What does a superhero movie need? A hero, check. A villain, check. A good story, check. But what makes these three work is a seamless amalgamation of all three things that gives us a sense of connection to the story. “Thor: Love And Thunder” has everything and nothing of these. In other words, you will get a hero, a villain, and a story, but it is up to you to bring them together and satisfy yourself deliberately if you can. “Thor: Love And Thunder” literally has only what the title says; Thor, Love, and Thunder. That’s all. If you are a fan of Thor, you will enjoy it, especially with the amount of attention paid to his Thor-ness, which includes his body, his glistening suit, and his larger-than-life stature as the god of thunder. But if you are not, this movie will rather bring down your expectations to the point where you might just skip the next Thor movie at the theaters and wait for it to come to OTT.
Taika Waititi has clearly outdone himself in terms of adding humor to the movie. Granted that some humor is always there in his films, which adds to their overall flavor, the smidgen of other emotions in “Thor: Love And Thunder” has turned it almost into a farce. Even Christian Bale’s Gorr’s dreadful nature, thanks to his brilliant acting skills, cannot help but seem like a caricature. When everything else is shallow, its depth counts for nothing. It seems that as the Thor movies have aged, they have become more and more insouciant regarding their representation. Thor: Ragnarok, however, did offer a refreshing feel, but it seems that the film made Waititi overconfident to the extent that he decided to put all the ingredients of that film in this one in larger quantities, spoiling the taste of “Thor: Love And Thunder” in the process.
Spoilers Ahead
‘Thor: Love And Thunder’ Plot Summary: What Is The Film About?
Long story short, despite desperately praying to Lord Rapu, Gorr loses his daughter, Love, amidst a desert. Lord Rapu then appears to him and mocks him. Gorr’s rage against a god summons the Necrosword, with which he kills Rapu and takes the oath that “all gods must die.”
On the other hand, Thor has renounced his life as a warrior and is looking for peace. His breakup with Jane Foster has made him aloof. Moreover, unbeknownst to him, Jane Foster, on Earth, has stage 4 cancer. Later when Thor arrives on Earth after finding out about a god butcher who has been attacking New Asgard, now in Tønsberg, Norway, to fight his evil forces, he comes across Jane, who now wields the Mjolnir. The Mjolnir gives her strength, but it isn’t doing anything to heal her. However, Gorr the God Butcher is their primary target now, so they have to deal with him. Realizing that the only way to defeat the Necrosword is Zeus’s weapon Thunderbolt, Thor, Jane, Valkyrie, and Korg come to Omnipotence City, and Thor steals the Thunderbolt after being denied to borrow it by Zeus.
In the ultimate showdown, Thor has to stop Gorr from reaching the Altar of Eternity, where his wish to kill all gods can be fulfilled. At the end of the fight, although Thor is able to not only stop but change Gorr such that he wishes for his daughter to return to him rather than the death of all gods, he loses Jane, who dies in his arms (the Mjolnir having sucked all her natural strength). As Gorr dies, he tells Thor to take care of his daughter. At the end of the movie, we see Thor (Thunder) and Gorr’s daughter (Love) fighting evil forces together.
‘Thor: Love And Thunder’ Mid-Credits and End-Credits Explained
The mid-credits scene shows a disrespected Zeus sending his son Hercules to kill Thor. Zeus is not at all happy with the way Thor made a fool of him in front of the gods and stole his weapon, Thunderbolt. Thor deserves punishment for this and tells his son Hercules to bring Thor down. This means that we will see a lot more of Omnipotence City and mythical gods in the future of the MCU and Thor films.
In the comics, there was an event where Hercules led an attack on Norsemen under Thor’s protection. This led to a war between the Olympians and the Asgardians. This is when Zeus secretly approached Odin, and together they brought an end to the war as well as forged an alliance to defend Earth from the Celestials. It seems that, in the MCU too, there is an attack incoming on Thor, one led by Hercules. However, with Zeus in no mood to form an alliance, Thor will have to find some other way to deal with it.
The end-credits show Jane Foster at the gates of Valhalla, received by Heimdall. This is proof that she is dead, like really dead. But, and it is a big but, Valhalla is pretty much like the Field of Reeds in Moon Knight. And Marc Spector returned to life from that paradise. So it is not impossible for Jane to return either, right?
Easter Eggs Explained
“Thor: Love And Thunder” has many Easter Eggs that have a huge history in the Marvel archives. However, here is a succinct list of them for you to know about.
Necrosword: The Necrosword is hands down one of the most powerful weapons in the Marvel universe. Created by Knull, the God of Symbiotes, from his own shadow. It is the first conscious symbiote. The Necrosword gives its wielder god-like powers, including dark energy manipulation, space travel, regeneration, and shape-shifting. Interestingly, in the comics, Gorr finds the Necrosword with Knull after he is left wounded post-battle with some God.
Eternity: The first time we come across Eternity is in “Guardians of the Galaxy (2014).” We see him displayed on the walls of the Temple Vault on planet Morag (“Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Avengers: Endgame”) along with three other cosmic beings: Entropy, Death, and Eternity. The four together created the Infinity stones. It is believed that one who reaches Eternity directly will be granted a wish. In the comics, Eternity embodies the universe itself, along with his sister Infinity. Their authority is only surpassed by the Living Tribunal, who is the very personification of multiversal law, second only to One Above All, the sigma creator of the multiverse and even beyond. Eternity personifies time as well.
Darcy Lewis: Darcy Lewis is back at Jane Foster’s side in “Thor: Love And Thunder.” We last saw her in “WandaVision.” A doctor of astrophysics, SWORD brought Darcy in to investigate and assess the unnatural occurrences in Westview, New Jersey.
Falligar the Behemoth: In the comics, he is the Patron God of the Galactic Frontier who, like in the movie, was killed by Gorr the God Butcher. He is also a champion, for 5 straight centuries, at the Tournament of Immortals, also known as the Tournament of Heavenly Cities, a tournament held every 88 years where representatives of the Seven Capital Cities of Heaven battle each other. His name now resides in the Hall of the Lost in Omnipotence City. He was known to fight black holes for fun. Clearly, he was a powerful god.
Omnipotence City: Built by the first Elder Gods with the clay of Creation and embers of the First Sun, Omnipotence City includes the Parliament of Pantheons, the Halls of All-Knowing (a library that stores the history of the gods), and the Genesis Bazaar (the gods’ shopping market).
Zeus and Hercules: Zeus Panhellenios, an Olympian, hails from Olympus, a pocket dimension. He is the Greek-Roman God of Lightning, the Sky, the Heavens, and the weather. Hercules, or Herakles, is Zeus’s son and is as powerful as Thor, if not more. His name means Glory of Hera, after his mother, Hera Argeia, goddess of women, marriage, childbirth, and fidelity. He was, however, named by Alcmena, who wanted to appease Hera after her husband Zeus seduced Alcmena under the disguise of her husband Amphitryon of Thebes while he was at war. In the comics, too, Zeus is introduced as a villain and then turns into a hero.
It seems that “Thor 5” will be no less than a clash of Titans, where Thor and his team will face Hercules and his horde.
