Rewriting Blockbusters

I regularly meet up with a good friend of mine and we talk about writing and stories. Quite often these discussions lead to talking about the MCU. It's a shared interest and a fun way to think about stories. We talk of what we like and dislike and the things we wish they would have done.

During one of our coffee shop chats, we ended up talking about Thor: Ragnarok. I enjoy the Thor movies; he has long been a favorite character of mine. Whether it be the actual god of Norse mythology or the comic book character, I enjoy stories about a Norseman who can wield lightning and has a magic hammer.

I would like to preface this with...I like Thor: Ragnarok. I think it is an enjoyable film. It definitely makes me laugh. I think there are several things that could have been done better.

The Thor movies tend to portray similar motifs. One of the focuses is the importance of familial bonds, especially that of brotherhood. Thor and Loki's relationship influences many of their actions and being the princes of Asgard, their actions affect the Asgardians. We also see the relationship between father and son, and mother and son explored. We also see through the build up of the stories that Odin is fallible and his choices of not being honest with his family (and his people) lead to problems.

Thor: Ragnarok introduces a new dynamic of familial bonds; a sister. This sister is powerful and bloodthirsty. She wants revenge for what has been done to her. Introducing Hela as the princess/general of Asgard gives us something that offsets the balance between the brothers and throws the hero off base. He's truly lost and much of that is due to his loss of identity as oldest son and rightful heir to Odin. He doesn't know who he is without his hammer, the symbol of his position and power. Having a new family member appear fits the theme of the Thor trilogy and follows the motif of family. It makes sense to introduce a new character that has a familial importance to Thor (and the rest of his family).

The family motif runs through the movies and certain elements and symbols are repeated. We see the reiteration of the brothers' relationship and their good/light vs bad/dark sides of the same coin. Thor is light/good and Loki is dark/bad. We see the two men struggle with their relationship with each other due to their positions under their father. We see Odin's decisions affecting his children and his children's decisions affecting Asgard and Earth. We see that the princes are stronger when they work together. They're better when they consider the mistakes Odin has made and learn from them. Putting Hela in this twists this motif of family importance and in my opinion, this is where the narrative falls short of what it could be. If Hela had been put in the movie, not as an ignored and imprisoned older sister, but as an ignored and imprisoned aunt, I think this would have created even more parallels between Odin's Asgard and Thor's Asgard.

Hela as a daughter of Odin has not sat well with me even though I love the character. Her presence raises many questions that weaken some of the previous defining character traits we've been given about this family. Some of these questions have nothing to do with narrative, but personal curiosity. Who is her mother? Does she share the same mother as Thor? If not, where is her mother and why is she not mentioned? And if she is a full sibling to Thor, does that not spit in the face of all of the previously displayed traits of Frigga? Odin is believable in that he might never mention something that could be considered a mistake or failing of his, but I cannot see that of Frigga.

Unrelated to the issue of terrible parentage, Thor give second chances. He may be suspicious of Loki, but he still relies on him and acknowledges him as his brother. He turns back to his brother and offers a hand to him. We see this build and we want these brothers to reconnect and triumph. When Hela is introduced, there is no attempt by the ever-faithful and caring Thor to connect with his sister. He just dismisses her entirely as a threat even though we've seen him be forgiving and caring multiple times before this. Even when he and Loki are fighting, there is still the acknowledgement of their connection. With Hela, it's not a factor.

I think that had Hela been Odin's sister rather than Thor and Loki's it would have been more believable for her to be completely unmentioned. We'd have stronger parallels of good and bad. Odin is supposed to be the golden ruler but he makes mistakes. He doesn't learn from the problems that arise. He just hides things and hopes it will all work out okay. Thor is his parallel; he's the golden son. He learns from mistakes. The first movie is about him learning from mistakes and growing as a person. Hela and Loki would be excellent parallels to each other. The younger sibling who's trying to show their worth and wants more than what they have. They're the darker half of the sibling relationship. She's past redemption, but showing her as a parallel to Loki would strengthen his redemption arc. They even wear similar outfits and one of the first scenes we see of them as villains involves them each telling someone they view as inferior to kneel.

Odin and Hela would be old Asgard; the Asgard that didn't change and grow. At the end of Ragnarok, Asgard falls. This is Odin's Asgard. Hela's Asgard. An Asgard haunted by past mistakes that has to fall so the new Asgard can rise up and exist. Odin and Hela didn't grow and learn from their mistakes but Thor and Loki do. The younger pair of blonde and dark haired Asgardians learn from their father's mistakes and grow. Their people survive. It would have brought it back to when we see Thor and Loki learning from Odin as children; only this time the lessons are bigger and harder. Having it be siblings vs siblings would mirror the old vs new and let Thor and Loki be stronger characters in the future.