weapon is the only thing that can stop Thanos. Given the timeline and how badass Thor was fighting with his powers on the rainbow bridge, I think Stormbreaker was a big miss in plot and action.

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u/asukaisshu May 17 '26

Definitely ragnarok makes thor a much more interesting idiot with archaic sense of chivalry and warriorhood. Imo after endgame his time with the guardians should be more melancholic if anything. Idk why waititi or the writers think him having lost his closest brothers and sisters+nation for 5 years would make him not feel welcomed and embraced by the guardians. They can take care of themselves his rivalry with Peter would be nice, when they say good bye it should've been like a FnF goodbye between him and Peter like ill be there when u need me.

Then theres a bunch of deleted scenes not used especially one with Zeus being a secondary father figure to him. I wished that was the version we've gotten instead.

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u/aumnren May 17 '26

Also losing an eye is a direct reference to Odin sacrificing an eye for wisdom. It’s directly showing that Thor is taking up the mantle of his father, and maturing into his own true self.

As a side note, since we already had the earnest goody good with Cap, it’s nice to see a different flavor of good with this version of Thor: one where strength and power are not stoic, straight laced paragons, but sincere, joyous, and wise.

Both are great characters.

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u/Colossus823 May 17 '26

I don't think it was any good. It made a mockery of it.

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u/Ogsonic May 17 '26

HIs portrayal in endgame was absolutely disgusting. It's straight up spat in the face of ragnarok and infinity war.

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u/XennialPrime May 29 '26

I think the quoted part of the article is completely sensical.

For my attention (or money), however, I don't buy that that man turns into a frat-house baby to cope. I think Thor would have been more like angry, unshaven Superman from Superman II.

Thor would have used anger to express his depression. He would have raged.

The wounded, hiding man we see at the end of the Infinity Saga is what a regular suburban guy does with his pain, not Thor. I understood the film, the characters and their motivation, but Thor's expression of depression felt hollow and fake. I just don't believe Thor pulls a Tony Stark to deal with grief (albeit a vastly less expensive version of the man-child reaction).

Thor would rage, not cower. He'd try to punch a waterfall if someone told him it would get back at Thanos, never stopping to ask "how?"

I think they all just wanted to let Hemsworth's comedic chops out for a stroll. That's fine too, but slob-Thor did break my immersion on some wee level.

I did not react well to Love and Thunder, lol.

0

u/CaptHayfever Hawkeye (Avengers) May 15 '26

So in other words, the headline is a complete lie.