bechdel_test | Thor (2011)

Thor is the latest Marvel superhero movie, and it's a good one. Most of the conversations revolve around Thor, unsurprisingly, but the movie still passes.

There are three named female characters (Frigga appears in the film and is credited, but I don't think she's addressed by name; her sons call her 'mother') the Lady Sif, Jane Foster, and Jane's assistant Darcy. Sif barely interacts with Jane and Darcy, but Jane and Darcy do talk about physics and Jane's work with each other.

In the original comics, Jane was a nurse, assistant to Thor's alter ego Dr Don Blake. Here, she's a physicist studying wormholes and ion storms and stuff; I really liked that she'd been given her own goals and storyline, and that other characters respected her and her work. Her assistant Darcy was also a hoot.

Lady Sif, in the comics, was also a love interest; here, she's been added to the Warriors Three, who in the comics, like here, are a band of Asgardian warriors and Thor's sidekicks. It's worth noting it would have been really easy for the filmmakers to just include the Warriors Three and either ignore Sif or have her backgrounded. She's either been included because they think Sif's awesome, or because they decided they needed more women. Either motivation is good. :) Also, she's a very sensibly dressed warrior woman as well as a badass!

Also, when fighting breaks out, Frigga picks up a sword and throws down. She doesn't have a huge part, but it's nice to see an older woman doing even a bit of action stuff.

Overall, this is one of the best superhero movies I've seen for female characters. Jane Foster is competing with Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman for my favourite superhero movie love interest of all time. :)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Oh hey, this makes me want to see it more!

I know, right? I went because I love Thor, and I was thrilled with the female supporting characters. I want Sif and the Warriors Three to get their own spinoff movie!

Suddenly this sounds a lot more interesting!

It's a lot of fun, and the women get to be fun as well.

I just saw this yesterday, and I loved it. Darcy is awesome.

Oh man, isn't she? I find female characters rarely get to be silly and fun, and usually 'comic relief' characters are guys, but she was great. I loved her fondling her tazer while they discussed how to find Thor.