Originally published May 5, 2019. Updated May 6, 2019.
Warning. Avengers: Endgame spoilers follow…
One of the biggest character transformations in Avengers: Endgame is that of Thor, with the God of Thunder blocking out the Avengers’ devastating defeat at the hands of Thanos by immersing himself in alcohol, junk food and video games – something that takes a major toll on his chiselled, god-like physique.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, directors Joe and Anthony Russo have addressed Thor’s drastic new look, as well as defending the creative decision against criticisms of “fat shaming”.
“He’s broken and that’s who he is moving forward,” said Joe. “How is everyone processing their grief? We wanted them all to process it in very different ways. And Thor is an exceedingly tragic character who was built from the time he was a boy to be a king. What is the distance that a character like that can travel, a god? Somebody, especially, who looks like Chris Hemsworth? What would happen if that character became extremely angry and started to punish himself and didn’t care anymore? What would happen to him? He’s an alcoholic now, he doesn’t care about anything. He doesn’t care about himself. That’s the reason why we didn’t end up turning him back.”
“Even though there’s a lot of fun to be had in the movie with his physical condition, it’s not a gag,” adds Anthony. “It’s a manifestation of where he is on a character level, and we think it’s one of the most relatable aspects of him. I mean, it’s a very common sort of response to depression and pain. It’s an experience that stays with him. He may have made some repair in this movie and made progress, but that experience that brought him to that physical condition is still with him, and it’s a longer road beyond that. We don’t know what that road beyond that is for him.”
Unlike Iron Man and Captain America, it seems that Thor’s MCU story is far from over yet, and based on the ending of Avengers: Endgame, one has to assume there’s a very strong possibility that we’ll see him appearing alongside Star-Lord and company in James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
SEE ALSO: The Representation of the Five Stages of Grief in Avengers: Endgame
What did you make of Thor’s story in Avengers: Endgame? Were you a fan of the direction the Russos went with the character? Let us know in the comments below or tweet us @FlickeringMyth…
Avengers: Endgame stars Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Chris Evans (Captain America), Mark Ruffalo (Hulk), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye), Josh Brolin (Thanos), Brie Larson (Captain Marvel), Paul Rudd (Scott Lang), Don Cheadle (War Machine), Karen Gillan (Nebula), Chadwick Boseman (Black Panther), Tom Holland (Spider-Man), Sebastian Stan (Winter Soldier), Anthony Mackie (Falcon), Elizabeth Olsen (Scarlet Witch), Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange), Danai Gurira (Okoye), Benedict Wong (Wong), Chris Pratt (Star-Lord), Zoe Saldana (Gamora), Dave Bautista (Drax), Bradley Cooper (Rocket), Vin Diesel (Groot), Karen Gillan (Nebula), Pom Klementieff (Mantis), Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Gwyneth Paltrow (Pepper Potts), Evangeline Lilly (The Wasp), Letitia Wright (Shuri) and Tessa Thompson (Valkyrie).
