Fear Itself

If Siege was the story of Loki’s redemption, Fear Itself is the story of Odin’s failure. So how did the All Father ruin every everything?

The roots of Fear Itself go back many, many years ago, as seen in the prologue  Fear Itself: Book of the Skull by Ed Brubacher and Scot Eaton. Odin has an evil brother Cul, who is the god of fear, and is imprisoned on Earth. This prologue is set during World War II, with the Red Skull trying to find the enchanted hammer of Skadi, one of Cul, which according to old folklore granted its wielder immense power. Obviously, the Nazis would have wanted that. Captain America, Bucky and Namor prevent that from happening. Fast forward to the current time, and the Red Skull’s daughter Sin now wields the hammer.

This brings us up to the actual Fear Itself miniseries by Matt Fraction and Stuart Immonen. Sin–wielding a hammer that makes her as powerful as Thor–has freed Cul. To make matters worse, Cul has armed seven random super heroes and villains with enchanted hammers as well, turning them into a group of super powered heralds at his command. With them added to Sin’s Nazi army, Cul leads a rampage on Earth before setting his sights on Odin and Asgard.

The Avengers are in super trouble against Cul’s forces; Sin winds up killing Captain America/Bucky. Things  get worse when Odin reveals his plan to destroy Earth   as a way to stop Cul. It only gets more complicated as Odin further explains that there is an ancient prophecy that the only way to stop Cul will leave Thor dead. Odin would sacrifice mankind if it meant Thor would survive.

Fraction’s story depicts Odin as a cowardly old man. He may be the ruler of Asgard and one of the most powerful inhabitants of the Marvel Universe, but he’s petrified. His son Thor isn’t, and is willing to give up his own life if it means that Earth is safe. Even Iron Man sacrifices his integrity–in his case,his sobriety–in an attempt to offer something as a sacrifice to Odin for help.

Because Thor is a hero, I’m sure you have an idea how this winds up ending. What I liked about this story was how much of a hero he is, being even braver than Odin. the only thing that I didn’t like was them killing off Thor, since they did a whole world without Thor story a few years back after Avengers Disassembled storyline, and Bucky, because I was really enjoying him hanging around. But thanks to the flexible condition of death in comics, they came back not too long after this.

Comics, everyone!

So What Did I Think About Thor?

So I just received some fan mail about what I thought of the Thor movie. I guess that’s appropriate, since I shared what I thought about Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, and have previously reviewed X-Men: First Class and Green Lantern.

Out of the three comic book/super hero films, Thor stands out to me as the best of this summer’s crop. For those of you who don’t know me, I have admittedly bad taste in movies. If it isn’t really funny or have a lot of explosions, chances are I haven’t seen it.

Even though I’ve been a lifelong Thor fan and wanted the movie to be as awesome as the Simonson and Kirby and Ellis comics, the thought of a super critically acclaimed serious Shakespearean director like Kenneth Branagh directing the film scared me. What if he was going to make the movie serious in tone? What if he tried turning this into an epic like Lord of the Rings…and by that I meant long and painful to watch? What if he decided to turn this into a critically acclaimed piece of cinema?

Well Branagh didn’t do that; he made a perfect Chris film, balancing action and humor. Other people seem to like it as well; Thor has pulled in receipts of almost $460,000,000 worldwide and the movie had many positive reviews. Branagh made Thor in the image of the first Iron Man, where the audience is introduced to the super hero, and elaborate action scenes are passed over in lieu of ample character development.

Stop! Hammer time!

At heart, Thor is a film about family relationships. Odin, king of the Asgardians, has two sons. Thor is the more well liked and respected one, but is ultimately to brash and immature to take his throne. Loki is a bit conniving and genuinely means well, but Thor’s status as Odin’s favored son hurts him.

This family feud ultimately comes to a boil, as Thor is exiled to Earth and stripped of his power by Odin for arrogantly trying to defeat Asgard’s long-standing enemies the frost giants of Jotunheim. Things only get worse in the house of Odin. Loki learns of his true frost giant heritage and becomes enraged at Odin for hiding this from him. As a result, Odin (who is masterfully played by Anthony Hopkins) collapses into a catatonic state.

Loki, realizing this is his only chance to be the ruler of Asgard, takes his adopted father’s throne and plans to destroy Jotunheim once and for all, as a way of showing Odin that he is just as powerful (if not more) than his brother Thor, that he is just as strong a leader as his father, and that Loki would be willing to kill off every single frost giant–even though he himself is one–if it would gain the love and favor of his adopted father. To make sure that Thor doesn’t interfere, Loki convinces him that he should never return.

Ultimately, Thor accepts his humility (as he spends time learning about the human condition and spirit with human scientist Jane Foster) and returns to Asgard. He takes it upon himself to stop Loki, as slaughtering the frost giants of Jotunheim is ultimately wrong. The two brother fight through the realms of Asgard and Jotunheim, destroying the bridge that connects the two realms. Odin comes to stop them from fighting and prevent his sons from being lost in the cosmic abyss. Humiliated by being defeated in front of Odin and now having to reach out to be saved by his brother Thor, Loki would rather fall into the cosmic abyss then be rescued by Thor.

Even though Loki would never believe it, the film ends with Odin and Thor mourn his loss, as they always unconditionally loved him.

There was some comedy, mainly as Thor tried to fit in with the humans. The action scenes of Asgardian viking battle were well executed. But this story is what made this movie.

At the heart of Thor isn’t as medieval battles, instead there is a strong examination of family dynamics reminding us of why we have to be compassionate to others and to strive to be supportive. Loki’s demise is tragic as it was spurned by him never understanding how much his family cared for him.

This was always the theme of the Thor comics and Branagh found a way to tell this epic, grandiose story, making it just as heartfelt and complex as anything Shakespeare could come up with.

And that is why I loved this film.

And if that’s not good enough, Thor comics legend Walt Simonson, his wife and writer Louise Simonson, and longtime editor Ralph Macchio (not the Karate Kid) all make an appearance during Asgaridian banquet scene.