Thor: Love and Thunder sees the God of Thunder embark on a self-searching journey (otherwise known as a mid-life crisis) and in the course of this galaxy-hopping jaunt, we see him question what it means to be whole, what it means to be Thor sans Mjolnir, as well as what self-worth is and what love is.
Fortunately for him, he’s not the only one with questions. After sitting through 119 minutes of comedy, heart and space-action adventure, we’ve emerged out of the theatres with some questions of our own. For example, how does this movie connect to the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) timeline? What does this mean for Phase 4? Does this have an impact on the multiverse as we know it?
We’ve got some thoughts down in our review, but if you’ve caught Taika Waititi’s latest superhero flick and have some questions that are unanswered, have a read on and we’ll ponder along with you.
Oh, and it goes without saying, SPOILERS AHEAD.
#1. Who is ‘Love’ based on?
Love is the daughter of Gorr the God Butcher and the reason why the villain went on a murderous rampage in the first place. The movie ended with Thor emotionally fulfilled and assuming the role of her Godparent. Although a cute ending, we have numerous questions about who ‘Love’ is.
In the comics, Gorr had a son named Agar who died of hunger and heatstroke too. Marvel Studios could’ve just gender-swapped the character and given her a new name, but Agar’s appearance was a one-off thing. He certainly did not have powers nor was he resurrected and adopted by Thor either.
We do know that Thor had kids and grandkids in the comics, but none that were named ‘Love’ or possessed what seems to be cosmic energy powers. Marvel Studios doesn’t often introduce new characters and even if they did, they were always adapted from the comics. Not knowing who or what ‘Love’ is is bothering us a little bit more than it should.
#2. Is this truly the end for Mighty Thor?
Jane Foster turning into the Mighty Thor is one of the best things to happen in the MCU franchise, fulfilling a destiny fleshed out in the comics. Just like in the comics, Jane has cancer and is able to regain strength when wielding Mjolnir as Mighty Thor. The only downside is that her cancer worsens each time she suits up to help those in need. Jane died in the comics, and in the movie too, after suiting up as Mighty Thor way too many times, though in the comics, she is eventually resurrected as Valkyrie.
In the past, Marvel has killed characters off-screen only to see them return again (which is why we think Wanda isn’t really dead) but on-screen deaths like Natasha Romanoff confirms that she’s really gone. Jane received an on-screen death, but we see her again in the post-credits being welcomed into Valhalla by Heimdall. She deliberates and the scene ends. Does this mean we’ll see Jane/Mighty Thor again? If Gorr could resurrect his daughter, Thor could’ve easily resurrected Jane too right?
#3. Will Hercules become a friend or a foe?
In the film’s first post-credit scene, we see Zeus whining after being publicly embarrassed by Thor. He asks someone off-screen to go after the God of Thunder and the camera reveals that Zeus has been talking to his son Hercules.
In the comics, Hercules and Thor are friends and battle brothers. Sure they have also clashed many times, as superheroes tend to do, and gods even more, but despite that, Hercules has consistently been an ally of Thor. With Hercules looking rather pissed and keen to avenge his father, does this mean MCU Hercules would debut as a villain and antagonist?
#4. Where was Sif the whole time?
Sure, Sif was injured. She lost an arm in battle. She even thought she was going to die and enter Valhalla but turns out life has other plans. Sif’s inclusion in the movie was exciting because not only is she a potential love interest for Thor, she and Valkyrie may even strike up a romance too now that Valkyrie being bisexual is canon in the MCU. That said, her moments in the movie were brief and we never saw her again until the very end. It seems out of character that the warrior-goddess would rather stay behind than fight (even in this state).
Even if she needed some time to recover from the battle, the plan to stop Gorr took days, Sif could’ve easily joined in when she felt better. We never caught up with Sif again until the end of the movie which begs the question – where has she been the whole time? What’s next for her?
Also, her missing arm follows Thor, who lost his arm and Mjolnir in the comics, and comics Thor was given an artificial arm, so Wakanda, do you have a spare that the Winter Soldier isn’t using at the moment?
#5. Has Thor officially given up being a superhero?
Thor: Love and Thunder was essentially Thor navigating a mid-life crisis. He’s healing from his breakup, healing from Endgame trauma and he needs to find a new direction in life to emotionally fulfill him.
Thor’s trajectory in the MCU movies seem to be going differently than the various closures presented in the comics. On paper, Thor ended up becoming the rightful King of Asgard. In Earth X, he even decided he wanted to live out his days as Donald Blake while allowing somebody else to become Thor and protect the world.
Thor’s future here seems ambiguous. He started out giving up being a hero, only to hero up in order to impress Jane and save the children of Asgard. He then ends his story by being a dad. There’s a probability that we won’t see Thor hang up his cape just yet now that Zeus and Hercules has planted an arrow on his back, but toying back and forth on whether or not Thor is actually done gets tiring.
Then again, Thor is the only MCU hero to get a fourth solo movie, so maybe Marvel Studios is keeping their options open when it comes to signing star Chris Hemsworth for another glorious battle.
#6. What LGBTQ representation was there?
Much focus has been placed on the LGBTQ representation in Hollywood and right before the film came out, it was promised that Thor: Love and Thunder is ‘so gay’, but unfortunately, the end result has been underwhelming. Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie is casually depicted as queer in the film, but it’s pretty much a non-issue. She reminisces about past loves and even flirts with one of Zeus’ handmaidens, but there’s never enough room in the story for her to find romance, especially with Thor and Jane’s love front and center.
Then there is the throwaway scene that shows Korg mating with another male Kronans, to make a baby Kronan. Sure, the movie established that baby Kronans are made when both dads enter a hot pool of Lava together, but these are rocks for crying out loud.
7. Will Axl replace Heimdall? Will Love replace Thor?
The movie reveals that Heimdall has a son who also has the same all-seeing and all-hearing powers as the guard of Asgard’s Bifrost bridge. Although he’s still a kid who’s learning to hone his abilities, there’s potential for him to be the new guard of Asgard.
In addition, Thor is also seen training Love to be a skilled fighter whilst the other Asgardian children are seen training with Valkyrie over at New Asgard.
It looks like the new Marvel films and tv series are focused on grooming the younger generation to hopefully take over the ropes one day and whilst it’s been made clear in Hawkeye and Black Widow that replacements of the original Avengers members are underway, Thor: Love and Thunder still keeps that quite unclear.
#8. Was Jane Foster ever, truly worthy?
Jane gets sick, and Jane looks for Mjolnir, and the next thing we know, she’s supercharged and getting in battles. Heck, the movie doesn’t even show us a scene where Valkyrie meets the Mighty Thor, but this reveal is never shared with audiences. Still, she holds her own alongside Thor, and we know she is worthy.
Or is she?
In a montage, Thor is seen telling Mjolnir to watch and look after Jane Foster, and this one scene makes us question Jane’s worthiness – was Mjolnir calling out to her because Thor commanded/requested it, or was there something more to Jane being worthy that was never ever shown? And if she isn’t, well, that’s a kind of a cheat there Taika.
#9. Why the wasted cameos?
It’s no secret that Jeff Goldblum, Peter Dinklage and Lena Heady were cast in cameos, but subsequently removed from the final edit. Goldblum would have reprised his role as the Grandmaster, while Dinklage would play Eitri, the forger of Strombreaker from Nidavellir, and it has been rumoured that Gorr would have killed them both in the film. Headey’s role has not been disclosed and while it was disappointing to not see the trio, the movie did have other cameos, but man, what a waste.
First up is Kat Dennings, reprising her role as Darcy Lewis, one-time assistant and friend of Jane Foster, and she appears in the start, helping Jane through her chemotherapy. And then she disappears. But we know Jane Foster dies, so Darcy appears in a throwaway scene, and doesn’t know her friend becomes the Mighty Thor, or dies without saying goodbye? *SOB*
Then we have Idris Elba returning as Heimdall, but as someone in Valhalla welcoming Jane Foster. We get it – the two highly sought after stars are in demand and their appearance here is likely to provide closure to the legion of fans out there who want to see them continue in their roles. It’s unlikely we will see these two stars return to their MCU roles and it’s both sad and maddening.
And where the heck is Tom Hiddleston? Yes, he’s dead but there is a variant running around the MCU, and a hero suffering pain and anguish should get to know that his brother is alive!
#10. Why didn’t anyone else think to use Eternity’s wish-ability?
Here’s the biggest WTF question, and we’ll lay it out for you. There is a powerful being at the centre of the universe, Eternity, and anyone who finds him will be granted with one wish. One wish to do anything, and at the start, Gorr’s quest to use that wish to kill all the gods changes, and he wishes for his daughter back, and the movie ends.
But Thor and the Mighty Thor also found Eternity, so don’t they get a wish? Ah, so maybe the rules are, only the first person to find Eternity gets a wish, and no one has ever found him before right?
But the revelation of this superbeing also opens up a whole can of worms.
Thor has had Stormbreaker all this while, to unlock the portal to Eternity, and he’s aware of the legend of Eternity. Which means knowledge of Eternity and the one wish is known amongst the deities, including the Necrosword, which in turn told Gorr to search for Eternity.
How did the Necrosword know that Stormbreaker would be the key to unlocking the doorway to Eternity? It’s never stated, but is it possible that only the Necrosword knows how to use Stormbreaker to locate Eternity? How would a weapon know? And since Thor: Love and Thunder also shows Mjolnir and Stormbreaker with emotions, maybe all these living weapons have knowledge beyond that or normal men,
And if so, why didn’t the weapons, or any other being in the universe inform Thor to do the same, and search for Eternity during the five years, and wish for the return of half the universe, and negate Thanos’ blip?
Instead, the wish only brought back one person.
Don’t judge a book by its cover, for behind all this makeup, is a geek just like you. To simply put it, superheroes, Star Wars, Harry Potter and all things gore and creepy makes this girly girl swoon.
Natalie
Trinity Sun
