DISCLAIMER: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!!

Please do not continue reading this article if you intend on seeing the movie since it does contain major Thor: Love and Thunder spoilers (originally released exclusively in theaters on July 8th, 2022 and started streaming on Disney+ on Disney+ Day, September 8th, 2022). 

Thor: Love and Thunder

Thor: Love and Thunder was one of the most anticipated movies of the summer due to the success of Thor: Ragnarok and the praise Taika Waititi received from it. With fan-favorite Chris Hemsworth back as Thor, the remarkable Natalie Portman reprising her role as Dr. Jane Foster after not seeing her for almost nine years since the events of Thor: The Dark World, and making his MCU debut as the terrifying Gorr the God Butcher, Christian Bale. Since Waititi’s Marvel directorial debut was such a hit it was no question that Thor: Love and Thunder would go bigger and better. However, sadly this was not the case with critics and some fans as it was a box office flop and suffered to be one of the lowest rated Marvel movies. Critics ultimately were not satisfied with Thor: Love and Thunder since it did touch base upon themes of love and loss but the seriousness of some topics were just turned into one big joke by the comedic director. Critics said it was “enjoyable but empty” and that “Christian Bale’s great performance was wasted in a joke of a film.” (all quoted reviews are on IMDB) Some even said it destroyed the character of Thor completely. Fans are, however, divided over the film. Some said “Finished watching Thor: Love and Thunder and I gotta say: everyone owes Taika an apology” where others were not too fond of it, “Thor: Love and Thunder is absolute trash. It takes arguably the greatest Thor comic run with one of the best Marvel villains and turns it all into a 2 hours stand up comedy routine. Definitely my least favorite Marvel installment.” (all quoted reviews are on Twitter) 

The cast includes Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Christian Bale (Gorr the God Butcher), Natalie Portman (Dr. Jane Foster/Mighty Thor), Tessa Thompson (Valkyrie), Jamie Alexander (Lady Sif), Taika Waititi (Korg), Russell Crowe (Zeus), Chris Pratt (Peter Quill/Star-Lord), Dave Bautista (Drax), Karen Gillan (Nebula), Pom Klementieff (Mantis), Sean Gunn (Kraglin), Vin Diesel (as the voice of Groot), Bradley Cooper (Rocket), Kat Dennings (Darcy Lewis), Stellan Skarsgård (Erik Selvig), Luke Hemsworth (Actor Thor), Matt Damon (Actor Loki), Melissa McCarthy (Hela Actress), Sam Neill (Actor Odin), and with a surprised cameos by Brett Goldstein (Hercules) and Idris Elba reprising his role as Heimdall. 

Thor: Love and Thunder Review (covered by Val Kohan)

As a die-hard Marvel fan and connoisseur, I’m always up for the next adventure and movie Marvel Studios throws at fans. Since Thor: Love and Thunder was the most anticipated movie of the summer, my expectations were extremely high as always. As a fan of the comics, I was ecstatic over the fact that the movie was going to be following one of the best Thor comic storylines. I was most excited for the return of Natalie Portman’s Dr. Jane Foster, as she was such a pivotal character in Thor’s arc and the absence from her felt like his story was missing something. When we first saw Jane in Thor in 2011, the character Jane in the comics hadn’t officially turned into the Mighty Thor yet. It was teased in single issue comics but she received an official comic run in 2014 when her origins were shown in a flashback. I find Jane’s character arc in the comics to be one of the most original ones in a while. Due to the fact that Thor was unable to wield Mjolnir, the first person to come to mind to carry it in his place was Jane and Jane only. The idea of worthiness and what it truly means to be a worthy god is heavy. The writer of the 2014 comic run of Thor, Jason Aaron stated, “This is not She-Thor. This is not Lady Thor. This is not Thorita. This is Thor. This is Thor of the Marvel Universe. But it’s unlike any Thor we’ve ever seen before.” Mighty Thor is just one of the many strong and powerful female superheroes in the Marvel universe that truly represent female empowerment. Thor: Love and Thunder did exactly that with Jane’s character. This astrophysicist from New Mexico who helped prove the Einstein Rosen-Bridge and time travel with writing her own book “The Foster Theory: Space and Time Travel” shows that women can do anything. As much as I appreciated this film it still felt like it lacked something. I was expecting it to be this light-hearted adventure with some action but like many said it did feel like it tried too hard to be a comedy above all else. As much as I enjoyed this movie, the way it handled serious topics like god butchering (in which they showed no action), Jane’s fierce battle with Stage Four cancer, and just self discovery. There is always a humor element in Marvel movies, but Thor: Love and Thunder was not the right balance. My only quarrels with the movie was Russell Crowe’s questionable Italian accent and I find Taika Waititi’s overuse of Korg a bit exhausting. A once loveable character is now annoying, since he’s a bit of a drag. Overall, this film is quite entertaining with ambitious visuals and a heartfelt story. I do recommend fans watch this even with the mixed critical reviews because it has quite a few action packed battles with the astounding Mighty Thor who I’ve been waiting for to wield Mjolnir for quite some time now. 

Thor: Love and Thunder Breakdown 

Thor: Love and Thunder starts off by showing Gorr the God Butcher’s origin story, he is a religious man who gives his entire life to worshiping the gods. He suffers a traumatic life by watching his daughter die in the desert due to starvation. Soon after her death, he finds himself at the feet of a god who mocks Gorr. As the god attempts to kill him, Newcrosword chooses Gorr, as he wields it he kills the god he once respected and worshiped. “We have lost everything, my lord. The land is dry. All life is lost. But our faith in you never wavered.” With his newfound god strength and sword he seeks murderous revenge hence his title “the god butcher”. The movie starts off with Korg narrating the story of the “God of Thunder” to “Only Time” by Enya. The movie then shifts to showing Thor’s transformation physically and emotionally on his path of healing, going from “dad bod to god bod.” After the events of Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame Thor set off on a new adventure with the Guardians, battling side by side with them in his new look, becoming the fit Thor fans have known to a Guns N’ Roses montage. After battle after battle, victory after victory, something is missing in Thor’s life… a love to share it with. Fans are then reintroduced to Thor’s past love, Jane Foster, who is suffering Stage Four cancer. Showing her new life going from a scientist in New Mexico to undergoing chemotherapy. Darcy Lewis makes a cameo being by Jane’s side during her chemo, which was a bit of a heartfelt callback to Thor and Thor: The Dark World. “Anyway, it’s not that serious.” “Jane, it’s Stage Four.” “Out of, like, how many stages?” “Four.” “That we know about.” Erik Selvig even makes a small cameo, video chatting with Jane about her cancer progression. Running out of time and options, Jane takes a chance in mythological folklore believing that wielding Mjolnir would give her a second chance at life and cure her cancer. However, turning into the helmet and cape wearing Mighty Thor comes with a price. It is later revealed in the movie that every time she wields its powers, it weakens her, sucking out her life force. Meaning that it is slowly killing her. “So I thought maybe, if science isn’t working, maybe Viking space magic.” Due to the destruction of Asgard, the surviving citizens now reside in New Asgard, which is a tourist attraction, led by their charismatic leader, King Valkyrie. Similar to Ragnarok, Love and Thunder also includes another hilarious play about the events that took place in Ragnarok with Luke Hemsworth, Matt Damon, and Sam Neill reprising their roles as actor Thor, Loki, and Odin, with the new addition of Melissa McCarthy as Hela. After Jane successfully wields Mjolnir, Thor has trouble he needs to attend to after he discovers all these gods have been murdered while Sif sends a distress call to him. Korg and Thor venture off to discover that Lady Sif has been hunting a “madman” but was caught in a trap, left for dead by Gorr. “The God Butcher is coming.” Gorr’s next stop is New Asgard sending off shadow creatures destroying their village and kidnapping all the Asgardian children. During this battle Thor is reunited with Mjolnir again but discovers that it is Jane who is wielding it now. “JANE?!” Coming face to face with the woman he once loved and was left broken hearted by her. “Quite a reunion, huh?” “Eh, you’re telling me.” “What’s it been? Like, three, four years?” “Eight years, seven months, and six days.” In order to stop Gorr from retrieving Stormbreaker which would bring him to Eternity granting a wish he would use to destroy all the gods and save the Asgardian children, Thor, Jane, Valkyrie, and Korg must pay a visit to the god of lightning, Zeus. Zeus, himself, is quite underwhelming and nothing like the tales told about him. He couldn’t care less about what Gorr is planning to do and just sits in a laze upon the other gods who worship him. Thor and the crew battle Zeus and even “kill” him to get his lightning bolt in order to stop Gorr. Throughout their travels Thor eventually finds out the truth about Jane being sick and tells her that “whatever you want to do, we’ll do together.” It isn’t until after the battle in the Shadow Realm does both Thor and Jane find out that Mjolnir is killing her. “What happened to ‘Live like there’s no tomorrow’?” “Well that was before I knew you might not have one.” This is a very heartfelt moment between Thor and Jane since Thor professes his love to Jane telling her that he’ll fight Gorr by himself and come back with the children so Jane won’t have to battle and risk that fighting chance. It isn’t until Jane makes the decision to become the Mighty Thor one final time to help Thor bring the Asgardian children home to safety. As soon as Jane returns to her human form leaving behind Mjolnir she dies in the arms of Thor. Her body then turns to dust and brings her to Valhalla similar to Odin’s death in Ragnarok. Thor: Love and Thunder ends with Korg narrating yet another Thor adventure bringing up that Jane “taught us all what it means to be worthy”, Valkyrie is training the children of Asgard, Sif is training Axl (Heimdall’s son), and Thor is now “Uncle Thor” to Gorr’s daughter being her guardian as they fight side by side together. “Two warriors fighting the good fight for those who can’t fight good. They have traveled far, and have been given many names. But to those who know them best, they are simply known as Love and Thunder.” 

Thor: Love and Thunder is now streaming on Disney+!!

Look out for “Marvel Studios’ Thor: Love and Thunder Easter Egg and Hidden Details You May Have Missed” Coming Soon!!