The Marvel Cinematic Universe has 22 movies and not all of them are great. So far, Avengers: Endgame seems to be universally lauded, with a steady 97 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. However, there is no such thing as a perfect movie and fans have become disheartened with Marvel over a character twist in Endgame. Warning: spoilers below.
Fans are furious about fatphobia in Endgame
Fans took to Twitter to express their disappointment in Marvel’s rampant fatphobia.
In the aftermath of the Avengers’ failure to reverse the snap at the beginning of Endgame, Thor is left disheartened.
When the movie picks up with him five years later, he has become a relative recluse.
Rocket and Professor Hulk find him drunk, having put on weight and let his hair grow unkempt.
Thor’s weight gain becomes the butt of many jokes throughout Endgame, and fans were not happy.
One fan wrote on Twitter: “@Russo_Brothers @chrishemsworth and @Disney should be ashamed of themselves for the portrayal of Thor in Avengers Endgame.
“What could have been a wonderful story arc about failure, mental health, self-esteem and self-worth became a joke about beer, being fat and playing Fortnite”
Another wrote: “Thor is depressed. Overdrinking, overeating and acting down.
“So turn him into a fat Ragnar to laugh at. Mental illness is not a punchline.”
In a Twitter conversation, users bemoaned Marvel’s treatment of his character arc.
They wrote: “The writers undermined everything that he’s been through in Ragnarok and made a joke of the trauma he’s suffering from and the anxiety he developed and I HATE IT
“The ‘fat suit’ pissed me off so much! They could’ve treated it as Thor not taking care of himself and how depression can do this to a person and for the Avengers to push him to get better but noooo all his scenes were set up to be a f****** joke!”
Another fan wrote: “The fatphobia did really jump out with endgame though
“Marvel really was like “haha fat people are disgusting and lazy and a joke” and everyone in my theatre was laughing about it….. thanks for that Marvel.”
They added: “I do love being reminded of how the world thinks of me and my body as disgusting and worthy of constant mockery!”
Telegraph writer Stuart Heritage (who says he himself is only a hammer and beard away from a ‘Fat Thor Halloween costume) disagreed and wrote: ” He lives with his sadness. He soaks it in and lets it sit there.
Thin Thor never makes an appearance in Endgame, not even when things start to go to plan. There’s no weight loss here, no elaborate training montage to erase what might have otherwise been a quick sight gag.
“Fat Thor is not a poster boy for mental health issues, so let’s not make him one.”
Avengers: Endgame is now playing in cinemas.