In Snipped Clip, we take a look at scenes deleted from our favorite movies, serving up a little context and offering our own opinions on whether the scenes should have made it to the screen or been left on the cutting-room floor.

The Snipped Clip: “Selvig Is Saved By Thor,” from the Thor DVD and Blu-ray, released Tuesday. Thor (played by Chris Hemsworth) employs a little Asgardian magic to save scientist Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård) during a colossal battle with an enchanted suit of armor known as The Destroyer.

Analysis: Should it have stayed in? For all intents and purposes, Thor was a solid comics-based movie, which is to say it possessed great action and special effects, one of those good “redeemed hero” plots, and a few misplaced moments of human emotion.

This happens a lot in superhero fare, especially origin stories: Filmmakers must cram so much bombastic action and explanation into the standard movie runtime that sometimes the whole idea of why these characters give a crap about each other gets a little lost.

Thor was no different. By the end of the movie, the God of Thunder has proven himself a true hero and saved Earth and stuff, but he’s also won over alluring astrophysicist Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) for reasons that aren’t entirely clear — aside from the obvious, “Hey stud, nice hammer!” rationale.

The deleted scene above sheds some additional light on the chemistry between the superhero and the earthly scientist. Here we see Thor, you know, care as he crushes an Asgardian healing stone to save Jane’s beloved colleague Selvig.

While the scene doesn’t do much to keep the action going, it does offer a glimpse into the big heart that Thor grew on Earth. It could’ve injected a bit of the emotional backbone the film lacked. But then again, it’s a superhero movie — even if it was directed by one-time Bard-ophile Kenneth Branagh.

“In the end, time crushed us, and the dramatic demands just kept telling us to be a little briefer, a little leaner,” says Branagh in his commentary explaining why the scene was deleted.

WIRED Emotional heft could’ve helped beef up the plot. Healing stone. Additional screen time for Portman.

TIRED A bit contrived. Unnecessary running. Slightly cheesy visual effects. Probably would’ve slowed down movie at a key point.

VERDICT A good scene that would’ve offered some context without taking up too many valuable multiplex minutes. It should’ve stayed in the picture.