海角大神

The actors starring in the upcoming Marvel movie 鈥淭hor: Ragnarok鈥� recently revealed more details about their characters and the plot of the film, hinting at a lighter, quirkier tone. As Neil Gaiman鈥檚 鈥淣orse Mythology,鈥� which also explores the adventures of mythological characters such as Thor and Loki, has become a bestseller, will 鈥淩agnarok鈥� do better critically and at the box-office than the two previous standalone 鈥淭hor鈥� films, 鈥淭hor鈥� and 鈥淭hor: The Dark World鈥�?

鈥淭hor: Ragnarok鈥� features the return of actors Chris Hemsworth as Thor and Tom Hiddleston as Loki and will also star Cate Blanchett, Tessa Thompson, and Jeff Goldblum, among others.

Mr. Hemsworth told 聽that even the actors were sometimes taken aback by the mood director Taika Waititi, who has helmed films including the comedy "What We Do in the Shadows,"聽imparts on the film. "Taika has such a quirky, left-of-field sense of humor, which forced all the characters and the tone of the whole story to head in a new direction,鈥� Hemsworth said. 鈥淓ach day we were like, 鈥楢re we pushing it too far? Are we allowed to have this much fun?鈥� 鈥�

鈥淩agnarok,鈥� which will be released in November, will arrive as Marvel continues to rule Hollywood. It鈥檚 been nine years since the studio released 鈥淚ron Man,鈥� which launched the Marvel cinematic universe as we know it, and the latest Marvel installments regularly rule the box office, with one of the most recent, 2016鈥檚 鈥淐aptain America: Civil War,鈥� becoming the third-highest-grossing film of the year. The most recent, "Doctor Strange," followed at number 13 for 2016.

The previous standalone 鈥淭hor鈥� movies, however, have encountered some trouble compared to other Marvel films. To be clear, any Marvel movie that鈥檚 lower-ranking financially than others is still usually a hit 鈥� the first 鈥淭hor鈥� movie grossed more than $181 million when it came out in 2011, which let it become the tenth-highest-grossing movie of the year. But out of the 14 films counted in the Marvel cinematic universe, the two 鈥淭hor鈥� standalone movies are near the bottom of the list when ranked for domestic box office gross, with 鈥淭hor鈥� coming in at number 11 out of that 14 and 2013鈥檚 鈥淭hor: The Dark World鈥� ranking at number 10.聽

In addition, both 鈥淭hor鈥� and 鈥淭hor: The Dark World鈥� received mostly negative reviews from critics, with the first holding a score of 57 out of 100 on the review aggregator site Metacritic and the second scoring 54 out of 100.

Why were the movies less critically well-received than installments such as 鈥淐aptain America: The First Avenger鈥� (which is also one of the lower-grossing Marvel films) or the first 鈥淚ron Man鈥� film?

There鈥檚 obviously interest in Norse mythology, the basis for the movies, judging by the recent success of Mr. Gaiman鈥檚 book 鈥淣orse Mythology,鈥� which finds the bestselling author retelling, well, Norse myths. The book is currently ranked at number one on the IndieBound fiction bestseller list for the week of March 9.

Yet with the first movie, , for one, found the Norse mythology characters ill-suited for the movie. 鈥淭hor to begin with is not an interesting character,鈥� Mr. Ebert wrote. 鈥淭he gods of Greek, Roman and Norse mythology share the same problem, which is that what you see is what you get. They're defined by their attributes, not their personalities.鈥�

It remains to be seen whether Mr.聽Waititi was able to inject more substance into the characters than the directors of the previous "Thor" films, but Ms. Blanchett hints at least a touch of character backstory in describing her role, Hela, Goddess of Death.

鈥淪he鈥檚 been locked away for millennia getting more and more cross, and then, with a mistake, she gets unleashed and she ain鈥檛 getting back in that box,鈥� Blanchett told Entertainment Weekly.

Other critics of the earlier films were confused by the comic-based rendering of Asgard, where Thor and Loki hail from, though those criticisms likey have more to do with the comic adaptation of the mythological gods to fit the superhero universe than the films' rendering of the comics.

When reviewing 鈥淭hor: The Dark World,鈥� wrote, 鈥淚f Thor鈥檚 homeland of Asgard has the technology to defend itself from space invaders with long-range artillery and jet fighters, as we see in the film, why do Asgardian foot soldiers still run around with medieval swords and daggers?... Are Thor and his family divine or aren鈥檛 they?... Ow, my head.鈥�

was also baffled at some points when reviewing 鈥淒ark World.鈥� 鈥淭hor, both on the screen and on the page, has never been much for plausible physics, but 鈥楾hor: The Dark World鈥� turns the series into a mish-mash of 鈥楽tar Wars鈥� and 鈥楽tar Trek鈥� and 鈥楲ord of the Rings鈥� and 鈥楩lash Gordon,鈥欌�� he wrote. 鈥淚s this science fiction? Mythology? Physics? Mostly, it鈥檚 just nonsense, even by comic-book standards.鈥�

Critics also had difficulties with other aspects of both films, with Ebert writing of the first 鈥淭hor鈥� movie, 鈥淭he failure of 鈥楾hor鈥� begins at the story level鈥� and Mr. O鈥橲ullivan calling 鈥淒ark World鈥� 鈥渒ind of slow to get going and featur[ing] too many undeveloped threads.鈥澛�

We'll see if the humor that Hemsworth referred to for the new film earns "Ragnarok" better reviews than its predecessors.