Darkness reigns in 'Thor' trailer

Posted Tuesday, April 23, 2013 at 9:45 AM Central
Last updated Tuesday, April 23, 2013 at 1:44 PM Central

by John Couture

I'm not sure what it is with films this year, but they seem to be embracing their "dark side." Next month, we have Star Trek Into Darkness and later this year, the sequel Thor: The Dark World will be debuting in theaters.

While they shied away from the obvious titles, it seems like there are indeed some dark times ahead for Man of Steel, Iron Man 3 and The Wolverine. So, that begs the question, are we simply in the throes of a modern day three act structure where the traditional Setup, Confrontation and Resolution are spread out among three films in a trilogy (think the original Star Wars trilogy) or something more?

Perhaps the films are simply a reflection of the darker times that we see every day in events like last week's Boston Marathon bombing? Whatever it is, it seems that films are taking a much darker turn, taking their protagonists to even deeper levels of despair before bringing them back. On the one hand, such great extremes set up for convincing drama, it's one of the reasons that we still hold The Empire Strikes Back as the best of the bunch.

Whatever the case may be, it seems that darker themes are finding their way into films today and that's usually a pretty good recipe for a successful movie. That brings us to today's first official trailer from Thor: The Dark World.

It seems that a shadowy figure and presence will wreak havoc on London yet again. Poor London, it's the unofficial whipping boy of films this year after getting destroyed in G.I. Joe: Retaliation and now this.

There's good news, Natalie Portman is back in her first post-pregnancy role and she doesn't look any different. I'm sure my wife (and any woman has had a child) hates her, but I suppose it's nice to be one of the top actresses in Hollywood.

More importantly for the film though, is the return of Tom Hiddleston in the role of Loki. He was certainly the high point of Thor and stole many scenes in The Avengers. It looks like the brothers will have to join forces to conquer this evil scourge and you just know that Loki is going to use this opportunity to secure his ill-gotten freedom.

Overall, the film looks interesting, but it's pretty much all eye candy at this point. I'll reserve final judgement until I see a bit more of the plot points in a second or third trailer.

Thor: The Dark World hits theaters on November 8.