MCU: All 6 Marvel Phase 2 movies ranked from worst to best
6. Thor: The Dark World
Thor has always been a pretty serious character in the comics, so it only makes sense for his big-screen adaptation to be dark as well, right? Well, it turns out it’s a little bit more complicated than that. Perhaps a gritty Thor movie could be brilliantly executed, but it needs a good plot, a great villain, and an emotional payoff, none of which were present in Thor: The Dark World. Unfortunately, not only is Thor’s second adventure considered one of the worst Marvel films to date, but it’s the weakest link in Phase 2 of the MCU.
Thor: The Dark World‘s plot was underdeveloped, as it followed the Dark Elves trying to use an infinity stone to destroy the nine realms so that there could be perpetual darkness. This means it was another superhero project where the bad guys were evil just for the sake of it. Additionally, its story was a little too convenient at times as well. When the barrier between realms gets blurred, mysterious portals that link one realm to another begin to appear. And it just so happens that a portal between Earth and the exact place where the Reality Stone was hidden opened up for Jane Foster to fall into.
Thor: The Dark World also suffered from poor execution of the plot at times. For instance, its stakes were undoubtedly high as the God of Thunder had to prevent the simultaneous destruction of the nine realms. But audiences never felt unsafe at any point in the movie. There was no sense of relief when Thor finally managed to take down Malekith once and for all, which is a shame considering it could have been the case.
However, not everything in Thor: The Dark World was a total blunder. Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston had an amazing chemistry as Thor and Loki. Asgard was also stunningly beautiful, and every realm visited in the movie had a distinctive look and feel. Unfortunately, these positives aren’t enough for the movie to be a fan favorite or even a great superhero movie. While it’s not a disaster as everyone claims, it definitely could’ve been better.