Although the claims are an outrage too.
Why? Most people will never have even heard of, much less care, about Loki or Norse mythology in any context until Marvel and Disney came along. Now far more people are aware of the mythological version through the popular version than ever.
Also, no one is attempting to replace the mythological Loki with the Marvel version, not even Disney is trying to burn copies of the Eddas or break carvings of Loki Taliban style. That's not even the only version of Loki that appears in modern pop culture.
Also, don't talk about cheekbones or silly costumes when this[0] is your template.
[0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Processed_SAM_loki.jpg
I doubt that's the case. Thor for example at least has been pretty popular from before, maybe on the level of Zeus, I'm guessing Loki was at least half as popular of a mythological character.
Even separately, I must've read at least 10 fantasy works with a trickster god named Loki.
From my perspective, Norse mythology was maybe not quite as generally known as the Greek/Roman pantheon (outside of northern Europe anyway). But it was certainly not obscure--at least as far as the Odin, Thor, Loki basics.
I'd be willing to bet that the majority of Americans who can give a vaguely correct answer to Who is Loki? (or Who is Thor?) know that answer because of Marvel at some point in their lives.
That’s safe to say. Thursday is literally Thor’s day
Previously I was able to tell people these stories and they would enjoy them for what they are. Now most people giggle at them because they can only think of the Marvel characters.
If there are any modern “pagan” worshippers of the traditional gods, I hope they’ve preserved the fundamental version. Probably closer to any truths.
I’m not exactly sure how they worship their gods, but I’ve heard there are some feasts and artwork dedicated to certain gods. In Iceland most people (even Christians and Atheists) attend a “Þorrablót” which is feasting in honor of Þór.
When I speak of the old gods, I throw Yaweh (God or Allah depending on the sect) in there as well. A 5000 year old run counts as an old god in my book.
I like to look at the media depictions of these characters and compare them to their mythological counterparts. Disney's Hercules was ridiculous and a missed opportunity. But the way they depicted Maui was really, really good -- and when you consider that Maui is slightly different in every Polynesian culture that discussed him -- almost plausible as legitimate Polynesian mythology.
:-o
For one datapoint, when I grew up in England, you'd learn about the Greek Myths and the Norse Myths in school.
I was an adult before I ever heard of the Marvel comics.
I can't stand that this is part of the "justice" system. The outcome of a case should depend on its merits, not the litigants' war chest. Anything less invites corruption.
The English legal system was setup for aristocrats not peasants. We changed a lot about how the criminal side works, but very little about the civil.
Judging by the name, and the fact that the wikipedia article contains zero instances of the word "trademark", I'm going to guess "no".