The Avengers Trailer (released last week) was downloaded over 10 million times in a 24 hour period, smashing previous records for trailers.apple.com. The Marvel Team followed up such exciting fan-fare with a strong presence at New York Comic Con, where they discussed filming and shot some never-before-seen footage. If you’re a closet nerd like I am, or just a straight-up nerd, you can watch the full NYCC Avengers panel here.
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Tom Hiddleston somewhat dominates the panel as people seem to really love his portrayal of supervillain Loki. The panel ends with Kevin Fiege (Marvel’s President) talking about Marvel moving into what he refers to as ‘phase two‘.
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While a DC/Warner Bros. Justice League of America film is a looming threat for Marvel, The Dark Knight rises is an immediate one, as many predict that it will beat out the Avengers at the summer box office. Many argue that Chris Nolan’s ‘rooted-in-reality‘ darker, more gritty tone is much more accessible to audiences than the sci-fi otherworldly aspects of the Avengers.
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If this be true, Marvel’s woes with DC/Warner Bros. would seemingly be over after The Dark Knight Rises seeing as Batman is the only ‘superhero’ without any actual superpowers. Indeed it would be difficult to make a gritty, ‘rooted-in-reality’ film about Superman. DC/Warner Bros. however, is trying.
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Christopher Nolan is undoubtedly the biggest power player that DC/Warner Bros. has access to, and although he’s done with Batman after TDKR, he is artistically and financially attached to other DC/Warner Bros. projects, including Man of Steel. It seems obvious that if DC/Warner Bros. wants to actually beat out Marvel in Hollywood it is absolutely paramount that they stick to the realistic tone that has been wildly successful for Christopher Nolan and The Dark Knight franchise.
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That being said, let’s take a look at Marvel’s most otherworldly superhero, the Asgardian God of Thunder: Thor.
Thor Odinson is the Crown Prince of the mystical realm of Asgard. Our dear friend Thor is based off of the Norse God of Thunder, and acts accordingly. A brave and mighty warrior Thor won many battles as a child, growing headstrong and proud. In his arrogance, Thor put his realm and people on the brink of war after breaking a truce with Asgard’s enemies the Frost Giants. Teaching his son a lesson in humility, Thor’s father Odin banished him to earth, and stripped him of his powers. Thor came back humble, gentle, empathetic, and sympathetic to his fellow man. Altruistic, enthusiastic, inspirational, and yet fiercely independent, Thor is undoubtedly a Champion Idealist. Indeed Thor’s high-spirited attitude and warm enthusiasm for defending his realm is often mistaken for arrogance, a typical problem with most Champions. In true Idealist fashion, Thor was only able to wield his hammer Mjolnir ‘the day that great deeds of selfless valor had proved him worthy of it’. Indeed only those ‘pure of heart‘ are able to wield Thor’s mystical hammer. A hopeless romantic, Thor fell deeply in love with the Goddess Sif before the age of 20. Certainly Thor has several deep love interests over his Godly life span (including that of Jane Foster seen in the film) Sif however being his main squeeze. Thor has undoubtedly proven himself as self-sacrificing over the years, most notably in the subject of his mischievous kid-brother Loki. Indeed Loki has made countless attempts at Thor’s life, but Thor however always spares Loki, hoping (to no avail) that Loki has learned his lesson. Indeed Thor has tireless faith in his fellow man, and time and time again Thor is sacrificing himself to save innocent people from Loki or any other dangers for that matter, as he will no doubt do in The Avengers.
Even the life of a Thunder God can offer no greater satisfaction than this! For I have helped a fellow man! 
Spoilerish: Marvel head honcho Kevin Fiege discussed Loki’s purported ‘alien army‘ saying that “it’ll be extremely extremely large and something that links not only into the movies we’ve made but the movies we’re going to make. So it’s a big play that we’re not quite ready to talk about.”
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This hint/suggestion of course goes hand-in-hand with theories that Loki’s army will indeed be the Skrull army from the comics. If you don’t know what that is, then you’re probably normal. Anyway this goes hand-in-hand with the ‘otherworldiness‘ described above.
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The question is will such ‘alien army’, otherwordly concepts ultimately win over audiences or disconnect them? Which would you rather see, a team of superheroes battling alien armies? Or a vigilante billionaire fight a bad-ass prison-escapee on drugs? Stay tuned as the Marvel/Disney vs. DC/Warner Bros. battle for Hollywood dominance rages on.
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