Is there any relevance to Thor getting his hair cut other than comedic value? It was a funny scene and leads to a small joke in Avengers: Infinity War but since there is no 'Samson' like effect is there some symbolism or comic reference I'm missing?
asked Mar 4, 2019 at 9:09
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43It's a crucial step in breaking him down. He loses his father, his hammer, his freedom, and then his hair. By the end of the movie, he will also lose his eye, his sister, and his home.– Paul D. WaiteCommented Mar 4, 2019 at 10:41
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1@PaulD.Waite I get your point but he doesn't draw power from his hair and throughout the film becomes stronger and learns how to use the Lightning, also he seems more effected by the death of Heimdall than Odin etc– SeamusthedogCommented Mar 4, 2019 at 11:34
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25Hair has symbology way beyond reason for many, many people. Just ask some dudes to shave the neck beard they've been cultivating for years. I was once with a group of friends when a fictional character had her waist-length hair abruptly chopped to shoulder length. Two of the women in our group reacted with more horror than if the character had suddenly lost both arms. So, Paul D Waite's "breaking him down" theory has substance.– BlazeCommented Mar 4, 2019 at 12:49
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7Out of universe it was a nice way to just give up on trying to make Chris Hemsworth blonde.– KevinCommented Mar 5, 2019 at 9:59
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i feel like i heard somewhere that while it does add to the affect of him losing things out of his control, that he had a strand of lokis hair braided in. in some angles you can see on the left side of his head theres a braid with what looks like darker hair.– georgiaCommented Jun 23, 2021 at 4:53
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2 Answers
Although the haircut scene doesn't affect the movie's plot and is played for laughs, it also works as part of the movie's symbolism.
Over the course of Ragnarok, Thor is stripped of almost all the accoutrements we associate with Thor. He loses his father, his hammer, many of his friends, half of his cape, his freedom, and then his hair*.
By the end of the movie, he has also lost his eye, his sister, and his home. He learns that this doesn't matter — as Odin almost says, he is not the God of Hair. All that matters is him, and the people he serves and protects. Once he's learned that, he's finally ready to become King of Asgard, as he does at the end of the movie.
Miek's alive, the credits roll, and everyone lives happily ever after, yes, yes they do, no, shut up, they go to earth, everything works out fine. Mostly.
* While his hair is perhaps not the most significant Thor-ish thing about him, it is noticed. As you mentioned, in Infinity War Thor arrives on earth with an enormous battle-axe, a gun-toting racoon, a sentient tree, and a robotic eye, but Steve Rogers seems to notice his haircut first.
answered Mar 4, 2019 at 12:54
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7I think it also makes him look older, more seasoned, and mature, which is appropriate, given his journey. Commented Mar 4, 2019 at 14:11
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8+1, and a shout out to the common trope Important Haircut Commented Mar 4, 2019 at 16:12
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4Exactly. Symbolically, this is one of the last moments -- among several -- where Thor has pride stripped away, in this case represented by his hair, in order to learn humility. Commented Mar 4, 2019 at 16:51
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8@Seamusthedog Two different levels of humility. The first was to not be prideful that he's better than or worthy of ordering others around. The second was to become truly humble, a servant of his people. After the first stage he's definitely more humble, to the point he can be a team player. After the second he's truly humble, to the point he can be a true leader.– DeliothCommented Mar 4, 2019 at 21:20
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4He doesn't, however, arrive sans an eye in Infinity War. By that point he already has an artificial eye to replace it courtesy of the trash-rabbit. Commented Mar 7, 2019 at 6:02
Apparently it was just because Chris didn't like wearing the wig anymore and it just took too long to get right as Eric Pearson has said in the below interview:
"When I arrived, there were certain things they had already decided," Pearson told CBR. "'We’re going to break the hammer.. Another one was, 'We’re going to cut the hair.' I said, 'Why?' 'Hemsworth doesn’t want to wear the wig. It takes a lot of time to get it right.'"
CBR, Why Thor: Ragnarok Gave Marvel's God of Thunder A Haircut
answered Mar 4, 2019 at 9:13
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1thanks. Thought it was something like that. So nothing to do with the story then? Commented Mar 4, 2019 at 9:35
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1@Seamusthedog Doesn't appear like it but there may be something I am unaware of.– TheLethalCarrot ♦Commented Mar 4, 2019 at 9:35
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1Be that as it may, they might've tied it into the story, more significantly. (no evidence of that as yet, but it's possible).– MöozCommented Mar 28, 2019 at 8:25