Thor Dark World rewatch: Not a good movie for women [SPOILERS]

My 4th-grader and I are (re)watching the MCU movies in release order, and we're up to Thor: The Dark World. I had only ever seen the movie once years ago, and upon this rewatch, I was struck by how poorly it represents female roles and storylines. What do you think? \[FULL SPOILERS AHEAD\]

\* I hate that Frigga - one of my favorite characters - dies in a textbook example of "[fridging](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StuffedIntoTheFridge)": lazily killing off a supporting (usually female) character for the sole purpose of motivating the main (usually male) character. Not only that, but Frigga's whole family [seems to quickly move on](https://thefilmnerdca.wordpress.com/2021/03/27/thor-the-dark-world-friggas-death-analysis-rant/), and she barely gets mentioned in the remainder of the movie.

\* Throughout the movie, Jane is treated as a passive object. The movie begins with her waiting around for Thor to return. She then accidentally becomes a vessel for the Dark Aether. She then gets whisked off to Asgard by Thor. She then stands by helplessly while Frigga gets stabbed to death. She then lies around in Thor and Loki's ship like a sack of cargo. She then gets jerked into the sky by Malekith so he can extract the Aether from her limp body. Even at the movie's denouement, when Thor is about to be crushed by Malekith's ship, all Jane does is throw herself at him so that she can die too. The end scene is Jane waiting around for Thor *again*. I don't think Jane accomplishes anything of her own accord in the entire movie.

\* Jane is shown repeatedly slapping men in the face. What a silly, bratty thing to do. (As it happens, I also have a doctorate in science, and I have never seen any of my colleagues - male or female - slap people around them when they are upset.)

\* Our favorite badass warrior Sif gets some screen time, but the focus is on Sif pining over Thor, rather than on Sif's motivations or interests outside of that.

\* At least Darcy, unlike Jane and Sif, gets something to do other than pine over Thor. She finds Selvig and sets up some gravity tripods and stuff. But she, too, is forced to sacrifice screen time to a forced romance subplot.

After the movie ended and I found myself still wincing over how the female characters were treated, I decided to look up if any women were in charge of the production (not counting actors). Answer: Nope. From [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor:_The_Dark_World):

Director: Alan Taylor
Screenplay: Christopher L. Yost; Christopher Markus; Stephen McFeely
Story: Don Payne, Robert Rodat
Based on: Thor by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Jack Kirby
Produced by: Kevin Fiege
Cinematography by: Kramer Morgenthau
Edited by: Dan Lebental, Wyatt Smith
Music by: Brian Tyler

(There were also 9 producers, one of whom was a woman... so it seems fair to say that <5% of the lead creative team were women.)

I'm not sure how much point there is in discussing this 12 years later, except to note that Stephen McFeely is also writing Doomsday and Secret Wars. If you happen to be reading this, Mr. McFeely...

YOU'VE GOTTA DO BETTER!

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Commentaires

AdamH962025-10-21 21:51

It's a comic book movie about a male comic book hero.

It sounds like you went into this looking for a reason to be mad as a woman.

evapotranspire2025-10-21 21:55

u/AdamH96 : No, not at all. There are lots of comic book movies about male comic book heroes that don't have this same problem. To use some obvious examples, neither the original Thor nor Thor Ragnarok were like this. (Of note, they had different writers than Dark World.)

Affectionate_Ad_37222025-10-21 21:56

Or wanting more for women and for MCU to be better.

SharpshootinTearaway2025-10-21 22:19

I have no issue with Thor: The Dark World, personally. It cemented Frigga as the greatest parent in the MCU, all genders included, and it's kind of a win for women in my book. Thor holding Jane in such high regards and standing his ground for her despite his father's disapproval is important as well.

But I hate the argument that, just because a work of fiction is about a man for men (or worse, for young boys) then it's an excuse to neglect the writing of the female characters.

Fiction is often used to carry life lessons. Superheroes, especially, are meant to inspire people to be *better* people. It's important, and even more so when your target audience is impressionable young boys, to show their male heroes nurturing positive relationships with women that they respect, rely on, appreciate, etc...

And vice versa for women and girls, they need models of reliable and admirable male characters too, imo (though, typically, fiction aimed at little girls doesn't have this problem, Prince Charming and your average male love interest are usually pretty capable men). Nowadays more than ever, with this senseless gender war going on.

Sol3Caul32025-10-21 21:52

It's passed the bechdel test. Sooo....

evapotranspire2025-10-21 22:00

True, it did! But the Bechdel test is a very, very, very minimal standard.

ETA: If you're interested, you can read a full discussion here. Some commenters give the movie a pass; others give it a minimal or dubious pass:

[https://bechdeltest.com/view/4756/thor:\_the\_dark\_world/](https://bechdeltest.com/view/4756/thor:_the_dark_world/)

Acrobatic-Tax93002025-10-21 21:53

![gif](giphy|lkdH8FmImcGoylv3t3|downsized)

Acrobatic-Tax93002025-10-21 21:54

You must be fun at parties

Bitter_Classic_892025-10-21 21:54

Hate to break it to you, but Thor: the Dark World is not a good movie for anyone

evapotranspire2025-10-21 21:59

Well, I already knew that, but this *specific* way in which it is not a good movie jumped out at me on a rewatch!

(The movie's other problems, like Malekith being a one-dimensional villain and the Aether being a poorly explained MacGuffin, are more obvious.)

NotANiceCanadian2025-10-21 21:55

I expected nothing less from this comment section and yet I’m still disappointed.

Darth3142025-10-21 21:55

My biggest concern with this movie is when Loki is brought before Odin; and King Odin commands everyone to leave. His wife is th only one who leaves? Not the guards, or anyone else, just his wife, so Loki and Odin can talk with her there? It stuck me as unnecessary

SnooTomatoes47342025-10-21 21:56

Lmao wtf is this AI ? 😭😭😭

evapotranspire2025-10-21 21:58

Not in the slightest - why would you think so? Can you be specific?

ETA: Why on earth is this getting downvoted? What am I even supposed to say?

SnooTomatoes47342025-10-21 22:34

Ima be honest, I understand your POV cause comic use to have an issue of using women only to make a point but never have her develop character. That being said it’s still a stretch to say tht. Comics have moved past tht for a long time and have re written female characters many times because of what you are saying.

This is just my side of things but the movie is a comedy of two extremes. Old comic book Thor is very offensive and even in the comics way more. The modern perspective on Thor is way less of that and the movie is pointing out the stupidity of trying to always one up your partner, but it’s comedic and a kinda mature one.

Second is the fact that you don’t see how they also have women who absolutely objectify men in marvel all over and they flip the roles. It’s for theatrical purposes not political ones. Thor Love and War is a kinda joke about all tht youre mad about imo. Showing you how men and women shouldnt compete, but be one and see each other just as strong as the other one.

Was it poorly written and kinda the worst out of all the Thor movies. Absolutely. Movie just failed in emotional impact was just too much comedy. Overall not mad at you personally or offended just found it funny how a lot of ppl see the exact opposite. I saw a lot on insecurity about men in that movie for example lol.

evapotranspire2025-10-22 00:59

Thanks for your reply, but I still don't understand why you think my post was written by AI. Did you say that just because you don't agree with me? I mean, the whole point of Reddit is to debate interesting topics, so disagreement should be expected...

And for what it's worth, I'm not a fan of objectifying anyone. I always roll my eyes at the "Thor taking his shirt off" scenes.

MarveltheMusical2025-10-21 21:56

I know I’m early, but man, if these comments are anything to go by, this sub ain’t beating the allegations.

Norin_Radd12092025-10-21 21:58

Weirdest take on this movie I’ve ever read

evapotranspire2025-10-21 22:08

Think what you like, but I am not the only one who had this reaction. For example: [https://decider.com/2023/06/22/marvel-studios-killing-female-characters/](https://decider.com/2023/06/22/marvel-studios-killing-female-characters/)

Fallenjace2025-10-21 21:59

Respectfully: Are you outside of your mind?

Jane Foster isn't a passive damsel in distress, she's a brilliant astrophysicist whose intellect is capable of seeing and discerning that the magic of the gods’ is simply super advanced technology, her discoveries literally help in reshaping the understanding of our world and other worlds.

Frigga, strong and resolute, proves herself as not only fierce in combat but wise beyond measure and willful even against the likes of her husband Odin, defending Asgard with some really deadly grace. Even the good lady Sif stands as a renowned soldier equal among men, commanding respect through skill rather than softness -- AND trusted with an infinity stone by Odin himself. She's not less for loving Thor, it's just another facet of the character.

What more do you want?

evapotranspire2025-10-21 22:17

u/Fallenjace : I love Jane, Frigga, and Sif. They are among my very favorite MCU characters. But you're describing Jane, Frigga, and Sif *in general* \- not specifically in the context of this movie.

That's why this movie was a disappointment to me: because the female characters were not allowed to take center stage and drive the story of their own accord. Rather, Jane was depicted in various states of helplessness, and Frigga was summarily butchered by a stupid villain who no one cared about, with scarcely even a struggle.

Fallenjace2025-10-21 22:32

The Title is: Thor. Not, 'The Strong Feminine Presence around Thor'.

The women in the movie were amazing, and central figures in almost every scene. You're just complaining to complain, my guy. Which is pretty common in this fandom, to be honest.

Sif was meant to play a much larger role in the MCU, we know that. Sadly the actress was sidelined by that nasty injury. Rene Russo was already an older actress, yet still threw down physically. She's the emotional backbone of the movie. And we all know Jane eventually becomes Thor herself. And yet, in spite of these facts, they were all given moments in the movie to shine on their own and drive things forward.

This is not an issue for anyone else.

evapotranspire2025-10-22 00:27

u/Fallenjace - "Not an issue for anyone else" except for all the other commenters whose similar opinions I have already linked throughout. Here's some more for good measure:

In this Reddit thread, Marvel fans gripe about how Jane's entire life seems to revolve around moping and waiting for Thor: https://www.reddit.com/r/marvelstudios/comments/529q3u/why_didnt_the_jane_foster_character_work/

The top reply on this Quora thread describes at length how Thor 2 treats Jane like an object: https://www.quora.com/What-can-be-done-to-improve-upon-Jane-Fosters-character-in-the-upcoming-Thor-movie-and-what-exactly-was-wrong-with-her-writing-in-the-first-place

And this Screen Rant article discusses Frigga's seemingly unnecessary "fridging" as perhaps only explicable in service of a larger overall plot that needed to happen (a la Sacred Timeline): https://screenrant.com/thor-frigga-death-endgame-stop-impossible-reason/

Generally, I love MCU movies. I like Thor 1 and Thor 3. I even like a lot of MCU movies that other people don't like so much, like Black Widow and Brave New World. So I'm not a complainer at heart, and I'm not trying to rain on anyone else's parade - just expressing my own reaction to the movie.

Fallenjace2025-10-22 06:45

Yes. There's such an outcry of support that the post was removed. Well played, you checkmate'd me good and proper.

evapotranspire2025-10-22 09:13

I'm not sure if you've noticed, but unfortunately, the mods remove posts from r/marvelstudios all the time for no particular reason (even posts that were very popular and getting a lot of traction). My post was on-topic, original, respectful, showed effort, etc, and didn't break any sub rules - so seems like it just wasn't the mods' cup of tea. Their choice of what to remove may say more about their personal likes and dislikes than it says about the quality of the post.

evapotranspire2025-10-22 18:02

u/Fallenjace - I messaged the mods, and they said my post had gotten deleted by accident, perhaps because one of them was speed-reading and thought it was an incel post (whereas it was actually the opposite). They restored it upon realizing the error. So... make of that what you will!

Character-Owl94082025-10-21 22:00

Not every movie has to be centered around women. And there’s no movie that you should go this in depth over every single female character. lol

ColoniaCroisant2025-10-21 22:00

Wait until you find out who was supposed to direct it! Patty Jenkins! (Female director of WonderWoman. After she got shit-canned by Marvel Natalie Portman was so pissed she refused to come back until Taika Waititi convinced her to come back.

evapotranspire2025-10-21 22:12

Yes! I only just learned that five minutes ago, but boy, was it an "aha" moment. Everything kind of makes more sense now (and not in a good way).

Optimus_Prime26292025-10-21 22:01

![gif](giphy|l3q2K5jinAlChoCLS)

badken2025-10-21 22:03

I've never given it much thought, but I rewatched it recently, and yeah, all your points are completely valid. The fact that the production team was almost entirely men is significant.

In fairness to the writers, Jane does take initiative at the start when Darcy shows her what's going on. And later in the movie, when she's pretty much a zombie, it's because the Aether has taken her over. Once she gets control of herself again, she starts sciencing a solution to the convergence problems.

I'd say for the people who say it's "just a Thor movie" that Jane is very important to Thor. Characterizing her as just along for the ride seems counter to the kind of woman I believe Thor might find interesting.

evapotranspire2025-10-21 22:12

Yes, I agree. This commenter said the same thing - that this movie doesn't showcase any of the aspects of Jane that make her interesting to, and an equal to, Thor:

[https://offactandfantasy.wordpress.com/2021/04/18/a-look-back-thor-the-dark-world/](https://offactandfantasy.wordpress.com/2021/04/18/a-look-back-thor-the-dark-world/)

GrimmPerfected2025-10-21 22:09

this is fucking ridiculous. you’re just adding your own issues to this movie. it has its own problems and doesn’t need yours

AtomicGearworks12025-10-21 22:17

Jane has always been a well respected scientist, but is still more of a background character much of the time in the comics. That doesn't change until she wield Mjolnir in 2014, a year after this movie came out. This story is largely the basis for Thor Love and Thunder that came out in 2022.

Sif is Thor's wife in Norse mythology, and a long-time romantic partner of his in the comics. Their on-again off-again romance is a major driving force of their relationship. We see that happen in the first movie too. It's not a new aspect of the character. You just didn't pay enough attention the first time.

Frigga's death, and the family's requirement to quickly move past it due to the circumstances, is a major driving force of Thor and Loki's character development in future movies.

A lot of these criticisms are only valid in a vacuum of a single work. Marvel movies don't work that way. They overlap. They connect. There's overarching stories that sometimes take a decade to pay off.

evapotranspire2025-10-21 22:28

Thanks for your thoughtful reply, u/AtomicGearworks1 ! I appreciate it.

I get your point about past context and future interconnections. I have no problem with Sif and Thor having feelings for each other, and I'm well aware of the Norse myths. It was just that almost *every* female character in this movie seemed to have romance as a primary motivation, so it got to be a bit much for me.

I'm never going to be a fan of Frigga getting killed off, especially not by a stupid and forgettable villain without even a chance to fight back, but I acknowledge that her death has continued to be relevant in future movies - including *Ragnarok* and *Infinity War.*

And as for Jane being a scientist who is a background character - well sure, I just would have liked to see more emphasis on the "scientist" and less on the "background character" / "hapless object." For example, why couldn't this story be about Jane working alongside Thor, studying and strategizing how to control the Aether (science + magic), rather than the majority of the movie literally using Jane's limp body as a passive vessel for something that men want to get from her? Ugh!

AtomicGearworks12025-10-21 22:41

Wouldn't Jane knowing how to study the Aether just be the problematic "scientists know everything about everything" trope? She doesn't know anything about magic. And neither does Thor. That's a constant part of him vs. Loki. Thor is the warrior, Loki is the sorcerer. Thor doesn't really understand how his thunder powers work until Ragnarok.

evapotranspire2025-10-22 01:02

So then have a three-way team up between Jane, Thor, and Loki. Jane is the scientist, Thor is the fighter, and Loki is the magician. Awesome! Doesn't that sound like a better movie anyway?

justduett2025-10-21 22:19

I dare say it isn't a good movie for men (to watch) either. I'd say it is universally not a good movie regardless of who is the viewer.

evapotranspire2025-10-22 00:59

Yeah, fair enough! The unequal treatment of genders just hadn't occurred to me until this rewatch.

justduett2025-10-21 22:22

McFeely is most definitely not reading this. And "wincing" over this movie?! Come on now, you don't have to try THAT hard to get fake internet points on this site...

evapotranspire2025-10-22 01:12

"If you're reading this, Mr. McFeely..." was not meant to be taken literally. Didn't think I needed to specify that out loud.. :-/

And if I were trying to "get fake internet points on this site," wouldn't I post something popular and uncontroversial, like a generic question about "What's your favorite Thor costume"? I'm well aware that gender balance in MCU films tends to be a contentious topic that attracts downvotes.

juances192025-10-21 22:30

Eh, everyone that's not Thor or Loki got screwed. You can't tell me that Odin's arc was satisfactory either. Mightiest warrior of the nine realm, all we'll remember him by is for yelling a lot and taking naps.

evapotranspire2025-10-22 00:56

There's an episode of What If called "What if Thor Was an Only Child," in which Thor has the line: "My father has been ruler of Asgard for centuries, and let's face it, the most interesting thing he's ever done is fall asleep."

N8CCRG2025-10-21 22:38

I fully agree Jane is awful in it. Her interest in Thor is reduced to drooling over his muscles and swooning over the fact that he's royalty, and that's it. There's no other character or personality to her at all.

Love & Thunder actually treats their relationship, and her, with respect.

evapotranspire2025-10-22 01:08

You know, much as I dislike Love and Thunder overall, I have to agree with you there. My problems with that movie are numerous, but I agree that Jane as an individual, as well as Jane and Thor's relationship, are rendered with integrity.

Single-Pianist-22112025-10-21 22:52

who cares about anything else when Thor and Loki are so great together…..nobody is watching the Thor movies for Jane or Frigga…..

This attitude is why the MCU has been so shit the past few years….forgetting priorities….

evapotranspire2025-10-22 01:07

Thor and Loki *are* great together, which is one of the movie's few saving graces. But you really lost me with the rest of your comment there.

Treating supporting characters like disposable afterthoughts, and reducing their motivations to "I'm waiting around for my boyfriend to come back," is NOT what makes the MCU great. It's a sign of lazy writing.

Main characters can only shine if they have nuanced, meaningful relationships with others. If those others are essentially cardboard cutouts, the entire movie falls flat.

Wooden-Radish-90082025-10-22 00:58

See, this is pretty lame, because you're making really well argued and observation supported criticisms about this movie. Criticisms most of this sub spews out regularly about writing, character work, etc. It's an interesting discussion that this sub SHOULD welcome.

What sucks is that if you had framed this as "Dark World is a bad movie for its supporting characters" I bet you anything the push back you're getting would be significantly less and people would be tripping over themselves to agree with you.

But the second you point out that, at the time, there weren't really that many women leads, and because of that the underdeveloped character work of the supporting cast was doing disproportionate damage to how underdeveloped their female roster was, all of a sudden everyone is falling over themselves to justify what they would otherwise (lazily) scream ad nauseum is "bad writing."

The reaction to your post is blatant hypocrisy from the worst this sub has to offer. Hope your kid is enjoying the films!

evapotranspire2025-10-22 01:24

Thank you for your kind and supportive reply, u/Wooden-Radish-9008 ! I'm not new to Marvel forums on Reddit, so even though I was hoping for more.substantive responses, I kind of know what to expect by default.

My son and I are definitely enjoying the movies, and I'm not worried about him getting the wrong message. He's a thoughtful young man who likes to discuss big-picture questions. Considering that his favorite Marvel characters include Sylvie, Captain Carter, and Kahhori (as well as Thor, Loki, Black Panther, and Spider-Man), I think he's firmly in the next generation of Marvel fans who expect genuine diversity in the cast of characters!

Wooden-Radish-90082025-10-22 02:04

Absolutely. I love this brand and most of the movies and characters it has given us. But I also think it is important to use them to have discussions like this.

Why the hell did the mods take your post down?!

evapotranspire2025-10-22 02:14

They took my post down? It's still showing as visible to me... Weird! You sure it's not just temporarily hidden under a spoiler tag?

(I made sure to flag it as a spoiler, even though the movie is 13 years old, because my last r/marvelstudios post got taken down and I got temporarily banned because I asked a question about the FF movie without spoiler tags. I feel somewhat apprehensive about posting here now...)

Wooden-Radish-90082025-10-22 02:39

You can see it because it's your post. But open up like an incognito tab and go to this web page and you'll see it got removed.

Did you get a message about it?

evapotranspire2025-10-22 02:46

Oh, weird. You're right, the mods removed it. No, I did not get a message about it, though I would have expected to (usually the "Your post was removed" message comes through instantaneously).

That is perplexing. I didn't break any rules, and it wasn't a low-effort or duplicative post.

Guess I should have just posted some [boobs-forward fan art of Invisible Woman](https://www.reddit.com/r/marvelstudios/comments/1nw4ixr/invisible_woman_by_douglas_bicalho/) instead (2.5K upvotes). :-(

Wooden-Radish-90082025-10-22 04:21

Honestly, the mods have gotten a bit incel-y lately, so I'm not surprised that a post with actual effort put into it was squashed because it dared to have a discussion about women.

Annoying for sure and really telling of where this sub is headed.

DSTREET452025-10-22 01:03

Jane wasn't waiting for Thor to return, in fact the very first scene she appears in is about her attempting to move on. Jane also goes to study the anomaly caused by the convergence.

You also skipped over Jane finding a way to use her equipment to cause anomalies to run interference on Malekeith and his army.

evapotranspire2025-10-22 01:29

Granted, yes, Jane does more than nothing in the 2-hour runtime. I was a little bit harsh there.

But I would actually interpret the first scene oppositely to how you interpreted it. To me, it was very clear in the first scene that Jane *hadn't* moved on, nor would she move on. She was just going through the motions, but in her heart, she was simply waiting for Thor to come back. Richard was never a serious contender. (Sorry, Richard.)

Interestingly, though I disliked Love and Thunder overall, one part of it I did like was the montage scene about how Jane and Thor broke up. I thought it was genuinely touching and nuanced, outlining how two people can really care about each other and yet not be right for each other.

DSTREET452025-10-22 03:25

>But I would actually interpret the first scene oppositely to how you interpreted it. To me, it was very clear in the first scene that Jane *hadn't* moved on, nor would she move on. She was just going through the motions, but in her heart, she was simply waiting for Thor to come back. Richard was never a serious contender. (Sorry, Richard.)

I never said that she did move on but that she was attempting to move on. The point being that she wasn't just waiting for Thor to come back like you said in the OP but that Jane was actively trying to move on without him as going on a date with Richard was her first attempt to move on without him.

Edit: I haven't watched Love and Thunder.

Wooden-Radish-90082025-10-22 02:07

I would love to know why the mods are censoring this post? What rule did it break? Is this sub actively erasing actual constructive conversation?

evapotranspire2025-10-22 02:57

Since the mods deleted my post without explanation, I will repost it as a comment for anyone who wants to refer to it.

\- - - - - - -
Title: Thor Dark World rewatch: Not a good movie for women \[SPOILERS\]

Flair: Discussion

My 4th-grader and I are (re)watching the MCU movies in release order, and we're up to Thor: The Dark World. I had only ever seen the movie once years ago, and upon this rewatch, I was struck by how poorly it represents female roles and storylines. What do you think? \[FULL SPOILERS AHEAD\]

\* I hate that Frigga - one of my favorite characters - dies in a textbook example of "[fridging](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StuffedIntoTheFridge)": lazily killing off a supporting (usually female) character for the sole purpose of motivating the main (usually male) character. Not only that, but Frigga's whole family seems to quickly move on, and [she barely gets mentioned](https://thefilmnerdca.wordpress.com/2021/03/27/thor-the-dark-world-friggas-death-analysis-rant/) in the remainder of the movie.

\* Throughout the movie, Jane is treated as a passive object. The movie begins with her waiting around for Thor to return. She then accidentally becomes a vessel for the Dark Aether. She then gets whisked off to Asgard by Thor. She then stands by helplessly while Frigga gets stabbed to death. She then lies around in Thor and Loki's ship like a sack of cargo. She then gets jerked into the sky by Malekith so he can extract the Aether from her limp body. Even at the movie's denouement, when Thor is about to be crushed by Malekith's ship, all Jane does is throw herself at him so that she can die too. The end scene is Jane waiting around for Thor again. I don't think Jane accomplishes anything of her own accord in the entire movie.

\* Jane is shown repeatedly slapping men in the face. What a silly, bratty thing to do. (As it happens, I also have a doctorate in science, and I have never seen any of my colleagues - male or female - slap people around them when they are upset.)

\* Our favorite badass warrior Sif gets some screen time, but the focus is on Sif pining over Thor, rather than on Sif's motivations or interests outside of that.

\* At least Darcy, unlike Jane and Sif, gets something to do other than pine over Thor. She finds Selvig and sets up some gravity tripods and stuff. But she, too, is forced to sacrifice screen time to a forced romance subplot.

After the movie ended and I found myself still wincing over how the female characters were treated, I decided to look up if any women were in charge of the production (not counting actors). Answer: Nope. From [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor:_The_Dark_World):

Director: Alan Taylor
Screenplay: Christopher L. Yost; Christopher Markus; Stephen McFeely
Story: Don Payne, Robert Rodat
Based on: Thor by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Jack Kirby
Produced by: Kevin Fiege
Cinematography by: Kramer Morgenthau
Edited by: Dan Lebental, Wyatt Smith
Music by: Brian Tyler

(There were also 9 producers, one of whom was a woman... so it seems fair to say that <5% of the lead creative team were women.)

I'm not sure how much point there is in discussing this 12 years later, except to note that Stephen McFeely is also writing Doomsday and Secret Wars. If you happen to be reading this, Mr. McFeely...

YOU'VE GOTTA DO BETTER!

urbalcloud2025-10-22 14:49

And here I was considering giving it another chance.

Jarita122025-10-23 14:47

If you go back for reviews from that time, many agree that basically only Loki got the best parts, plus him and Thor. I think at some point, Tom went and imrpovised and did whatever he wanted bc of the lack of direction (I don´t think it was the director´s fault - there were just too many producers intervining)

Natalie was very vocal to get out of the MCU contract for the very reason you mentioned. Also, her and Chris had no chemistry at all.

But to be fair, the main actors throughout the Thor movies really seemed to love working with each other, it was mostly the producership in charge that screwed up.

evapotranspire2025-10-23 18:02

Thank you as always for your thoughtful comments, u/Jarita12 !

Yes, I'm glad that the actors enjoyed working together on this production. I always love seeing the Marvel stars off screen as well as on screen, and in fact, there's a 6-minute YouTube video called "Thor and Loki bloopers" that consists mainly of clips from the Dark World filming. My kids love it so much I think we've watched it 50 times.

I'm just sorry that Natalie Portman didn't have a better experience - she's a good actor who deserves far better than what she was handed for this movie.