A student in the library shushes Jane and her squeaky shoes!
The stand-alone Thor movies thus far have been pretty consistent with showcasing library, book, and/or research scenes! In this movie, Thor: The Dark World (2013), Thor reunites with Jane Foster and battles Malekith and the army of Dark Elves. Thor: The Dark World is part of MCU’s Phase Two. Upon rewatching, this sequel to Thor — directed this go-round by Alan Taylor and often cited as among the worst MCU movies — was actually better than I remembered it being. It has two main things going for it:
Chris Hemsworth’s eyebrows are not bleached blonde like they were in the first Thor movie, and
At 1 hour and 26 minutes into the movie, Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård) and Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) arrive at the Greenwich site of convergence for plot reasons. They walk hurriedly through an academic library in London, and you can see a wooden, rolling book cart in the foreground.
Inside the Royal Naval College Library
The captions reveal that Jane’s shoes squeak… which is why they get shushed by a student in the library!
A student shushes Jane and her squeaky shoes!
Meanwhile, Thor and the main baddie Malekith (Christopher Eccleston) are fighting it out in the college courtyard, and at 1 hour and 30 minutes, the perspective switches back to students in the library checking out the fight from the library’s windows.
Click on any image in the gallery below to view in a larger window.
Jane warns the students in the libraryStudents have a front-row view of Thor’s fight from the library’s windowsStudent captures Thor’s fight on his cell phoneStudents watch Thor’s fight from inside the library
Jane: What are you all doing? You need to get out of here, now!
Student [holding a phone in his hand]: You’re joking, right? That’s Thor out there! He’s waving his hammer around and everything!
Fun fact: The actor who has this bit line is Royce Pierreson, who plays Istredd in Netflix’s The Witcher TV series!
The next thing we see, Thor’s hammer sends shock waves that blow out the windows in the library. Jane warned y’all.
Click on any image in the gallery below to view in a larger window.
A wide shot of the windows breaking in the libraryA closeup of the windows breaking in the libraryWindow wreckage in the library
The library scene lasts less than a minute total, but it is a very cinematically striking scene that helps demonstrate the real-world effects and damage due to Thor’s fighting.
The location of the beautiful library is the Old Royal Naval College Library in London. Here are a couple of different views of the library’s exterior and courtyard during this fight scene.
Use the slider below to view and compare both screenshots.
Old Royal Naval College setting
No librarians were easily discernible in this scene — again, it looked like a student shushed Jane and Erik earlier in the scene, not a librarian — so Thor: The Dark World falls into the Class V category.
Thor: The Dark World. Dir. Alan Taylor. Perf. Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins, Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgård, Kat Dennings, Christopher Eccleston. Marvel Studios / Disney, 2013.
I recently rewatched The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018), a charming-but-ultimately forgettable spy comedy, via our Hulu streaming service. Honestly, just about the only thing I had remembered about the movie — other than Kate McKinnon’s sparkling wit — was that there was a scene in a beautiful library. Let’s go exploring!
The movie’s title is a play on the James Bond 1977 flick The Spy Who Loved Me. After Audrey (Mila Kunis) finds out that her ex-boyfriend (Justin Theroux, the title character who dumped her) is a CIA agent, she and her best friend Morgan (Kate McKinnon) are chased by assassins through Europe. Sam Heughan, a Scotsman playing an Englishman, rides along as Sebastian Henshaw, another CIA agent who is also tracking down the MacGuffin, which was hidden amongst the ex-boyfriend’s possessions left at Audrey’s apartment.
At 15:48 minutes into the movie, we join Audrey sharing with Morgan the info that her ex-boyfriend is a spy.
Audrey: They said he’s a spy… I know it sounds batshit crazy, but just think about it, okay? There were so many unanswered questions about that guy.
Morgan: Right, like if he went to Vassar [College] then why does he pronounce it “li-berry”?
Why does he pronounce it “li-berry”?
I bet this line lands with every librarian! Yes, I admit, it’s a personal pet peeve of mine when people pronounce “library” as “li-berry.” But to use it as the FIRST EXAMPLE that comes to mind to explain your suspicions of someone who has boasted about an Ivy League education?! LOL forever! 😀
Library scene + set-up
Fast forward the plot, and the MacGuffin is a little trophy that contains a big secret that everyone is after. It turns out that secret is a flash drive, which the ladies discover after dropping the statue. Audrey and Morgan are then kidnapped and tortured in Prague by a hitwoman (Ivanna Sakhno as Nadedja), and then rescued by the CIA and transported to Paris in order to be questioned about the flash drive. Throughout these interrogation scenes, Audrey insists that she flushed the drive down the toilet.
At about 1 hour into the madcap plot across Europe, Sebastian is ordered to drive the ladies to the airport so they can go back home. That’s when another secret comes out (and from an unusual place)!
Audrey: Out of curiosity, if we still had the drive, what would’ve happened?
Sebastian: Hypothetically? … I’d figure out how to de-encrypt it and then see what Highland’s plans are and stop them.
Audrey: How do you de-encrypt something like that?
Sebastian: Why do you want to know all this?
Audrey: Because the drive is in my vagina.
Sebastian and Kate [simultaneously]: What?!
This movie does travel into some unexpected places!
Mila then fishes out the flash drive and gives it to Sebastian. She asks Sebastian to trust them, that they can help out with this new mission to de-encrypt the drive and stop the bad guys.
Sebastian brakes hard, swings the car around, and zooms down the road. Next stop? If you guessed library, then here’s a gold star for you! ⭐
At 1 hour and 10 minutes, we arrive at a magnificent library building, complete with columns and dome ceiling. The inside reading room is just as magnificent, with tall windows and arches.
Library exteriorLibrary interiorThe exterior and interior of the library building
The three of them crowd around Sebastian’s laptop, but they hit a hurdle. Sebastian says the drive has “State Department encryption” and that they need “access to an expert in U.S. intelligence computer security.”
Morgan then says “One minute,” and sticks out out a finger… not to shush!, but rather to make them wait.
This is not the shushing finger of a reel librarian!
Morgan then saunters confidently down the aisle of the reading room, and we get another breathtaking view of the full reading room, complete with rows of tables and those classic library lamps. Behold the bibliophilic glory:
A walk down the library lane
Morgan then pauses at a back table and attempts to speak French at two young people.
Morgan [speaking in French]: Where is the library?
Young woman [also speaking in French]: You’re already at the library.
“Where is the library?” is a good phrase to know, wherever you go!
The end result of this scene is that Morgan borrows the young woman’s phone. She then heads off into a back room by a stairwell, and this looks like some kind of store room for the library, as it is filled with what look to be stacks of books and periodicals. Surely this is not the main collection, shoved in the back of a stairwell! There is also a call number sign on the wall that reveals call numbers starting with the letter “J.” [Note: If they are using the Library of Congress call number system, then the “J” class of call numbers is used for the field of political science.]
Morgan calls Eric Snowden; there is a running joke throughout the movie that they knew each other while growing up, and that he was obsessed with her. Snowden, of course, is the “expert in U.S. intelligence computer security” that they need. (The real-life Eric Snowden is, of course, notorious for having leaked classified U.S. documents and then flying to Russia for asylum in 2013 after he was charged with violating the U.S. Espionage Act. Snowden became a naturalized Russian citizen in 2022, a few years after this movie was released.)
Can you spot the call number sign?Background of library storage room shelvesLibrary storage room scene
Cut back to the library, and Snowden’s assistance pays off — they successfully access the drive! Sebastian then gets to explain the MacGuffin:
This drive is a back door to the entire internet… everyone’s secrets. We need to get out of here, now!
Uh-oh, the library is no longer a safe place for them!
He then slams down the laptop screen, and the library scene ends at 1:13:30. The entire scene lasts a total of 3 and a half minutes.
Purpose of library scene
So why does this scene take place at a library? Let’s consider a few possibilities:
It’s not because they need a computer, which is a common purpose behind many library scenes in movies. We know this isn’t the reason because Sebastian is using a laptop, and we see him using that same laptop later in the movie.
They don’t need any specific materials or documents that this library has access to or in its collection.
Do they want to access the drive in a quiet place? That doesn’t make sense, however, because they talk throughout the scene, and Kate’s voice volume and zany antics also attract a lot of attention.
Is it so they can access the library’s wifi? That seems to make the most sense to me in this context, because public libraries are a safe bet for free wifi. But it still feels a bit weak because earlier in the film, Audrey and Morgan access free wifi in a cafe in Prague.
But Audrey and Morgan get caught by the baddies after that cafe scene, so maybe they go to a public library to access the drive in a place they feel safe in?
Maybe another reason is to spotlight this library as another beautiful European location in this international spy movie? If this is the main reason, mission accomplished!
But even that final reason is a little suspect, as we will soon explore.
Library location
At the time Sebastian, Audrey, and Morgan are heading toward the airport, but then turn around to go to a library with the drive, they are in Paris.
However, this library — which is a real library! — is NOT located in Paris. The actual library filming location happens to be the BME Central Library of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME) in Hungary. The library, built in 1909, was designed in the Neo-Gothic style by the famous Hungarian architect Samu Pecz.
A quick note that I’m not 100% certain that the exterior is the BME Central Library exterior: the IMDb.com Filming & Production page for this movie only credits Budapest for interiors, plus I couldn’t find a photo of the BME Central Library’s exterior. If you know this building exterior, seen below, please leave a comment! And I figured why not enjoy this library’s architectural beauty again?
Library interiorLibrary interiorThe exterior and interior of the library building
That library scene is definitely supposed to be set in Paris — evidenced by the location title card and because everyone is speaking, or attempting to speak, French — so it seems the likeliest to me that they used the BME Central Library because it was a cheaper film location. I also looked online, and my best guess is that the BME Central Library is being used to stand in for either the Sainte-Geneviève Library or the National Library of France, two libraries that are located in Paris and feature amazing arches and windows in their reading rooms.
Bottom line? Whatever the reason for this library scene, it is an amusing rest stop before the final action scenes and resolution of all that drive drama. The purpose of this scene being set in a library doesn’t feel vital to the plot — they could have accessed the drive on Sebastian’s laptop anywhere there was free wifi — but the information they learned while in the library was necessary to keep the plot moving along. And because I could spot no discernible reel librarian character in the library scene, The Spy Who Dumped Me dumps out into the Class V category, with other films that include library scenes but no reel librarian characters.
Have you seen this spy comedy? If so, did you remember this brief library scene or the beautiful library location? Please leave a comment and share!
“He’s going to the library because they have internet access!”
Let’s continue revisiting library and archives-related scenes in the MCU, this time with the first outing of Thor (2011), directed by Kenneth Branagh, which you could argue is an action film wrapped around a love story. Chris Hemsworth stars in the title role, with his blonder-than-blond eyebrows threatening to upstage his biceps. 🤨 💪 The movie co-stars Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, Stellan Skarsgård as Erik Selvig, and of course, Tom Hiddleston as Loki. Thor is part of MCU’s Phase One.
For reasons of plot and character development, Thor is cast out of Asgard, and he lands in Midgard (Earth), more specifically, New Mexico. Astrophysicist Jane and her mentor, Erik, discover him in the middle of the desert, and S.H.I.E.L.D. sets up a barrier around the discovery of Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir. Meanwhile, Thor discovers his humanity as he falls in love with Jane. He battles the Destroyer, a deadly automaton sent by Loki, as well as his brother, in a bid to reclaim his honor and his hammer Mjolnir.
Here’s a trailer to refresh your memory of how distractingly blond Thor’s eyebrows are in this movie:
The movie begins on Asgard, and we get a tour of the big set-pieces and props that will be important to the plot later in this movie, and in subsequent movies. This cinematic tour includes a stop at the vault of treasures. My husband wondered if the vault of treasures seen at 9:56 into the movie could be considered an archives, but it’s referred to clearly in the movie as “the weapons vault” with “these relics.” Loki also refers to this vault later, at 41 minutes: “So I am another stolen relic, locked up here until you have use of me.”
Asgard’s vault of treasures and weapons
Public library scene
At 49 minutes into Thor, Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård) visits the public library because he needs to email a contact, after his laptop was confiscated by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. (I had vaguely remembered there being a library scene in this movie, but couldn’t remember why. But when Erik finds out his laptop had been taken, I shouted out loud, “He’s going to the library because they have internet access!” I clapped my hands in delight when this proved true. 😀 ) There’s even a “Free Internet” sign in the window of the library, along with READ posters (classic library decoration), computers, and bookshelves in an alcove. No obvious reel librarians, but we do see two other library patrons browsing the shelves.
Erik uses the free internet at the local public library
Erik then walks across the small library to pick up a book, The Giant Slayer by Iain Lawrence, on a rolling cart. He then picks up the book Myths and Legends from Around the World by Sandy Shepherd, and looks up entries for the Bifrost and for Thor (Thursday). Signs for “audio books” and “young adults” can be seen on the walls behind Erik.
Both of those titles are real books, by the way!
Click on any image in the gallery below to view in a larger size and window.
Erik browses the local public libraryErik looks up entriy for the BifrostLibrary signs for “audio books” and “young adults” behind Erik
A closer look at the book titles
The other titles on this cart that I could decipher, to the best of my ability, include:
Click on any image in the gallery below to view in a larger size and window.
Erik browses the book sale cart
Such a clever collection of book titles that reflect elements of this movie’s plot and characters — and they’re all real books. Props to the propmaster!
I noticed that there were no call numbers on the books on the cart, but there were call numbers on the books on the bookshelves lining the wall behind the cart. I immediately theorized that the books on the cart were book donations for sale, which is a common thing for libraries to do– and indeed, there is a “Book Sale” sign near the cart!
Again, this movie qualifies for the Class V category, because it has library scenes with no identifiable librarians.
Library book debate
At the 1 hour mark, we return to the book that Erik got from the public library, and that book then inspires a debate about science fact vs. fiction. Darcy (the ever-hilarious Kat Dennings) is flipping through the book on the table, and she points to the page for Mjolnir (which she pronounces as Myeu-muh, like a cat’s meow, and to this day, I cannot help but also say Mjolnir like that).
Closeup of Mjolnir entry
Jane: Where’d you find this?
Erik: The children’s section. [Turns to the page for Loki.] I wanted to show you how silly his story was.
Jane: But you’re the one who’s always pushing me to chase down every possibility, every alternative!
Erik: I’m talking about science, not magic!
Jane: Well, magic’s just science we can’t explain yet. Arthur C. Clarke.
Erik: Who wrote science fiction.
Jane: A precursor to science fact!
#TeamJane
And OF COURSE you know I looked up that Arthur C. Clarke quote, right? Right. 🙂 Clark’s original quote — known as “Clarke’s third law” — is:
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
This was published in a 1968 letter to Science magazine and was added to the 1973 revision of the “Hazards of Prophecy” essay. But Clarke had written a similar sentiment earlier in 1952, and this Wikipedia entry traces earlier variations of this concept that pre-date Clarke. The bottom line? Science as magic, and vice versa, is not a new idea.
Thor. Dir. Kenneth Branagh. Perf. Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins, Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgård, Kat Dennings, Idris Elba. Paramount / Marvel Studios, 2011.
“I had managed to avoid The Incredible Hulk for soooooo long… until my spouse alerted me to a library scene in it.”
If you are a regular reader of Reel Librarians (as ever, thank you!), then you will know that I have seen every MCU movie and TV series. Many of them feature library scenes and reel librarian characters (#WongFanForever), therefore I have written several MCU posts on this blog. I know MCU and superhero fatigue is a real thing in the real world… are we feeling MCU fatigue here on Reel Librarians, too? Well, oops I did it again! 😀
Did you forget that The Incredible Hulk (2008) was part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, too? You’re not the only one! It still feels like an outlier that The Incredible Hulk — the one starring Edward Norton as Bruce Banner, Liv Tyler as Betty Ross, William Hurt as General “Thunderbolt” Ross, and Tim Roth as (spoiler?) the villain Emil Blonsky — is part of the official MCU canon. This movie is part of MCU’s Phase One.
Below is a trailer to help distinguish this version of Hulk from the ones you probably remember better, either Eric Bana’s breakout role as Hulk in the 2003 film directed by Ang Lee, or Mark Ruffalo’s iconic turn as the Green Goliath in the rest of the MCU series.
I had watched the Ang Lee Hulk movie ages ago, and had felt underwhelmed. I also adore Mark Ruffalo in the role. Therefore, I had had no intentions to watch this Edward Norton version. And y’all, I had managed to avoid The Incredible Hulk for soooooo long… until my spouse alerted me to a library scene in it. SIGH. 😑
Let’s do this.
It’s a blip of a library scene, basically just Bruce Banner running through the “Culver University” library. So much running in so short a time. The scene takes place at 49 mins into this movie, as Bruce is trying to get away from military soldiers, and he cuts through the Culver University Library to escape.
Click on any image in the gallery below to view in a larger size and window.
The start of the library sceneA brief pause in the library!Running through the libraryStops and starts in the library scene
So.
Much.
Running.
More running in the library!
As you can see in the screenshots, most of the action in this brief scene happens in the bound periodicals section. Library bookshelves, once again, prove to be so visually cinematic!
But the sight of soldiers carrying armed weapons into a library? NOT COOL, y’all.
Military soldiers come through the library scene
It took me ages to capture this screenshot of this woman who screams when Banner and soldiers run past her. I don’t think it’s a reel librarian though — because there’s no rolling library cart, hah!
Passing another patron in the library scene
Even though no reel librarian is visible in this scene, you can tell it was filmed in a real university library, because there’s a yellow sign that reads “Please Do Not Reshelve Books.” You can’t really read that signage in the screenshot below, but trust me, that’s what it says! 😉
In the background of this library scene, you can see a yellow “Please don’t reshelve books” sign visible above the Exit sign.
IMDb says University of Toronto and Drew University in New Jersey served as filming locations for the fictional Culver University.
Ultimately, this movie qualifies for the Class V category, because it has library scenes with no identifiable librarians.
Is The Incredible Hulkthe most overlooked Marvel movie in the whole bunch? Did you remember this library scene? Please leave a comment and share!
Let’s return to revisiting the library and archives-related scenes in the Marvel/Disney TV series, which I began releasing as stand-alone posts earlier this summer. This time, let’s revisit Ms. Marvel (2022)… and perfect timing! The feature film The Marvels, which continues characters and events we see in this TV series, is set to premiere this week!
Through the season’s 6 episodes, the Ms. Marvel TV series has scenes set in and around the school library in half of the episodes, plus a private library collection in another episode. Confusingly, a guidance counselor’s office seems to be located INSIDE the school library (???), but I’m not counting the guidance counselor character as a reel librarian.
NOTE: If you’re wondering, “Didn’t we already do this?” then you are not wrong! Last summer, I started compiling a marathon of round-ups of all the library and archives scenes featured in each of MCU Phases thus far. And because the TV series and specials introduced in Phase Four were considerably larger and longer than previous phases, I had put together a separate, exhaustive post just for the Phase Four TV series and specials. It is useful to have a comprehensive post — like for research purposes — but because the finalized round-up post is sooooooooo long, it felt like a good idea to also feature each TV series in its own dedicated post. And sure, it would have made more sense to start with the individual post and THEN do the work of compiling them all together… but I am no stranger to doing things backwards! 😉
*POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERTS*
Ms. Marvel (June-July 2022)
In this TV series, which includes 6 episodes and occurs post-Blip, we get to know Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani), a 16-year-old fangirl of the Avengers — and specifically Captain Marvel — who navigates the complications of daily life as a Pakistani-American as well as her own superpowers that develop after she puts on a mysterious bangle that used to belong to her great-grandmother Aisha (Mehwish Hayat). The series co-stars Zenobia Shroff as Muneeba Khan, Mohan Kapur as Yusuf Khan, Matt Lintz as Bruno Carrelli, Yasmeen Fletcher as Nakia Bahadir, Rish Shah as Kamran, Nimra Bucha as Najma, and Aramis Knight as Kareem / Red Dagger. This series is based on the graphic novel series by G. Willow Wilson.
Episode 1, “Generation Why”
At 5 minutes into the first episode, we get a closeup of the school sign, which reads Coles Academic High School. The real-life inspiration behind this high school is the Dr. Ronald E. McNair Academic High School, located on Coles Street in Jersey City, NJ. The McNair HS even issued a press release about how proud they are to be connected with this series!
It has been a point of pride to be a real-life example of the various identities that this history-making character and story represents.
You can also see “G. Willow Wilson” included as the first name on the Coles Academic sign. Wilson wrote the original Ms. Marvel comics, and also has a cameo on the series!
Fast forward to another Wilson reference… at 7 minutes, we get our first glimpse of the school library and the office for the guidance counselor, Mr. Wilson (Jordan Firstman). Mr. Wilson is trying to be super cool and chill, but the teens obviously view him as a lame poser. Through the blinds of the guidance counselor’s office, we can see library shelves, and what looks like a common room with other offices? This school library’s layout seems really confusing! Also, note the cheesy inspirational sign on the back of the office door (“You Can Totally Do This”), as you will see more inspirational posters in upcoming scenes in this office!
Is the guidance counselor’s office inside the school library?
This guidance counseling session lasts 2 minutes.
Episode 2, “Crushed”
At 20:30 minutes into this episode, Bruno has a session with the guidance counselor. This time, the blinds are up, so we can see more clearly the library bookcases along the back and side walls, along with tables in the open area. Several students are using the school library space and browsing books on the shelves. (Click on the first screenshot in the gallery below to view the inspirational poster in this scene, which has a cat hanging off a tree branch below the words “Hang in there!”)
Click on any image in the gallery below to view in a larger window.
This inspirational poster is not inspirationalSchool library shelves in the backgroundA better view of the school library in this guidance counselor scene
This scene lasts under 2 minutes.
Episode 4, “Seeing Red”
At 19:39 minutes into this episode, which is set in Pakistan, we enter the hideout of the Red Daggers, where we see their private library and collection of artifacts. I’m not counting this as an official library, but I thought it served as an interesting and different example of a private library.
We also see this private library again at 31:34 minutes, when Kamala is training with the Red Daggers.
Click on any image in the gallery below to view in a larger window.
Kamala visits the Red Daggers hideout for the first timeKamala increases her training at the Red Daggers hideout and private libraryKamala trains at the Red Daggers handout, complete with a private library and artifacts
Episode 6, “No Normal”
In this finale episode, Kamala and her friends hide out at the high school and create a plan for how to deal with the law enforcement officers who are coming for them. (Fair warning, there is a “trigger warning” at the beginning of this episode, as it is EXTREMELY disturbing to view cops tracking down and shooting at kids in a school.)
At 15:42 minutes into the episode, Kamala’s brother, Aamir (Saagar Shaikh), grabs a fire extinguisher in the school library. Call numbers are visible on the book spines.
A closeup of school library call numbers and a fire extinguisher
At 21:28 minutes, Kamala and Kamran run through the library and hide in the guidance counselor’s office. Kamala is able to calm Kamran down, and they almost kiss before Bruno interrupts them. Kamala and Kamran escape out the back of the counselor’s office, where we see more bookcases and books with call numbers in a back room. It’s unclear if this back room is a storage room or a browsable extension of the school library? (Also, note the corner of one more inspirational poster in the guidance counselor’s office, with the words “Get Ready for College!”). Bruno distracts the cops by dancing in the library. The scene ends at 23:15 minutes.
Click on any image in the gallery below to view in a larger window.
Running past library bookcasesAnother view of the library from the counselor’s officeA peek at a back room full of library booksBruno dances in the school libraryWe see more of the layout of the school library and the guidance counselor’s office in this scene
Because of the glimpse of the back room filled with bookcases, the guidance counselor’s office seems to be located in the MIDDLE of the school library. Is he supposed to be both the school’s librarian and the guidance counselor? Mr. Wilson is never seen doing anything other than counseling, so I’m still not listing him as a reel librarian. I don’t understand this set design. My best guess is that if this is a real school location, that they used the actual school librarian’s office and just turned it into the guidance counselor’s office, in order to save money and space.
To be continued…?
The ending of this TV series directly sets up the plot of the upcoming movie, The Marvels, which premieres this week. This direct transition is also highlighted in the movie’s teaser trailer:
REEL LIBRARIANS 