Marvel Movie Minute • Thor: The Dark World

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Marvel Movie Minute is your deep-dive into the Marvel Cinematic Universe—one film at a time, five minutes at a time. We’re working through the MCU in release order, and we’ve covered every film so far. This season, hosts Matthew Fox and Pete Wright are back together, picking up the hammer for Thor: The Dark World and unpacking every beat, from cinematic craft to comic book roots. Behind the mics and behind the scenes, the show is powered by five creators: Matthew Fox, Pete Wright, Andy Nelson, Kyle Olson, and Rob Kubasko. Our membership program makes it possible for all of us to produce the show. For $5/month or $55/year, members get early access to every episode, ad-free listening, extended episodes, and other exclusive perks—plus the satisfaction of keeping Marvel Movie Minute flying high in the MCU skies. Become a member today! https://marvelmovieminute.com

  1. Still Loki

    2 DAYS AGO

    Still Loki

    This week on Marvel Movie Minute, Pete Wright and Matthew Fox reach the point in Thor: The Dark World where the emotional and the absurd collide. Loki’s “death” is barely finished before Jane gets cell service from another realm, a reminder that the MCU has never met a tonal pivot it didn’t love.Pete and Matthew dig into what this scene says about Marvel’s uneasy dance between science and myth—how fantasy logic and pseudo-science keep tripping over each other—and what happens when the movie refuses to pick a lane. They look at how the film handles (and mishandles) Loki’s redemption, whether the mystery soldier reveal works where it lands, and how editing choices both energize and undercut the film’s emotion.Along the way, they find surprising connections to Ragnarok, lament Odin’s disappearing storyline, and celebrate the return of Darcy Lewis, still armed with perfect timing and the movie’s best jokes. It’s the penultimate stretch of The Dark World, where humor meets heartbreak and portals meet plot holes—and somehow, it’s still only a little fun.If you want to hear these conversations unfold in real-time, join the Marvel Movie Minute community at trustory.fm/join, where members get early access, invitations to live stream recordings, and other bonus content.Film SundriesWatch this film: Apple • Amazon • LetterboxdScriptTrailer #1Trailer #2Poster artworkOriginal MaterialSeason 8 Music by Martin PuehringerJoin the conversation with movie lovers from around the world on The Next Reel’s Discord channel! --- Learn more about supporting this podcast by becoming a member. It's just $5/month or $55/year. Visit our website to learn more.

    34 min
  2. TDW Minutes 76-80: Black Hole Party Don’t Stop

    3 NOV

    TDW Minutes 76-80: Black Hole Party Don’t Stop

    Loki’s betrayals finally pay off in Thor: The Dark World minutes 76–80, and we had… way more fun than we expected. Thor and Loki spring their plan on Malekith, Jane nearly gets the Aether ripped from her body, and Thor tries the classic “hit it with lightning” approach that briefly crystallizes the Aether before it reconstitutes itself. Cue Matthew and Pete spiraling into questions of cosmic goo, crystallization, and whether Marvel had a secret plan that never made it onto the screen.The conversation runs the gamut: from how the MCU treats Loki’s trickster nature to whether Malekith should have known better than to trust him, from the beauty of Iceland’s Svartalfheim landscapes to the satisfaction of seeing Kurse swat Mjolnir aside like a toy. We also dive into the mechanics of the infamous black hole grenades—MCU canon, video games, and yes, real-world theoretical physics. Matthew takes us deep into Schwarzschild radii and Hawking radiation, Pete tries to turn soda bottles into singularities, and together they wonder why Doctor Strange didn’t just pick up a grenade and lob it at Thanos.It all comes back to Loki, though: his choice to save Jane, his brutal impalement by Kurse, and the melodramatic weight of his apparent sacrifice. Do these minutes finally earn the brothers’ renewed bond? Does the five-minute format make the scene land harder than it does in the full film? And what does it mean that we may actually be, at long last, Team Thor-Loki?If you want to hear these conversations unfold in real-time, join the Marvel Movie Minute community at trustory.fm/join, where members get early access, invitations to live stream recordings, and other bonus content.Film SundriesWatch this film: Apple • Amazon • LetterboxdScriptTrailer #1Trailer #2Poster artworkOriginal MaterialSeason 8 Music by Martin PuehringerJoin the conversation with movie lovers from around the world on The Next Reel’s Discord channel!How to Build a ‘Black Hole Bomb’ --- Learn more about supporting this podcast by becoming a member. It's just $5/month or $55/year. Visit our website to learn more.

    45 min
  3. TDW Minutes 71-75: Trust My Beige

    27 OCT

    TDW Minutes 71-75: Trust My Beige

    Welcome back to Marvel Movie Minute! Today we’re diving into minutes 71 through 75 of Thor: The Dark World, otherwise known as “The Beige Abyss.” These are what Hollywood calls “bridge minutes”—the bits of connective tissue that move us from sadness and grief into the big climactic battles. Except here, instead of an emotional campfire scene that actually deepens the story, we get Loki saying “trust my rage” (which, let’s be honest, should be embroidered on a Hot Topic throw pillow) and Thor nodding along as if this is a perfectly reasonable foundation for brotherly trust.Meanwhile, Erik Selvig staggers back into the plot with one of the best lines in the film: “There’s nothing more reassuring than realizing the world is crazier than you are.” It’s brilliant. It’s relatable. It’s also immediately undercut by the writers seemingly forgetting that the god in Erik’s head—the literal cause of his trauma—was Loki. So, while Thor’s deciding whether to forgive Loki, we’re watching the human cost of Loki’s villainy walk out of an asylum. And the movie just… shrugs. It’s like the film itself has amnesia.Darcy is once again the saving grace, bringing humor and compassion, while Ian continues to be cinematic wallpaper. The visual of starlings swirling into a portal is genuinely cool, but someone should have told the writers that audiences might confuse them with Odin’s ravens. Missed opportunity! And then we arrive at the Dark World, which looks less like an alien realm and more like a Welsh quarry on an overcast Tuesday. You’re Marvel Studios—why does your Dark World look like the set of a mid-budget Doctor Who episodeSo, if you enjoy script malpractice, wasted Natalie Portman, and production design that screams “we spent the budget elsewhere,” these five minutes are for you. If not, at least you can count on Stellan Skarsgård to save the day by reminding us that sometimes, yes, the world really is crazier than we are.Film SundriesWatch this film: Apple • Amazon • LetterboxdScriptTrailer #1Trailer #2Poster artworkOriginal MaterialSeason 8 Music by Martin PuehringerJoin the conversation with movie lovers from around the world on The Next Reel’s Discord channel! --- Learn more about supporting this podcast by becoming a member. It's just $5/month or $55/year. Visit our website to learn more.

    42 min
  4. TDW Minutes 66-70: Now That’s Plot Armor!

    20 OCT

    TDW Minutes 66-70: Now That’s Plot Armor!

    This week on Marvel Movie Minute, Pete and Matthew dig into minutes 66–70 of Thor: The Dark World. Thor thinks holding on to a hammer qualifies him to pilot an interdimensional spaceship, Loki plays the annoying little brother, and Fandral gets his big swashbuckling moment—complete with questionable physics. The hosts debate whether the sequence is comic-book action or full-on cartoon logic, why “plot armor” drains tension, and how poor blocking choices make the chase scenes feel like perfunctory spectacle rather than thrilling drama.But it’s not all complaints: the brotherly banter lands some solid laughs, the Frigga trust speech still resonates, and a brief exchange about Jane hints at deeper questions of mortality, humanity, and love that the movie can’t quite stick with. Pete and Matthew pull apart the baffling “convertible spaceship” design, Heimdall’s missed security job, and Loki’s secret rock portals—before agreeing that this film feels rushed, unpolished, and more concerned with shoving pieces into place for the MCU than telling a coherent story on its own. Still, they’re glad to finally be off Asgard and heading toward new terrain—even if it’s just planes of dirt. And Matthew debuts a new clock: the countdown to the end of the movie. Only 42 minutes to go. Courage.If you want to hear these conversations unfold in real-time, join the Marvel Movie Minute community at trustory.fm/join, where members get early access, invitations to live stream recordings, and other bonus content.Film SundriesWatch this film: Apple • Amazon • LetterboxdScriptTrailer #1Trailer #2Poster artworkOriginal MaterialSeason 8 Music by Martin PuehringerJoin the conversation with movie lovers from around the world on The Next Reel’s Discord channel! --- Learn more about supporting this podcast by becoming a member. It's just $5/month or $55/year. Visit our website to learn more.

    40 min
  5. TDW Minutes 61-65: Five Perfectly Fine Minutes

    13 OCT

    TDW Minutes 61-65: Five Perfectly Fine Minutes

    This week on Marvel Movie Minute, we dive into minutes 61 through 65 of Thor: The Dark World, otherwise known as “the part where Loki absolutely steals the damn show.” We open with Loki cracking a joke and—spoiler alert—we close with Loki cracking a joke. Along the way, he shape-shifts into Captain America (complete with Chris Evans doing a hilarious self-parody), earns a slap from Jane that actually lands with more moral weight than most of Odin’s speeches, and generally needles Thor in the way only a mischievous brother can.And let’s be honest: these five minutes work because they’re fun. Yes, the plan makes no sense, but Loki’s dry wit papers over the cracks like duct tape on a leaky boat. We get Sif threatening Loki with a sword (which, apparently, the internet has decided is erotically charged—thank you, Matthew), we get a ragtag “Ocean’s Eleven but make it Norse” jailbreak that somehow doesn’t fall apart under its own nonsense, and we even get some ethical musings about whether knocking out Asgardian guards is morally better than killing them. (Spoiler: it is. Probably.)Of course, Odin shows up to deliver his usual brand of Shakespearean thunder without any real substance behind it. Anthony Hopkins can bellow “by any means necessary” all he likes, but we don’t really buy that Odin would send troops to kill Thor. Still, the visuals mostly land—the transformations are cleverly staged behind columns, the alien skiff adds a nice visual break from the endless golden halls, and while the green-screen seams are showing more than we’d like, the overall scale keeps the escape feeling weighty.In short, these five minutes may not be the smartest heist Marvel ever staged, but they’re five perfectly fine minutes of Loki-driven fun. And sometimes, that’s enough.Film SundriesWatch this film: Apple • Amazon • LetterboxdScriptTrailer #1Trailer #2Poster artworkOriginal MaterialSeason 8 Music by Martin PuehringerJoin the conversation with movie lovers from around the world on The Next Reel’s Discord channel! --- Learn more about supporting this podcast by becoming a member. It's just $5/month or $55/year. Visit our website to learn more.

    26 min
  6. TDW Minutes 56-60: No More Illusions

    6 OCT

    TDW Minutes 56-60: No More Illusions

    We’re past the halfway mark in Thor: The Dark World, and the film tries to get serious—but does it work? In minutes 56–60, Odin doubles down on his absolutist war footing, declaring that Asgard will fight Malekith to the last drop of blood. Thor pushes back, questioning how his father’s ideology differs from the enemy’s. It’s a weighty thematic clash, but as we discuss, the script never grounds Odin’s rage in Frigga’s death, leaving him more one-note warhawk than grieving husband.From there, the film smashes into tonal contrast: Darcy’s voicemail and Selvig streaking across Stonehenge. It’s funny, but it also reduces a respected scientist into a punchline and halts the mythic momentum. We both wrestle with whether these comic beats feel earned or just obligatory MCU filler.Heimdall then steps into the spotlight with a crucial dilemma: loyalty to Odin versus loyalty to what’s right. This could have been a rich, Antigone-style conflict about obedience and conscience, but instead the script circles familiar exposition until Thor labels it “treason of the highest order.” We wanted more from Heimdall, especially given Idris Elba’s talent.Finally, the Loki scene: a moment of brilliance undercut by cliché. Thor demands “no more illusions,” forcing Loki to drop his glamour and reveal his grief-stricken state. It’s powerful visual storytelling—until the dialogue keeps going. Instead of letting grief speak for itself, the script collapses into shorthand distrust: “You betray me and I will kill you.” A lost opportunity for richer brotherly tragedy.In this episode, we unpack the script choices, the production design that sometimes elevates (Loki’s cell, Heimdall’s observatory) and sometimes deflates (Asgard’s green screen seams, Selvig’s bad composite), and the editing that oscillates between sharp contrasts and expository drag. These five minutes showcase both the potential of mythic storytelling and the pitfalls of formula.If you want to hear these conversations unfold in real-time, join the Marvel Movie Minute community at trustory.fm/join, where members get early access, invitations to live stream recordings, and other bonus content.Film SundriesWatch this film: Apple • Amazon • LetterboxdScriptTrailer #1Trailer #2Poster artworkOriginal MaterialSeason 8 Music by Martin PuehringerJoin the conversation with movie lovers from around the world on The Next Reel’s Discord channel! --- Learn more about supporting this podcast by becoming a member. It's just $5/month or $55/year. Visit our website to learn more.

    44 min
  7. TDW Minutes 51-55: Cassandra and the Chalkboard

    29 SEPT

    TDW Minutes 51-55: Cassandra and the Chalkboard

    Frigga’s funeral may be mythological, but our hosts aren’t buying the emotion this week. Pete and Matthew dive into minutes 51–55 of Thor: The Dark World, beginning with a grand (if historically dubious) funeral and ending with Thor proposing a wildly reckless plan to his father. Along the way, they unpack the film’s missed opportunities for emotional depth—especially the absence of Loki’s moment of grief—and how these five minutes feel both overly busy and dramatically underpowered.We bounce between six locations, including Selvig’s exposition chalkboard moment in what may or may not be an aging facility (featuring a forgettable Stan Lee cameo) and a quick visual reminder that Jane is still glowing red with ether energy. And despite the flurry of movement, the pacing still drags, weighed down by disconnected scenes and a serious case of mythological overreach.Then it’s back to Asgard, where the Warriors Three confront Odin with some bad news: Heimdall can’t see the enemy, and Asgard is defenseless. But just as that stakes-rich thread opens up, it’s cut short so Thor can argue about Jane’s confinement—and pitch a plan that makes no sense to anyone, including the writers. What could’ve been a scene full of ethical tension dissolves into narrative incoherence, and even the production design misses its moment: the throne is still missing, but no one seems to care.Matthew wins this round with a sharper emotional take, while Pete is left wondering whether the good minutes are behind us. Plus: technobabble, Cassandra metaphors, and Harrison Ford’s paychecks.If you want to hear these conversations unfold in real-time, join the Marvel Movie Minute community at trustory.fm/join, where members get early access, invitations to live stream recordings, and other bonus content.Film SundriesWatch this film: Apple • Amazon • LetterboxdScriptTrailer #1Trailer #2Poster artworkOriginal MaterialSeason 8 Music by Martin PuehringerJoin the conversation with movie lovers from around the world on The Next Reel’s Discord channel! --- Learn more about supporting this podcast by becoming a member. It's just $5/month or $55/year. Visit our website to learn more.

    35 min
  8. TDW Minutes 46-50: Frigga’s Last Stand

    22 SEPT

    TDW Minutes 46-50: Frigga’s Last Stand

    This week on Marvel Movie Minute, Matthew Fox and Pete Wright dive into one of the most pivotal—and polarizing—moments of Thor: The Dark World, covering minutes 46:00 to 50:00. The Dark Elves storm the halls of Asgard, lasers clash with swords, and a few convenient After Effects tricks remind us of the movie’s uneven tone. But the centerpiece here is no digital gimmick: the death of Frigga.Matthew and Pete unpack how this scene becomes a microcosm of the film itself—brimming with flashes of emotional power, striking visual moments, and frustrating leaps in logic. They debate the baffling mix of futuristic weapons and medieval steel, the questionable blocking that allows a 14-foot horned warrior to “sneak up” on someone, and the curious choices around Jane Foster’s role as both guest and catalyst for tragedy.Frigga’s sacrifice takes center stage. The hosts examine how her illusion magic to protect Jane ties directly to Loki’s abilities and reveals the heart of her influence as mother and teacher. They explore her character across comics, Norse mythology, and the MCU, noting the inversion between myth (where Loki causes a son’s death) and film (where Loki grieves a mother’s death). The conversation also highlights Anthony Hopkins’ gravitas in Odin’s grief, the Shakespearean echoes of the first Thor, and the lingering question: what does this loss mean for Thor, Loki, and the future of Asgard?From cinematic brilliance to production stumbles, from mythological roots to Marvel adaptations, Matthew and Pete dig into why this short stretch of film matters so much—even if it leaves us wishing the filmmakers had made different choices. Next week, prepare for the pomp and circumstance of Asgard’s funeral rites.If you want to hear these conversations unfold in real-time, join the Marvel Movie Minute community at trustory.fm/join, where members get early access, invitations to live stream recordings, and other bonus content.Film SundriesWatch this film: Apple • Amazon • LetterboxdScriptTrailer #1Trailer #2Poster artworkOriginal MaterialSeason 8 Music by Martin PuehringerJoin the conversation with movie lovers from around the world on The Next Reel’s Discord channel! --- Learn more about supporting this podcast by becoming a member. It's just $5/month or $55/year. Visit our website to learn more.

    33 min
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Marvel Movie Minute is your deep-dive into the Marvel Cinematic Universe—one film at a time, five minutes at a time. We’re working through the MCU in release order, and we’ve covered every film so far. This season, hosts Matthew Fox and Pete Wright are back together, picking up the hammer for Thor: The Dark World and unpacking every beat, from cinematic craft to comic book roots. Behind the mics and behind the scenes, the show is powered by five creators: Matthew Fox, Pete Wright, Andy Nelson, Kyle Olson, and Rob Kubasko. Our membership program makes it possible for all of us to produce the show. For $5/month or $55/year, members get early access to every episode, ad-free listening, extended episodes, and other exclusive perks—plus the satisfaction of keeping Marvel Movie Minute flying high in the MCU skies. Become a member today! https://marvelmovieminute.com

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