What I'd Do With #16(ish)... A Thor Movie
May. 1st, 2008 06:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
newnumber6(Last thing under a WIDW tag was a Doctor Who one that I never officially counted even if it sort of applies, so I'll call this #16)
Time for another edition of What I'd Do With... Yes, it's been quite a while since I've done one of these, mostly because I've been doing much more actual writing in the last year or so. But I still get WIDW type urges, and this time I thought I'd try something different, and to make up for the long absence, something a little more intensive than I usually do.
WIDW a movie about Marvel Comics Thor (actually, sort of WIDW a movie and its sequel)...
The why:
Now, why did I pick Thor? Specifically because I'm _not_ a Thor fanboy. I never really read his comic. I don't have any particular attachment to his character. I don't dislike him, but I'm not super into him. So I thought I might take it as a challenge to try and craft a Thor movie that might appeal to both fans and people new to him.
Isn't there already a Thor movie in the works, you might ask? Well, yes. But the rumored script of that takes place entirely in Asgard. And to me, that's just not right. A movie about Thor in Asgard could be about _any_ Thor. To me, to be the Marvel Thor, you have to have it in part on Earth. So, mine does that. In fact, that's another part of the reason I decided to do this. Like so many of my WIDWs, it was started because I thought 'that isn't right, I have a better idea!'.
The what: An actual script for my proposed Thor movie (albeit still in something of a rough form, I got to a point where I just wanted to get it done and didn't throw in my best work).
If that's too long for you, here's the summary-in-words:
(it may not match 100% the script, as I wrote the outline first and some things changed... I fixed most of them in the summary but didn't want to get every point).
We start with a voice-over of Thor, speaking about how he's the greatest warrior in Asgard, god of thunder, over a scene of the wilds of Asgard. Cut to Donald Blake, in a police cell, screaming and still insisting that he is Thor. Outside, we see Jane Foster, being interviewed about what happened, where we get details on why he's there, and the basics of Donald Blake - that he's a skilled surgeon, she's a nurse under his watch, they're friends (but that's it), etc. They went to see an exhibit on Norse history at a museum, and he went crazy and tried to steal "the hammer of Thor" before security got him, and he's been ranting about being Thor ever since. The doctor suggests that he should be transferred to Bellevue. While he's being transferred, Blake struggles, and has to be sedated. "Okay Thor, meet Thorazine!"
Roll opening credits.
We next see Blake in an interview room at the hospital, and he's interviewed by a Doctor (let's call him Doctor Simonson, to pay tribute to one of the famous Thor runs). He's more lucid, aware that he's Donald Blake. He knows what happened, that at the time he believed that if he could only find his hammer, he would be restored to his true form. The doctor asked him if he thinks whatever happened has passed... and Blake confesses that he doesn't. He knows how insane it is, intellectually, but somehow he has a lifetime of memories of being Thor, in addition to his life of Blake. He's worried that there's something wrong with him and that even if he was control of himself now, he might go crazy again at the worst time, like on a patient. He wants to be cured, so he submits himself to the doctor's care. The doctor at first suggests it might be a variant of the Jerusalem Syndrome, in which case it might just be a short term thing.
In order to start, the Doctor asks him to explore his memories of Thor, to tell him a story as though it was a story happening to him - to tell him the story of how he got the hammer.
We view this as a flashback, narrated where necessary by Blake. (It's broken once by the Doctor who asks why, if this happened a thousand years ago, they're talking in what seems like Elizabethan English. Blake explains that he's translating into modern Asgardian - in the 16th century Odin allowed Asgard to view a play on Earth, a Midsummers Nights Dream, and the faerie folk of Asgard liked it so much they wove a spell to change the language of Asgard into the language of Shakespeare - this can be cut if we don't want to have him speaking old-timey)
Thor, Loki, and Balder are travelling Asgard on an errand for Odin. One night, Thor and Balder discuss Ragnarok and their worries for the future. Loki has gone into the forest to look for material for spells, but at some point, he rushes out, claiming to have seen a troll. (Loki and Thor's relationship is not 100% antagonistic at this point. They are brothers and don't entirely respect one another, but they are family, not enemies). Trolls are forbidden to walk on the surface, by Odin's decree. Since Loki only saw one, Thor thinks it's a good idea to handle the problem themselves. They go into the woods, and find a troll. Thor thinks it's no challenge, so he'll take the troll. In his arrogance, he brushes off Loki's attempt to get a word in edgewise, insulting him in the process for being a coward, and Loki gives up, and wishes him luck. Thor rushes off to the fight. They fight briefly, then the troll calls out. More trolls appear, including Ulik, their leader. We see Balder speaking to Loki from a hidden position: "You say you saw only one" "I did. (pause). But the troll I saw was not the one Thor went to fight."
Balder goes to help, and warns Loki that if Thor falls because of this, Odin will be angry, so he joins the fight. Loki mutters out a spell that causes the trees to grasp many of the trolls. However, Balder is knocked to the ground, unconscious (this is before he became invulnerable) and Ulik grabs him, threatening to kill him. The stalemate is broken when Thor challenges Ulik under the ancient codes to single, unarmed combat, until one dies or yields. If Thor wins, Ulik and his trolls will return and vow not to step on the surface for 1,000 years. If he loses, Thor will come willingly as a prisoner, and can be ransomed back to Odin.
Ulik is clearly superior in terms of strength, and the fight goes badly for Thor. He takes a severe beating. Ulik suggests that Thor yield, that he'll never defeat him. Thor announces that he doesn't have to. His plan was merely to keep the fight going until sunrise. Odin's law is enforced by a spell that turns trolls struck by Asgard's sun into stone. Sunrise is only minutes away. Ulik demands Thor yield, to which he responds, "I say thee nay!" Ulik attacks once more. Thor gets the upper hand on this attack, and suggests that Ulik himself yield, that it might give him enough time to reach the caves before sunrise. He does, and the trolls flee. We see the last of them turn to stone as the sun hits, but Ulik himself is still alive.
We next see Odin's hall, and Thor's bravery are praised. Thor asks if he might try once more to lift Mjolnir. Loki wants to try first, claiming that his spell defeated more trolls than Thor did, but with some "do you truly consider your actions worthy?" dialog from Odin, he begs off and lets Thor try. Thor, of course, lifts it, and the flashback ends with Odin declaring the hammer his.
We're back in the hospital, where the Doctor asks him a bit about the finer points of Asgardian fate, why he could still be friendly with Loki knowing it was his greatest enemy. Then time's up.
Next up, we have Blake in the mental ward's cafeteria. A few patients come up to talk to him since he's the new guy. One of them is named Bill, nicknamed "Beta-Ray" Bill, because of his paranoid belief that the CIA is controlling people's perceptions with beta rays. Jane visits at this time, giving Blake his cane, and see how he's doing, and they have a conversation full of "I care about you but we're unsure of the other so we're just acting like friends" subtext. When she's gone, Bill asks odd questions about his cane, about whether it's heavy, if it's made of stone, etc - giving us our first clue that he can see through magic.
We go back to Simonson's office, where talks a bit about Blake's real life, and then suggests that Blake write a story about some other adventure in Asgard, told from the perspective of another character in the story, sort of in a way to prove that his memories are more like fiction than real memories.
In the common room, while trying to write, Blake witnesses a tall, bald orderly turning off the TV because the people there can't agree on what to watch (before it shuts off, we see a fragment of a news report, introducing the weatherman of the last 10 years, Joe Somebody). He's mean about it too, and we see it inspires something in Blake. He begins writing the words Skurge The Executioner, and another flashback begins.
In this one, Skurge is in love with the enchantress Amora. She asked him to bring her Thor. Thor himself is amusing himself in a bar, getting thoroughly drunk and enjoying the fame of being a god. Skurge surprises him while he's leaving and knocks him out, leaving the hammer behind. He's succeeded in his task. Except, to his annoyance, Amora wants to dose Thor with a love potion and have her to himself. Skurge won't have that, and would rather kill Thor first. Thor wakes up, and they fight. Thor humiliates him, and takes his weapon from him, and then goes away. Flashback over.
Jane visits him again. This time, she's different. She's actually mean, she says she's met a politician and is getting married and so won't be able to afford to waste her time on poor, crazy Donald Blake anymore. Her words get more and more outrageous, until finally Thor looks at her and sees... Loki, dressed up in her clothes. He says usually Thor sees through his spells a lot quicker. Donald Blake is disbelieving, worried he's having a psychotic break, but Loki casts a spell to bring Thor's mind to the surface. Loki explains that he's here fulfilling a promise. After Thor was banished but before the sentence was carried out, Thor went to Loki and begged him not to let him spend his life believing he was a mortal. Now, Loki says, he found him and restored his mind. Thor is astonished, pleased, and asks for Loki's help in reaching Mjolnir. Loki refuses, claiming he's turned over a new leaf, and will break no law, either of mortal or Asgards. Freeing Blake or breaking into a museum would be against the law. He then warns that he's heard news that many of Thor's enemies had also discovered his location, and were coming for revenge. Thor's angry, sensing a trick, and Loki agrees that it would indeed be a good one, to restore Thor's mind but not his body, to warn him of oncoming doom that he's powerless to prevent. Then leaves. Thor yells at him. The orderlies rush him, he's sedated.
Blake's mind is back in control again, but he's starting to believe he might not be crazy. The Doctor suggests that Loki is a manifestation of his subconscious, that the proof is that his new belief comes from an encounter with the god of lies. Blake isn't sure. He asks about why he thinks Thor's on Earth, and we go back into the last flashback. Thor and Loki are travelling, and they spot a Frost Giant. The treaty forbids Frost Giants to be outside of their borders. Loki goads Thor into attacking the giant, and he does so, chasing him into Frost Giant Territory before knocking him out. He's proud of what he's done, until Odin summons him.
Because Thor arrogantly violated the frost giant territory, he was in violation of the treaty even more than the giant. He could have started a war, and very nearly did. Thor brushes off the idea, not caring, pointing out that he won the battle, and that was all that mattered. Odin announces that he must punish Thor in order to keep the peace and because of his arrogance, and he would do so by stripping away all his powers and making him live as a mortal. Because Thor has too many enemies, he'd hide him on Earth.
Doctor Simonson makes some psychological analysis of the story, and once again Blake's in doubt. Until, in the common room, Beta Ray Bill comes up to him and asks him if his girlfriend would be visiting again. He says that if she does, he hopes it's really her and not the man dressed up as her. Blake realizes that Beta Ray Bill saw Loki too, so that means he must be sane... right? Blake attempts to escape, but poorly.
Jane Foster is brought to visit to prove an imposter visited before, but she remembers the visit. Jane and the doc try to convince him to take medication. He's getting desperate. During the conversation, the TV's on in the background, the same newschannel from earlier. This time, they turn to their weatherman Larry Lyman (Lie-man). It's Loki, of course. Blake turns to stare at the TV. Loki, in the process of his weather report, announces that at many people as possible should get out into the city because a rare meteorological event will be happening over the George Washington Bridge. A camera cuts to it, where there's a stunning rainbow coming out of the sky. Blake says, "Oh no. They're coming." On camera, trolls begin pouring out of the gate and causing chaos, spreading out everywhere. Everybody panics.
Blake uses the panic to escape with Jane. He explains to her on the way that they're after him because he's Thor. She's torn, not sure what to believe, but there are monsters coming into the city, so she follows. They steal a motorcycle and race through the city streets towards the museum, dodging trolls along the way.
At the museum, they reach the room Mjolnir is in just as something cuts through the wall. It is Skurge the Executioner. When Blake identifies him, Skurge realizes that this must be Thor - all the trolls were looking for the hospital he was said to be, but Skurge was smart enough to ask where Mjolnir was, and found somebody who knew it was there. He gets ready to kill Blake (with Skurge's new, enchanted Uru-metal axe), but Blake shames him, suggesting that Amora would be proud of his bravery at slaying a crippled mortal with an enchanted axe. Skurge says he'll fight him bare handed to give him a 'fair' chance to reach his hammer. Skurge toys with the clearly physically inferior Blake during the fight, but while he's distracted Jane smashes into the display case and throws the hammer to him. Blake raises it, smashes it... and of course nothing happens, because that's just a museum piece of something that some archaeologist called Thor's hammer, not the real thing.
Blake, defeated, begs Skurge, that he'll do anything, tell everybody he defeated Thor, if only he'd stop the trolls from destroying the city. Skurge says he's surprised to hear Thor showing such weakness, and Blake realizes that humility and prudence and concern for others above your own pride weren't weaknesses, and that's what he was sent to learn. Skurge is disgusted, and tells Blake to take his cane and his woman and leave his sight. It's then that Blake looks at the cane and realizes (through voices from earlier in the movie both from Odin, who claimed he would never take the hammer from him, and from Bill who saw things as they really were), that the cane _is_ the hammer. He smashes it against the ground in Odin's name, and Thor has returned to Earth.
Skurge, seeing his enemy in full glory, is once again eager for a fight. Thor asks Jane to leave the room and take the civilians. She gets the civilians out and directs them to get to an old bomb shelter, but then tells them that it's an emergency and her place is in the hospital. Meanwhile, Thor is fighting and defeats (fairly easily) Skurge. For his life, Thor demands he leave for Asgard without harming any human. Skurge agrees, but before he leaves, Thor suggests that the vow does not include harming trolls, suggesting that instead of them telling stories of how Skurge was defeated by Thor, they might tell how he helped defend Midgard from the trolls. He considers it.
On their way out, they're confronted by police. Thor swings his hammer and flies to get away, dragging Skurge along with him. In mid flight, he asks if Skurge has considered it, and Skurge admits he'd like a fight, even if it is trolls, so Thor drops him off (literally) in a small group of them, and then flies off.
He fights off trolls while Jane tries to organizes an evacuation. Eventually they all hear a horn as the trolls have found the hospital Thor is supposed to be hiding in. Thor rushes towards it, as do all the trolls elsewhere in the city.
Jane and others try to convince the trolls to go away, but they attack. Thor arrives at the hospital just in time to stop it.
Unfortunately, during the fight, one of the trolls throws a spear. He dodges it, but it hits Jane. He turns, eyes widen. He launches his hammer at the ground, launching a huge bolt of lightning at all the nearby trolls, killing them, and rushes to Jane's side. At first he thinks he can help her, but then he realizes... he doesn't have Blake's knowledge of surgery. Another doctor (who followed Jane out) starts to help her, and suggests that the only thing he can do for her is draw those monsters away.
Thor reluctantly leaves, grabs the horn away from the troll (after hitting him in the head), and we next see him taking to the air, blowing the horn. Trolls everywhere hear it, as does Odin, Balder, and Loki who have come to check up on him. He opens a portal to Asgard in the sky letting Asgard's sun shine on the trolls, turning them to stone... except Ulik, who has a magic belt that increases his strength and makes him immune to Thor's weapons. They fight, and the fight is taken into the subway. Thor is nearly defeated but manages to distract Ulik and steal the belt, then pummels him into submission.
After the battle, Odin arrives, with Balder and Loki in tow. Odin says he has earned his place back in Asgard. Thor begs to be returned to the form of Donald Blake, because then he would be able to use his skills to help those injured, especially Jane. Odin threatens that he may not return him to his true form again, but Thor asks for it anyway.
He is transported to the hospital, where he learns that Jane is already out of surgery (though he helps out with other wounded). She survived. Nobody seems to know he was institutionalized. Odin takes credit for this, saying Odin takes Thor's request as proof that he has learned his true lesson, and says that Thor may keep the identity of Donald Blake, changing back and forth as will, but that he is now welcome to return to Asgard.
Rough thoughts about a sequel, in which I decided to include a character normally known to be in the X-Universe, and a classic Thor moment, and even a tiny bit of thoughts on the third movie:
The 2nd movie starts in prison, with a man (who of course is be Loki) befriending a con, Carl "Crusher" Creel. He was arrested sometime after the last movie, and blames Thor because Thor caught him (I was going to include him being arrested for looting in the last movie but couldn't find a good place to work it in). The crime was his 3rd strike. Loki offers to give him the means to get revenge and escape, and Crusher jumps on it, drinking the potion and becoming the Absorbing Man.
The Absorbing Man's attack on Thor is only the distraction, though. Really, Loki is getting Thor out of the way. He wants to speed up Ragnarok, and he and his daughter Hel have come up with a plan to harvest the souls of mortals, and use them to build the ship, built from the fingernails of the dead.
I'd take a little bit of a divergence from Thor standard plot here, actually, and include, surprisingly, an X-Man character. In the Xbooks, Dani Moonstar became a Valkyrie on a trip to Asgard. Since it's unlikely she'll ever get much play in an X-Men movie (and even if she did, the plot wouldn't), I think it would be cool to work her in. Here's how it works.
Thor returns to find everybody in the hospital comatose... except one man. Who tells Thor his granddaughter Danielle stood up to Hel for his life. Hel was impressed enough to offer to make her a Valkyrie, the first Valkyrie of Earth in ages. (Hel realizes belatedly she also needs a Valkyrie of Earth to steal the souls... otherwise she has to carry the patients bodily to Asgard, which she could do but it would cost time and she couldn't get as many). The deal was, If she accepted and went with her, Hel would spare her grandfather (it's also quite probable we'd see these events 'live', rather than in flashback, but I'm just explaining it here). Thus the grandfather tips Thor off to what really happened. He gathers a few supplies, including designs for modern weaponry (which are later constructed out of Asgardian materials). Jane is also taken, but bodily instead of just her soul (although early on Dani helps/lets her escape), to distract/stick it to Thor.
The majority of the movie is Thor returning to Asgard and teaming up with his old friends (and one enemy... Skurge agrees to come along, since the climax is all his). They face a number of Asgardian trials (and meet the Absorbing man again, probably, who has been transported to Asgard by Loki), meeting the Fenris wolf, and of course head into Hel. Dani breaks ranks against Hel in the end (maybe after realizing she was tricked, that if a mortal hadn't agreed to become a valkyrie, Hela couldn't have taken all the souls away, since only an Earthborn valkyrie could do so). Instead of riding her wolf alongside of Hel's Valkyries, she takes on a flying horse alongside the valkyries of Asgard.
Of course they rescue the captured souls, and on the way back are chased by Hel's demon hordes. It's Skurge's moment to shine. As in the famous scene in the comics, Thor's about to stall for time by fighting the demons himself, but Skurge knocks him out, letting Balder take Thor away. Skurge stands alone at Gjallerbru, and, though he dies, he earns even Hel's respect. It's possible we'll also kill Balder in this movie, but I think it might be a better idea to have it end with Loki crafting a spear of Mistletoe, having learned of his one weakness from events in this movie.
Maybe Jane is wounded at the end and Sif chooses to bond with her to save her.
Movie 3 would be entitled Thor: Ragnarok and actually deal with Hel finally completing her plans, and Loki becoming a full fledged villain finally facing Thor out in the open instead of through intermediaries.
So, that's it. Comments welcome.
You can get to all my WIDWs here.
Time for another edition of What I'd Do With... Yes, it's been quite a while since I've done one of these, mostly because I've been doing much more actual writing in the last year or so. But I still get WIDW type urges, and this time I thought I'd try something different, and to make up for the long absence, something a little more intensive than I usually do.
WIDW a movie about Marvel Comics Thor (actually, sort of WIDW a movie and its sequel)...
The why:
Now, why did I pick Thor? Specifically because I'm _not_ a Thor fanboy. I never really read his comic. I don't have any particular attachment to his character. I don't dislike him, but I'm not super into him. So I thought I might take it as a challenge to try and craft a Thor movie that might appeal to both fans and people new to him.
Isn't there already a Thor movie in the works, you might ask? Well, yes. But the rumored script of that takes place entirely in Asgard. And to me, that's just not right. A movie about Thor in Asgard could be about _any_ Thor. To me, to be the Marvel Thor, you have to have it in part on Earth. So, mine does that. In fact, that's another part of the reason I decided to do this. Like so many of my WIDWs, it was started because I thought 'that isn't right, I have a better idea!'.
The what: An actual script for my proposed Thor movie (albeit still in something of a rough form, I got to a point where I just wanted to get it done and didn't throw in my best work).
If that's too long for you, here's the summary-in-words:
(it may not match 100% the script, as I wrote the outline first and some things changed... I fixed most of them in the summary but didn't want to get every point).
We start with a voice-over of Thor, speaking about how he's the greatest warrior in Asgard, god of thunder, over a scene of the wilds of Asgard. Cut to Donald Blake, in a police cell, screaming and still insisting that he is Thor. Outside, we see Jane Foster, being interviewed about what happened, where we get details on why he's there, and the basics of Donald Blake - that he's a skilled surgeon, she's a nurse under his watch, they're friends (but that's it), etc. They went to see an exhibit on Norse history at a museum, and he went crazy and tried to steal "the hammer of Thor" before security got him, and he's been ranting about being Thor ever since. The doctor suggests that he should be transferred to Bellevue. While he's being transferred, Blake struggles, and has to be sedated. "Okay Thor, meet Thorazine!"
Roll opening credits.
We next see Blake in an interview room at the hospital, and he's interviewed by a Doctor (let's call him Doctor Simonson, to pay tribute to one of the famous Thor runs). He's more lucid, aware that he's Donald Blake. He knows what happened, that at the time he believed that if he could only find his hammer, he would be restored to his true form. The doctor asked him if he thinks whatever happened has passed... and Blake confesses that he doesn't. He knows how insane it is, intellectually, but somehow he has a lifetime of memories of being Thor, in addition to his life of Blake. He's worried that there's something wrong with him and that even if he was control of himself now, he might go crazy again at the worst time, like on a patient. He wants to be cured, so he submits himself to the doctor's care. The doctor at first suggests it might be a variant of the Jerusalem Syndrome, in which case it might just be a short term thing.
In order to start, the Doctor asks him to explore his memories of Thor, to tell him a story as though it was a story happening to him - to tell him the story of how he got the hammer.
We view this as a flashback, narrated where necessary by Blake. (It's broken once by the Doctor who asks why, if this happened a thousand years ago, they're talking in what seems like Elizabethan English. Blake explains that he's translating into modern Asgardian - in the 16th century Odin allowed Asgard to view a play on Earth, a Midsummers Nights Dream, and the faerie folk of Asgard liked it so much they wove a spell to change the language of Asgard into the language of Shakespeare - this can be cut if we don't want to have him speaking old-timey)
Thor, Loki, and Balder are travelling Asgard on an errand for Odin. One night, Thor and Balder discuss Ragnarok and their worries for the future. Loki has gone into the forest to look for material for spells, but at some point, he rushes out, claiming to have seen a troll. (Loki and Thor's relationship is not 100% antagonistic at this point. They are brothers and don't entirely respect one another, but they are family, not enemies). Trolls are forbidden to walk on the surface, by Odin's decree. Since Loki only saw one, Thor thinks it's a good idea to handle the problem themselves. They go into the woods, and find a troll. Thor thinks it's no challenge, so he'll take the troll. In his arrogance, he brushes off Loki's attempt to get a word in edgewise, insulting him in the process for being a coward, and Loki gives up, and wishes him luck. Thor rushes off to the fight. They fight briefly, then the troll calls out. More trolls appear, including Ulik, their leader. We see Balder speaking to Loki from a hidden position: "You say you saw only one" "I did. (pause). But the troll I saw was not the one Thor went to fight."
Balder goes to help, and warns Loki that if Thor falls because of this, Odin will be angry, so he joins the fight. Loki mutters out a spell that causes the trees to grasp many of the trolls. However, Balder is knocked to the ground, unconscious (this is before he became invulnerable) and Ulik grabs him, threatening to kill him. The stalemate is broken when Thor challenges Ulik under the ancient codes to single, unarmed combat, until one dies or yields. If Thor wins, Ulik and his trolls will return and vow not to step on the surface for 1,000 years. If he loses, Thor will come willingly as a prisoner, and can be ransomed back to Odin.
Ulik is clearly superior in terms of strength, and the fight goes badly for Thor. He takes a severe beating. Ulik suggests that Thor yield, that he'll never defeat him. Thor announces that he doesn't have to. His plan was merely to keep the fight going until sunrise. Odin's law is enforced by a spell that turns trolls struck by Asgard's sun into stone. Sunrise is only minutes away. Ulik demands Thor yield, to which he responds, "I say thee nay!" Ulik attacks once more. Thor gets the upper hand on this attack, and suggests that Ulik himself yield, that it might give him enough time to reach the caves before sunrise. He does, and the trolls flee. We see the last of them turn to stone as the sun hits, but Ulik himself is still alive.
We next see Odin's hall, and Thor's bravery are praised. Thor asks if he might try once more to lift Mjolnir. Loki wants to try first, claiming that his spell defeated more trolls than Thor did, but with some "do you truly consider your actions worthy?" dialog from Odin, he begs off and lets Thor try. Thor, of course, lifts it, and the flashback ends with Odin declaring the hammer his.
We're back in the hospital, where the Doctor asks him a bit about the finer points of Asgardian fate, why he could still be friendly with Loki knowing it was his greatest enemy. Then time's up.
Next up, we have Blake in the mental ward's cafeteria. A few patients come up to talk to him since he's the new guy. One of them is named Bill, nicknamed "Beta-Ray" Bill, because of his paranoid belief that the CIA is controlling people's perceptions with beta rays. Jane visits at this time, giving Blake his cane, and see how he's doing, and they have a conversation full of "I care about you but we're unsure of the other so we're just acting like friends" subtext. When she's gone, Bill asks odd questions about his cane, about whether it's heavy, if it's made of stone, etc - giving us our first clue that he can see through magic.
We go back to Simonson's office, where talks a bit about Blake's real life, and then suggests that Blake write a story about some other adventure in Asgard, told from the perspective of another character in the story, sort of in a way to prove that his memories are more like fiction than real memories.
In the common room, while trying to write, Blake witnesses a tall, bald orderly turning off the TV because the people there can't agree on what to watch (before it shuts off, we see a fragment of a news report, introducing the weatherman of the last 10 years, Joe Somebody). He's mean about it too, and we see it inspires something in Blake. He begins writing the words Skurge The Executioner, and another flashback begins.
In this one, Skurge is in love with the enchantress Amora. She asked him to bring her Thor. Thor himself is amusing himself in a bar, getting thoroughly drunk and enjoying the fame of being a god. Skurge surprises him while he's leaving and knocks him out, leaving the hammer behind. He's succeeded in his task. Except, to his annoyance, Amora wants to dose Thor with a love potion and have her to himself. Skurge won't have that, and would rather kill Thor first. Thor wakes up, and they fight. Thor humiliates him, and takes his weapon from him, and then goes away. Flashback over.
Jane visits him again. This time, she's different. She's actually mean, she says she's met a politician and is getting married and so won't be able to afford to waste her time on poor, crazy Donald Blake anymore. Her words get more and more outrageous, until finally Thor looks at her and sees... Loki, dressed up in her clothes. He says usually Thor sees through his spells a lot quicker. Donald Blake is disbelieving, worried he's having a psychotic break, but Loki casts a spell to bring Thor's mind to the surface. Loki explains that he's here fulfilling a promise. After Thor was banished but before the sentence was carried out, Thor went to Loki and begged him not to let him spend his life believing he was a mortal. Now, Loki says, he found him and restored his mind. Thor is astonished, pleased, and asks for Loki's help in reaching Mjolnir. Loki refuses, claiming he's turned over a new leaf, and will break no law, either of mortal or Asgards. Freeing Blake or breaking into a museum would be against the law. He then warns that he's heard news that many of Thor's enemies had also discovered his location, and were coming for revenge. Thor's angry, sensing a trick, and Loki agrees that it would indeed be a good one, to restore Thor's mind but not his body, to warn him of oncoming doom that he's powerless to prevent. Then leaves. Thor yells at him. The orderlies rush him, he's sedated.
Blake's mind is back in control again, but he's starting to believe he might not be crazy. The Doctor suggests that Loki is a manifestation of his subconscious, that the proof is that his new belief comes from an encounter with the god of lies. Blake isn't sure. He asks about why he thinks Thor's on Earth, and we go back into the last flashback. Thor and Loki are travelling, and they spot a Frost Giant. The treaty forbids Frost Giants to be outside of their borders. Loki goads Thor into attacking the giant, and he does so, chasing him into Frost Giant Territory before knocking him out. He's proud of what he's done, until Odin summons him.
Because Thor arrogantly violated the frost giant territory, he was in violation of the treaty even more than the giant. He could have started a war, and very nearly did. Thor brushes off the idea, not caring, pointing out that he won the battle, and that was all that mattered. Odin announces that he must punish Thor in order to keep the peace and because of his arrogance, and he would do so by stripping away all his powers and making him live as a mortal. Because Thor has too many enemies, he'd hide him on Earth.
Doctor Simonson makes some psychological analysis of the story, and once again Blake's in doubt. Until, in the common room, Beta Ray Bill comes up to him and asks him if his girlfriend would be visiting again. He says that if she does, he hopes it's really her and not the man dressed up as her. Blake realizes that Beta Ray Bill saw Loki too, so that means he must be sane... right? Blake attempts to escape, but poorly.
Jane Foster is brought to visit to prove an imposter visited before, but she remembers the visit. Jane and the doc try to convince him to take medication. He's getting desperate. During the conversation, the TV's on in the background, the same newschannel from earlier. This time, they turn to their weatherman Larry Lyman (Lie-man). It's Loki, of course. Blake turns to stare at the TV. Loki, in the process of his weather report, announces that at many people as possible should get out into the city because a rare meteorological event will be happening over the George Washington Bridge. A camera cuts to it, where there's a stunning rainbow coming out of the sky. Blake says, "Oh no. They're coming." On camera, trolls begin pouring out of the gate and causing chaos, spreading out everywhere. Everybody panics.
Blake uses the panic to escape with Jane. He explains to her on the way that they're after him because he's Thor. She's torn, not sure what to believe, but there are monsters coming into the city, so she follows. They steal a motorcycle and race through the city streets towards the museum, dodging trolls along the way.
At the museum, they reach the room Mjolnir is in just as something cuts through the wall. It is Skurge the Executioner. When Blake identifies him, Skurge realizes that this must be Thor - all the trolls were looking for the hospital he was said to be, but Skurge was smart enough to ask where Mjolnir was, and found somebody who knew it was there. He gets ready to kill Blake (with Skurge's new, enchanted Uru-metal axe), but Blake shames him, suggesting that Amora would be proud of his bravery at slaying a crippled mortal with an enchanted axe. Skurge says he'll fight him bare handed to give him a 'fair' chance to reach his hammer. Skurge toys with the clearly physically inferior Blake during the fight, but while he's distracted Jane smashes into the display case and throws the hammer to him. Blake raises it, smashes it... and of course nothing happens, because that's just a museum piece of something that some archaeologist called Thor's hammer, not the real thing.
Blake, defeated, begs Skurge, that he'll do anything, tell everybody he defeated Thor, if only he'd stop the trolls from destroying the city. Skurge says he's surprised to hear Thor showing such weakness, and Blake realizes that humility and prudence and concern for others above your own pride weren't weaknesses, and that's what he was sent to learn. Skurge is disgusted, and tells Blake to take his cane and his woman and leave his sight. It's then that Blake looks at the cane and realizes (through voices from earlier in the movie both from Odin, who claimed he would never take the hammer from him, and from Bill who saw things as they really were), that the cane _is_ the hammer. He smashes it against the ground in Odin's name, and Thor has returned to Earth.
Skurge, seeing his enemy in full glory, is once again eager for a fight. Thor asks Jane to leave the room and take the civilians. She gets the civilians out and directs them to get to an old bomb shelter, but then tells them that it's an emergency and her place is in the hospital. Meanwhile, Thor is fighting and defeats (fairly easily) Skurge. For his life, Thor demands he leave for Asgard without harming any human. Skurge agrees, but before he leaves, Thor suggests that the vow does not include harming trolls, suggesting that instead of them telling stories of how Skurge was defeated by Thor, they might tell how he helped defend Midgard from the trolls. He considers it.
On their way out, they're confronted by police. Thor swings his hammer and flies to get away, dragging Skurge along with him. In mid flight, he asks if Skurge has considered it, and Skurge admits he'd like a fight, even if it is trolls, so Thor drops him off (literally) in a small group of them, and then flies off.
He fights off trolls while Jane tries to organizes an evacuation. Eventually they all hear a horn as the trolls have found the hospital Thor is supposed to be hiding in. Thor rushes towards it, as do all the trolls elsewhere in the city.
Jane and others try to convince the trolls to go away, but they attack. Thor arrives at the hospital just in time to stop it.
Unfortunately, during the fight, one of the trolls throws a spear. He dodges it, but it hits Jane. He turns, eyes widen. He launches his hammer at the ground, launching a huge bolt of lightning at all the nearby trolls, killing them, and rushes to Jane's side. At first he thinks he can help her, but then he realizes... he doesn't have Blake's knowledge of surgery. Another doctor (who followed Jane out) starts to help her, and suggests that the only thing he can do for her is draw those monsters away.
Thor reluctantly leaves, grabs the horn away from the troll (after hitting him in the head), and we next see him taking to the air, blowing the horn. Trolls everywhere hear it, as does Odin, Balder, and Loki who have come to check up on him. He opens a portal to Asgard in the sky letting Asgard's sun shine on the trolls, turning them to stone... except Ulik, who has a magic belt that increases his strength and makes him immune to Thor's weapons. They fight, and the fight is taken into the subway. Thor is nearly defeated but manages to distract Ulik and steal the belt, then pummels him into submission.
After the battle, Odin arrives, with Balder and Loki in tow. Odin says he has earned his place back in Asgard. Thor begs to be returned to the form of Donald Blake, because then he would be able to use his skills to help those injured, especially Jane. Odin threatens that he may not return him to his true form again, but Thor asks for it anyway.
He is transported to the hospital, where he learns that Jane is already out of surgery (though he helps out with other wounded). She survived. Nobody seems to know he was institutionalized. Odin takes credit for this, saying Odin takes Thor's request as proof that he has learned his true lesson, and says that Thor may keep the identity of Donald Blake, changing back and forth as will, but that he is now welcome to return to Asgard.
Rough thoughts about a sequel, in which I decided to include a character normally known to be in the X-Universe, and a classic Thor moment, and even a tiny bit of thoughts on the third movie:
The 2nd movie starts in prison, with a man (who of course is be Loki) befriending a con, Carl "Crusher" Creel. He was arrested sometime after the last movie, and blames Thor because Thor caught him (I was going to include him being arrested for looting in the last movie but couldn't find a good place to work it in). The crime was his 3rd strike. Loki offers to give him the means to get revenge and escape, and Crusher jumps on it, drinking the potion and becoming the Absorbing Man.
The Absorbing Man's attack on Thor is only the distraction, though. Really, Loki is getting Thor out of the way. He wants to speed up Ragnarok, and he and his daughter Hel have come up with a plan to harvest the souls of mortals, and use them to build the ship, built from the fingernails of the dead.
I'd take a little bit of a divergence from Thor standard plot here, actually, and include, surprisingly, an X-Man character. In the Xbooks, Dani Moonstar became a Valkyrie on a trip to Asgard. Since it's unlikely she'll ever get much play in an X-Men movie (and even if she did, the plot wouldn't), I think it would be cool to work her in. Here's how it works.
Thor returns to find everybody in the hospital comatose... except one man. Who tells Thor his granddaughter Danielle stood up to Hel for his life. Hel was impressed enough to offer to make her a Valkyrie, the first Valkyrie of Earth in ages. (Hel realizes belatedly she also needs a Valkyrie of Earth to steal the souls... otherwise she has to carry the patients bodily to Asgard, which she could do but it would cost time and she couldn't get as many). The deal was, If she accepted and went with her, Hel would spare her grandfather (it's also quite probable we'd see these events 'live', rather than in flashback, but I'm just explaining it here). Thus the grandfather tips Thor off to what really happened. He gathers a few supplies, including designs for modern weaponry (which are later constructed out of Asgardian materials). Jane is also taken, but bodily instead of just her soul (although early on Dani helps/lets her escape), to distract/stick it to Thor.
The majority of the movie is Thor returning to Asgard and teaming up with his old friends (and one enemy... Skurge agrees to come along, since the climax is all his). They face a number of Asgardian trials (and meet the Absorbing man again, probably, who has been transported to Asgard by Loki), meeting the Fenris wolf, and of course head into Hel. Dani breaks ranks against Hel in the end (maybe after realizing she was tricked, that if a mortal hadn't agreed to become a valkyrie, Hela couldn't have taken all the souls away, since only an Earthborn valkyrie could do so). Instead of riding her wolf alongside of Hel's Valkyries, she takes on a flying horse alongside the valkyries of Asgard.
Of course they rescue the captured souls, and on the way back are chased by Hel's demon hordes. It's Skurge's moment to shine. As in the famous scene in the comics, Thor's about to stall for time by fighting the demons himself, but Skurge knocks him out, letting Balder take Thor away. Skurge stands alone at Gjallerbru, and, though he dies, he earns even Hel's respect. It's possible we'll also kill Balder in this movie, but I think it might be a better idea to have it end with Loki crafting a spear of Mistletoe, having learned of his one weakness from events in this movie.
Maybe Jane is wounded at the end and Sif chooses to bond with her to save her.
Movie 3 would be entitled Thor: Ragnarok and actually deal with Hel finally completing her plans, and Loki becoming a full fledged villain finally facing Thor out in the open instead of through intermediaries.
So, that's it. Comments welcome.
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