When it comes to naming the worst entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor: The Dark World is always part of the conversation. While plenty of fans have their issues with titles like The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2 and Captain Marvel, the fact that Chris Hemsworth’s second solo outing holds the lowest critical scores on both Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic is something that definitely can’t be argued with.
Patty Jenkins knew it wasn’t going to be great, with the filmmaker revealing she bailed on the project because she didn’t want to get the blame if things went south, while her replacement Alan Taylor has admitted on multiple occasions in the years since that he was essentially a director for hire brought in to piece together an effects-driven blockbuster that he didn’t have any vested personal stake in.
Besides a reliably scene-stealing performance from Tom Hiddleston’s Loki, there isn’t a great deal to recommend about Thor: The Dark World. However, eight years down the line and it appears to be undergoing something of a reappraisal from Marvel Cinematic Universe fans who are starting to believe it might not be as terrible as they once thought, as you can see from the reactions below.
Hemsworth still hadn’t settled on how we was going to play the title hero, something he didn’t master until Ragnarok, while he generates precisely zero chemistry with a very bored looking Natalie Portman. Christopher Eccleston’s Malekith is one of the MCU’s worst villains, and the muted color palette gives the whole enterprise a drab sheen of mundanity. Thor: The Dark World is miles away from being near the top tier, but whether or not it deserves a re-evaluation is entirely dependent on personal preference.