Monday, February 21, 2011

Trailer for "Thor" Movie



Saw this last night at a friend's party.  I haven't historically been a fan of the "Thor" comics but this looks kind of cool.

I see they're not going with Thor and company being the actual Norse gods, based on the comment about magic and science.  I think it was Arthur C. Clarke who said sufficiently-advanced technology is not distinguishable from magic anyway.  Are they conveniently human-like aliens, then, or humans who had developed uber-advanced technology and masqueraded as gods?

In Norse myth, if I remember right, Odin was the god of war.  Here, he seems inclined to maintain peace while Thor just wants to fight.  I guess when it's one's own realm one is maintaining, it's in one's interest to keep the peace.

Not sure if I'll go see it, but it looks like it'll be a fun movie if I do.

5 comments:

  1. As far as Norse mythos, Odin was the head diety, as well as the god of wisdom and death, Tyr was the god of war.

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  2. That Thor would be a proponent of war while Odin suggests peace seems to be in-character with their presentation in the myths - as Korsgaard notes, Odin was, among other things, the god of wisdom, while Thor tended to have a temper, and to act before thinking things through.

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  3. Ah. I thought since Odin was worshipped by kings and warriors (while Thor was worshipped by the commoners), he would have a greater association with war.

    The wisdom aspect does make Odin's attitude more sensible.

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  4. There was an episode of the original Star Trek that explored the idea the the Greek Gods were uber-advanced aliens - they met Apollo. Essentially human but with a mysterious organ Dr. McCoy noticed in a scan. They theorized that allowed these aliens to channel their powers.

    Don't know if I'll want to see this one. I like the new superhero movies that explain how the hero got his/her power (origins) to set the stage.

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  5. Well, it's a way to get those outside the existing comic fandom in the door--they won't need to know the back story.

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