These days, when a director takes on a Marvel gig, they have more than 20 movies to fall back on. The formula is well-defined and the fans have clear expectations for each entry in the MCU. Back in 2011, in the midst of Phase One, that wasn’t the case. Kenneth Branagh had a pretty blank canvas with the first Thor movie.
Branagh’s movie introduced such fan-favorite MCU icons as Chris Hemsworth’s Thor (obviously), Tom Hiddleston’s Loki, and even Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye. This early chapter introduced audiences to some of the MCU’s most popular characters (and some of its more forgettable, one-dimensional characters).
Jane Foster
As proven by Natalie Portman is one of the greatest actors working today. Unfortunately, she was squandered with the role of Jane Foster in the MCU. It’s refreshing to see a woman cast as the scientist role in a sci-fi blockbuster, but Jane has become the go-to example of a one-dimensional MCU love interest.
Luckily, Portman might yet get the substantial MCU role she always deserved. Taika Waititi is bringing back Jane in Thor: Love and Thunder, which will see her taking on the powers of Thor and becoming “Mighty Thor” among the next generation of Avengers.
Odin
Any role played by Anthony Hopkins is going to be memorable, and Odin fills an interesting role in the story of Thor. Since he strips Thor of his powers and sends him to Earth to prove himself as a mortal, Odin instigates the main conflict of the plot. Questionable fatherhood is a common theme in MCU stories, but Hopkins plays it beautifully opposite Chris Hemsworth’s God of Thunder.
This movie hints at Odin’s dark past, but his specific backstory is left vague. Ragnarok went on to reveal the shocking extent of his whitewashing of Asgardian history, which may not have happened without these early hints.
Darcy Lewis
The always-affable Kat Dennings was introduced as the comic relief of the Thor franchise in the role of Darcy Lewis. Of course, the Thor franchise eventually became 100% comic relief under Taika Waititi’s direction, and it was after Dennings left the series. Darcy is funny enough in the first two Thor movies, but Dennings would get to really shine working from a Waititi script in the zany Ragnarok world.
On the whole, Dennings’ performance as Darcy in Thor set the template for all self-aware quipsters that would grace the MCU, from Paul Rudd to Awkwafina. The character was eventually brought back to much greater effect in WandaVision on Disney+.
Heimdall
Idris Elba has pretty limited screen time in the first Thor movie (and all of its sequels), but he still managed to make a fan-favorite icon out of Heimdall, the all-seeing, all-hearing Asgardian sentry of the Bifröst.
In addition to sharing strong chemistry with Hemsworth Avengers: Infinity War.
Loki
While the main villains of the original Thor movie are the Destroyer and the Frost Giants, the God of Thunder’s morally dubious adopted brother Loki is introduced as an on-and-off baddie. Tom Hiddleston wouldn’t fully nail the balance between dramatic pathos and hammed-up villainy until his second appearance in 2012’s The Avengers, but the first Thor film gives the character a great introduction focused on his sibling rivalry with Thor.
The trickster god would go on to become a much more interesting character after The Avengers when he veered between full-blown villain and semi-redeemed antihero. Now, he’s starring in his own mind-boggling time-travel series on Disney+.
Clint Barton
Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye was introduced in a brief uncredited cameo in Thor, guarding Mjolnir from afar with his bow and arrow. Fighting alongside Iron Man, Captain America, and the Hulk, Hawkeye had the misfortunate of being called the most useless Avenger for a decade after his introduction in Thor.
Clint is finally being recognized as the awesome street-level vigilante he is with his starring role opposite Hailee Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop in the Hawkeye series on Disney+. Later MCU movies would introduce Clint’s wife and kids, his farm in the middle of nowhere, and the dark turn his life took after losing his family in the Blip. Hawkeye is digging into all the facets of this arc head-on, contrasting his grizzled approach to crimefighting with Kate’s naive newcomer perspective.
Thor
Branagh made his name as a filmmaker by directing himself in Shakespeare adaptations like Much Ado About Nothing, so it made sense that he initially characterized Hemsworth’s Thor as a pseudo-Shakespearean royal warrior. Joss Whedon adapted this version of the character in the dullest broad strokes imaginable in his first couple of Avengers movies.
Hemsworth’s Thor eventually became one of the MCU’s most beloved superheroes after Waititi revitalized him with some self-effacing comedy in Ragnarok. Still, the first Thor movie has some early hints of the dry fish-out-of-water humor that would go on to define the Waititi-ized version of the God of Thunder.
