After the success of the third Thor movie, Taika Waititi has made somewhat conflicting statements over whether he would return to direct a fourth. He wants to get back to his own films, but he would be interested in Ragnarok 2. The specifics in that statement pointing to the dynamics set up in Ragnarok, rather than a fourth installment in a Thor franchise that moved on in a different direction. Despite this, the possibility of a follow-up to Ragnarok seemed unlikely.
Now, recent Marvel news suggests that we were wrong. We may be getting a follow-up, of sorts. It just won’t be what we imagined.
The Thor movies were the slowest to catch on with the fan base, with Thor 2 ranking as one of the least favorites. The success of the third movie is naturally something Marvel wants to capitalize on, and for a while we imagined they could risk a fourth movie for a shot of capturing the Ragnarok lightning again. Instead, they seem to have moved in a different direction. I do not anticipate a fourth Thor film.
Less than 24 ago, Marvel surprised us all with a greenlit Black Widow movie. Fans have wanted this, but it always seemed too risky a move for Marvel. The character has played second banana in so many movies, would the average moviegoer feel compelled to see her standalone film in theaters or would they wait to stream it? It’s too big a risk. The greenlight means that Marvel sees a way to use this property to hook audiences.
Ragnarok had a lot going for it, but there was one moment in the trailer that caught everyone’s attention and made us eager to get into the theaters. When Hulk burst into that arena, everything changed. Hulk is a popular character with a high recognition factor, and when Marvel started universe building, they turned to their big, green guy in the very first year.
The movie fizzled.
Hulk is a hard character to make the focal point of a movie. He was finally done right in Avengers, but the studio resisted risking another Hulk standalone film. Until Ragnarok, he was reserved for Avengers movies. Now, I believe the studio sees a magic formula in Hulk buddy movies.
In Avengers, Age of Ultron, Black Widow reveals feelings for Bruce Banner (the Hulk). This didn’t go over very well with fans, but that connection gives Marvel another shot at Ragnarok magic. I believe the Black Widow movie was greenlit on the intention of teaming Black Widow with the Hulk.
There is another trend in Marvel and that is exploring subgenres in their superhero movies. We’ve had a spy film and a high school comedy. The potential romance between Black Widow and Banner means that Marvel could see this as a chance to do something more than a straight spy movie.
Of course, this a just a theory. All we really know right now is that they’ve greenlit the Black Widow movie and hired a writer. Comicbook.com speculates on the possibility that Marvel intends this to be the first R-rated Marvel movie. If they go the straight spy story route, maybe, but I just don’t see why that would spur this unexpected move. No, I suspect that what we are seeing is the continuation of a Hulk franchise, inspired by the success of Ragnarok.
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