Thor Ragna-rocks (My Belief in Marvel)

Superhero movies have gotten pretty dark in recent years (not as dark as their Netflix counterparts, of course, it’s hard to believe those are even in the same universe with how often they kill people), so it was almost strange to hear that the newest addition to the Thor saga was going to be primarily a comedy. Granted, those familiar with director Taika Waititi knew that comedy was his forte, and everyone not so secretly believed that maybe a bit of comedy was just what Thor needed. His films, while not outright terrible, have always been at the lower end of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Quality Spectrum. One big reason is because Thor, the main character, is constantly being upstaged in his own movies (by Loki, who we forgive because he’s awesome, and by Jane, who we don’t forgive because being played by Natalie Portman is not quite enough to make a character likable), but another reason is that he is played off as a serious warrior, and he’s an alien from a magical planet with a magical hammer. He SHOULD be a little ridiculous, his entire universe is a little bit (okay, very) ridiculous, and his films have never even once tried to capitalize on that. Now, under Waititi’s amused gaze, Thor is fun again, and what could be wrong with that? Well, sadly, becoming a fun movie has not only amused us, but it’s shown us just how tired this MCU is making us, so we are both laughing and crying and wondering how much longer we can take this. I have new respect for Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans.