If you couldn’t tell I really enjoyed Thor. I loved the sci-fi take on the fantasy elements of Norse Mythology, and though we’ll be getting the Avengers next year, I would like to delve deeper in to Thor’s corner of the Marvel Movieverse. We’ve seen mostly sci-fence fiction and urban crime drama’s brought to life in the comic book movies. The closest adaptation we’ve seen to comic book fantasies have been Constantine, Hellboy, and The Blade Trilogy. I would love to see Marvel Studios tackle the world of Asgard and the 9 Realms with true honesty and the place I think they should start is what was missing from the original Thor movie.
In Norse Mythology Odin’s family had three sons. Thor was Odin’s favorite, Balder was Frigga’s favorite, and Loki was the frustrated middle child who wanted his parents love. His jealousy is what drove Loki to madness. He kills Balder and starts Ragnarok. Ragnarok is the Asgardian Apocalypse which left most of the gods dead. In the comics Ragnarok is an endless cycle of death and rebirth of the gods. Once the world ends it starts a new slightly differently. This cycle is used to explain differences in the comics and myth. This could be the reason why the humans have had myths of Loki being evil for centuries, and gods are surprised by his betrayal. The world has ended and started over again. Balder was noticeably absent from Thor. I understand his omission. How many ancillary Asgardians are you going to cram into the Thor. The Warriors Three, Sif, and Heimdall were all underdeveloped as it was.What if Odin realised that Balder was the first step towards the destruction of Asgard, and some how prevented him from ever reappearing. Balder was always portrayed as one of the most noble of the gods. Knowing he would partially cause the end of the Universe, he would gladly sacrifice himself to save everyone.
Those Who Sit Above in Shadow
In Thor comics characters called “Those Who Sit Above in Shadow”, act as gods to the gods. They feed off the energy of destruction and rebirth. In my opinion Those in Shadow would be great villains for Thor 2. The first movie teased them by have their name listed on a tablet in Odin’s vault. Start the movie with Odin and Balder preventing the next cycle of Ragnarok by somehow leaving Balder’s soul in limbo rather than be reincarnated. Those above in shadow, wont stand for their food supply to do this, and the force a past incarnation of Balder into current Asgard. The characters would feel familiar with him but not understand who he is or why he’s there. One of the plucky human sidekicks from Earth could show up, to start to explain who the character is from. It could give Jane Foster or Erik Selvig something to do. For added humor, the Gods could think of this mortal as some type of fortune teller or prophet. Balder should look differently, as though he is from an early time, perhaps wearing LOTR style armor rather than the Kirby inspired suits in Thor. Balder, Thor, their sidekicks could go about traveling the nine realms to for information, maybe even venturing into Hela’s realm of the dead. Loki, meanwhile could be scheming from afar. He’d be angry that now that he’s been banished from Asgard his family has replaced him with a new “brother. Together the heroes and even maybe Loki would discover the Ones Above, and have to unite to defeat them.
As always if someone over at Marvel wants to hire me, my contact info is on this website.