Marvel Cinematic Universe

Consider me someone else who isn't super down with the nude Thor gag. The Loki tattoo is amusing and sweet I guess, but I was rather hoping they wouldn't have to put Chris Hemsworth back on such a ridiculously restrictive diet after all that's been said about unrealistic beauty standards for athletic male bodies. As repugnantly tasteless as Fat Thor was handled in Endgame, it provided a good setup for Thor and Hemsworth to appear in future films with at least a somewhat less dehydrated body baseline.

Its vaguely amusing that Gorr no longer looks like an evil Twi'lek now

It also makes Valkyrie and Jane look like total assholes for just sitting there nonchalantly enjoying the sight of (and implicitly participating in) their friend being sexually humiliated.

The joke pretty much goes that exact same way every time its used.

Guy gets forcibly stripped, and the women around him can't be assed to actually care about the problem, instead engaging in it by eying his body.

Now if it was done to a woman, it would obviously be played very differently but alas societal double standards.

Edited by slimcoder on May 23rd 2022 at 10:51:40 AM

Yes, I'm aware of the double standards there.

Putting aside the specific circumstances and character behaviors and focusing purely on the concept of Shirtless Scene in a vacuum, I'm happy that the MCU has moved away from Male Gaze from the most part (at the very least, it's come a long way from Black Widow stripping in the back of Happy's car) but it'd be nice if they could also stop stripping their male heroes for audience titillation, too. Remember the pond of sight in Age of Ultron that exists for no reason other than to shoehorn in a shirtless Thor scene? Or that random, pointless shot of shirtless Ant-Man with Hope eyeing him up which I guess we're supposed to take as the one hint at them eventually hooking up?

Now now, the pond of sight was also there to clumsily set up future movies in the most forced way possible. Let's be fair here.

Even in earlier movies, there wasn't a whole lot of male gaze. The only one I can think of other than Black Widow was those air stewardesses dancing with their shirts tied up to expose their midriffs and even that is relatively tame.

Y'know, I'm seeing fewer people upset about Thor being naked, and more people debating whether Thor being insanely ripped so soon after Avengers: Endgame underminds his arc in that film or not.

There's also some people who think Zeus is too goofy, but I don't get those complaints. I mean, it's Zeus.

I don't see the problem with Thor, nudity as a comedy is common, and removing it would be censorship.

I would have preferred a mythology accurate body positive plus sized Thor for the duration of this film. Just to, y'knowz challenge what a hero can look like.

I do have a friend who told me before that he loves super heroes and cosplay, but that Endgame!Thor is the only costume he can do with his build.

Thor being out of shape in Endgame is because Hemsworth didn’t want to kill himself maintaining the dehydration muscles

The jokes about Thor being out of shape in the movie were absolutely mean spirited but his battle appearance at the end had the weight without being treated as a joke

I feel like there was probably a happy medium where Thor could look strong while not requiring the action star look. So it is a little disappointing.

Also, I do hope Zeus is a little goofy. It’d be a good contrast to Odin when their character designs overlap a little

Edited by Bocaj on May 24th 2022 at 10:39:00 AM

Forced nudity is still, you know, forced. Which falls under sexual harassment/assault.

Edited by Hawkeye86 on May 24th 2022 at 10:45:34 AM

I think that was accidental.

Not remotely what people are saying.

I don't think this trailer gives us nearly enough Zeus to form an opinion on whether he's "too goofy", whatever that's supposed to mean.

Zeus is famously a sex pest, so the forced stripping scene seems entirely in-character for him. The gag about Jane and Valkyrie sitting back and enjoying it bugged me, though. Friends who participate in your sexual assault are not your friends.

Edited by TobiasDrake on May 24th 2022 at 8:27:39 AM

I'm pretty sure he's supposed to be pretty silly just judging by the thick Italian (Greek?) accent Crowe's rolling with.

Edited by Watchtower on May 24th 2022 at 11:47:28 AM

A few people I've seen are making unfair comparison's to Zeus's portrayal in the DCEU as a badass fighter and king of the gods. Which...yes, Zeus is a very strong and feared god in the actual myths, but not to that extent I believe.

Edited by MatthewWayne on May 24th 2022 at 8:51:40 AM

He's a strong and feared fighter what with the lightning. But most Greek myths don't have a call for him to be that because the Pantheon rules over a time of uh mostly peace with very little in the ways of challengers.

Typhon was the worst they had to deal with and Typhon stole all of Zeus' muscles and dunked him into a cave in their first fight.

Besides a few instances like that, its mostly Olympian shenanigans featuring Zeus and his rampant animal based sexual assault. Interspersed with a few smitings.

So far as Zeus and fighting goes, it's worth noting that the mythical Zeus is basically a distance fighter. In terms of combat ability, he's mainly famous for hurling lightning bolts at his enemies.

And when I say hurling, I don't mean he shoots lightning like Emperor Palpatine or, well, Thor. The lightning is just a weapon he uses. His bolts are forged by Hephaestus, then delivered to him for use. He's literally just a cosmic spear-chucker.

Edited by TobiasDrake on May 24th 2022 at 9:01:36 AM

Zeus in the DCEU is also dead as a doornail, so it's a toss-up.

Alternatively, American Gods rules (ie. Gods Need Prayer Badly): that they were genuinely that fearsome... in the age of antiquity, at the peak of their power and influence. Now that the Greek gods are not that seriously worshipped in the modern age, Zeus is now a retirement home sex pest.

EDIT: This fits more in the Thor thread.

As for gods, I don't really see any need to portray Zeus as particularly awesome. It's Zeus, man.

Edited by Gaon on May 24th 2022 at 9:05:37 AM

disregard

Edited by MatthewWayne on May 24th 2022 at 9:06:26 AM

He also had the adamantine sickle that he stole from Cronus, apparently the most weapon in Greek mythology. But the only time I can think of that he uses it was against Typhon and melee went very poorly for him.