Review: Ragnarok updates Norse mythology for the modern age

Definitely not Marvel's Thor: Norwegian actor David Stakston plays Magne, a high school student who finds himself imbued with the powers of the god of thunder in Ragnarok.

A lonely, awkward high school student finds himself channeling the mythic powers of Thor in Ragnarok, a surprisingly engaging Norwegian-language reworking of Norse mythology brought into the 21st century. Granted, Ragnarok isn't going to give the MCU incarnation of Thor a run for his money any time soon. But despite occasional lapses into clumsy moralizing and clichi(C) teen-angst drama, the underlying story ultimately works.

(Mild spoilers below.)

The series is set in the fictional town of Edda, Norway-named after two Nordic literary masterpieces, the 13th-century Poetic Edda and Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda-and we are told that this is the place where the gods and giants once battled to the death in the original Ragnarok. A handful survived, and a family of immortal giants currently heads up Jutul Industries (Jutul is a variant of jitnar, a mythological class of giants), on which the town depends for its economic survival. Unfortunately, the corporation has also been disregarding the environment for decades, dumping toxic chemicals into the water supply, while global warming is causing the glaciers to recede at an alarming rate.

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