Episode Review: Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes! : Episode 102 : "Thor the Mighty"

Hell yeah! Now this is more like it!

After last episode's low-key introduction to Iron Man, this time around we get a mini-epic full of Shakespearean theatrics and super-heroics, and it's all thanks to The Mighty Thor!

Now in the interest of transparency and full disclosure, I need to reveal I'm a huge fan of Thor and his extended family of Norse gods, the Asgardians. In 2007 Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski started a superlative comic run writing Thor for Marvel, breathing new life into the character and relaunching the canceled comic title. So good it actually encouraged me to go back and read the classic Walt Simonson run on Thor in the 80's, featuring some of his craziest cosmic tales. Perhaps it's also just me, but Thor has to be the perfect comic to read while also listening to some heavy, dynamic progressive rock, perfectly matching all of his psychedelic trips through the Marvel cosmos. It's also easy to say that my love for Thor is reaching fever peak with a live-action Thor feature film coming out this May, that will also have Marvel hoping to lure more than just this fan's money to the cinema. So how does the Norse god of Smacktalk and Smiting fare in Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes?

Captain America and Thor : Superbowl Spots

Captain America. Marvel

I doubt I'll usually link to much in the way of upcoming films and projects, but these two Superbowl Spots from Marvel are going to have to be an initial exception. Marvel Studios has a pretty good track record so far (3 for 3, with a few minor quibbles), so I'm expecting these to be knocked out of the park.

I've had a good feeling about Captain America for a while now, with every bit of casting news sounding like gold to me. That even includes Chris Evans (as Steve Rogers, see Poster on left), who has been a solid actor in a few films as well as experienced dealing with the ridiculousness of comic book movies. I also don't think that his role as the Human Torch in Fantastic Four will mess with peoples heads. He's an actor, let him take the job!

Joe Johnston also gets a bit of a bum rap for the work he's done. The Rocketeer is still a favourite of mine for pulp adventures, Jurassic Park III was a more accurate version of the book than JPII and he managed to salvage something gorgeous and occasionally interesting from The Wolfman.

Just like Iron Man and Incredible Hulk, there's seems to be a genuine desire to find the best way to translate these comic book ideas and visuals to the silver screen, without sacrificing what made them great in the first place. The Spider-Man films had their moments, and the X-Men films were fairly true to the premise of the books, but they often deviated wildly from established designs and characterisations. Spidey may have looked right, be he never really acted like Spidey, going silent during melees instead of slinging as many witticisms as he does webs. X-Men got the underlying thematic stuff right (as you'd expect from Singer), but failed to find a believable way to translate the colourful visuals. 

With that in mind, take a look at the first footage for Captain America: The First Avenger after the jump.