We need to talk about Óðinn: Taika Waititi’s subversive handling of Norse myth in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Resumen

Este artículo analiza el tratamiento subversivo que Taika Waititi hace del personaje de Odín y la consiguiente exploración de los modos en que los relatos heredados funcionan a lo largo del tiempo en Thor: Ragnarok (2017) y Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), las dos películas que Waititi dirigió dentro del Universo Cinematográfico de Marvel (MCU) de Disney. Las películas anteriores del MCU, siguiendo tanto a Marvel Comics como a las recreaciones de los siglos XIX y XX, presentan a Odín como una figura benigna y fuertemente cristianizada, alineada con la humanidad. Waititi interrumpe esta tradición de forma breve pero decisiva. En Ragnarok, la revelación por parte de Hela del pasado oculto de Odín lo reconfigura como un conquistador cuyo imperio se edificó sobre el derramamiento de sangre y la esclavitud, evocando al más inquietante Óðinn de las fuentes medievales. En Love and Thunder, esta desestabilización se adentra en un terreno posmoderno, ya que Waititi pone de relieve la falta de fiabilidad del propio relato: Nuevo Asgard se convierte en un simulacro hiperreal, compañías teatrales reescenifican la historia reciente como entretenimiento y los recuerdos personales divergen de manera contradictoria. Analizadas desde perspectivas poscoloniales y neomedievales, las películas de Waititi emplean el mito nórdico no para reforzar una autoridad estable, sino para interrogar cómo las historias se estratifican, se ocultan y se disputan.

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