Is Thor: The Dark World misunderstood? Or is it, as some claim, a cinematic black hole, sucking the very life out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Matthew Fox and Pete Wright return to Asgard to begin their coverage of the eighth film in the MCU. They ask the big questions, like: why is there so much exposition? Is Odin a big fat liar? And most importantly, why does the Aether scream?
In 2013, Marvel Studios released Thor: The Dark World, the eighth film in what was, at the time, a still-experimental attempt to build a unified cinematic universe. The film made nearly $650 million at the global box office, was a technical success by virtually any Hollywood standard, and yet—if you ask the average Marvel fan today to recall its plot, you’ll likely be met with a long pause, followed by something like, “Was that the one with the elves?”
This week, Marvel Movie Minute does something bold. Something dramatic. Something that, quite frankly, should probably come with a warning label. We’re handing over hosting duties from the Iron Man 3 dream team—Kyle Olson and Rob Kubasko—to the brave, possibly deluded souls who have volunteered to take on the MCU’s most famously “meh” entry: Thor: The Dark World.