the japanese dub of ragnarok is one of my favorite things
Avengers: Huh, it’s been a while since Thor’s been back, hope he isn’t too confused about all of our new members and what’s been going on.
Thor: *flying into battle with an axe* Hey everyone nice to meet ya by the way I’ve brought back Banner also meet my friends Rabbit and Tree I’ll introduce you to my space team and my friend throckmorton and my personal drunk hero later at the family dinner xoxoxo oh yeah also made up with loki watched him die but he could also be that random green snake right there, lost an eye gained an eye lost my hammer gained an axe also the rest of Asgard and I need to crash with one of you because *jean ralphio voice* tECHNICALLY I’M HOMELESSSSSSS
so i saw some people discussing how loki in ragnarok shouldn’t have been at all phased or subverted by dr. strange – which i agree with, but also, hey, it’s comedic and you can argue that he was taken off-guard, but upon re-watch, something stuck out to me –
there’s this moment when they appear at the bottom of the stairs and thor rolls down the last couple and stands up and he says
we could’ve just walked.
and it made me think of how magic works in terry pratchett’s novels, how (to paraphrase) the hard part wasn’t turning someone into a frog, it was not turning someone into a frog when you knew how easy it was.
like, the whole scene with dr. strange is just. all magic. all pointless magic. unnecessary magic, when, well. they could have just walked.
whereas loki doesn’t really rely on magic overmuch in the movie – he uses it as a tool, when he needs it, but if the job can be done with plain old non-magical trickery or a knife, he just uses those. he resorts to magic when he’s cornered by valkyrie, he uses it when his goals are most directly accomplished by using magic rather than by other means.
whereas dr. strange is using magic all over his scene, just to use it. just because he can. magic was unnecessary for ninety percent of what he did in that scene, the only time he needed magic was to whisk them away to norway. but he teleported all over the place even when he only needed to move a few feet, gave thor an ever-refilling beer that just spilled everywhere, floated around to make a show of how ~magical~ he was, when…
he could have just walked.
i mean, i’m very sure that the filmmakers intended it for comedic effect, but there’s also a layer there of dr. strange being much less comfortable with magic than loki is – loki doesn’t need to bust out the magic at every opportunity, it’s simply a skill, a tool that is completely under his control and at his disposal. whereas dr. strange (at least in his scene in ragnarok) is showing off, which reeks of insecurity.
i guess i’m thinking… if you take the magic away, loki is still a deadly, formidable opponent with many tricks up his sleeve, but dr. strange is just a guy in a cape.
I need to remember this contrast. It’s a subtle one, but a valuable one for characterization.
Can we just talk about how much of a beast Thor actually is?
• Wields Stormbreaker as the bifrost. He is now his own gatekeeper and a teleporter.
• Singlehandedly took out hundreds of creepy alien bitches.
• Watched Loki, Heimdall and his people die by Thanos and his goons and still sought to fight (I mean yeah, it’s Thor, but yo, his dad is dead, his mom is dead, his brother is dead, his people, friends, if I were him I’d just cry.)
• Savagely rummaged through the Guadians food and when Quill crankily comments it’s theirs simply replies, “Not anymore.”
• Introduces Groot to Steve as his friend, Tree
• Understands Groot’s language.
• Manages to inspire the most pessimistic rabbit in the galaxy.
• Acquires Groot’s respect and friendship enough for Groot act and help save his life.
• Finds time to playfully accuse Cap of stealing his beard in the midst of intense battle.
• Opened a gate for the fucking neutron star energy after being told he could die.
• Comforts Gamora knowing how freaky deaky crazy her dad is and the suffering she must’ve faced under his thumb even though Thanos just destroyed everything he held dear. The fact that Thor even feels that compassion and makes the distinction. Mindblown.
• Makes Quill feel puny with his muscles and determined uncaring attitude enough for Quill to awkwardly deepen his voice and puff out his chest.
• Feels like he has nothing more to lose but everything to gain.
• Showed up in Wakanda looking like an absolute snack with his house plant and pet.
the fact that Loki’s death scene in Thor 2 was originally intended to be real & retconned later and the end where he’s alive was filmed during pickups has me SO fucked up because now I can’t choose between which headcanon I prefer re: his behavior in Ragnarok. like listen, okay, either:
1. loki was planning on playing dead the whole time and so his very sad death scene & everything he said therein was a calculated move and he was practically writing the theatrical version of it (starring matt damon as himself) as he went along
OR
2. loki really thought he was dying and every melodramatic word of his death scene was 100% heartfelt and then after he realized he wasn’t dead he fucking… woke up peaced out to go take over asgard (lol?) and several months later he was sitting on the throne and could remember every word of what he said to thor on that day and was like “wow im so fucking poetic. that should be a play. starring matt damon as Me perhaps”
i'll apple your turnover 