Revisiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Thor: Love and Thunder

 "Thor: Love and Thunder" (2022)

When the Marvel Cinematic Universe first began, I don't think that I would have guessed that the only Avenger to get a fourquel would be Thor. But here we are. Chris Hemsworth is the last original Avenger standing and it's time to pick up with the God of Thunder after the events of "Avengers: Endgame" which honestly feels forever ago. This films sees the return of Natalie Portman as Dr Jane Foster after she sat out "Thor: Ragnarok." This movie pulls from Jason Aaron's "Thor" run that introduced Jane as the Mighty Thor and it's definitely nice to see her back in the movies with more to do.

Principal photography on "Thor: Love and Thunder" began in January 2021 and ended in June. The film stars Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster/Mighty Thor, Christian Bale as Gorr the God Butcher, Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie, Jamie Alexander as Sif, Taika Waititi as Korg, Russell Crowe as Zeus and Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper, Karen Gillan, Vin Diesel, Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista and Sean Gunn appear as their respective Guardians of the Galaxy. The film was written by Taika Waititi and Jennifer Kaytin Robinson. It was directed by Taika Waititi. "Thor: Love and Thunder" was released on July 8, 2022.

Cheeks, cheeks, cheeks.

We need to start this with the most important part of this movie. It has a MCU first. The first time there is actual nudity in an MCU film. That's right, we got to see Chris Hemsworth's glorious, golden globes in this movie. And just look at them. Those cheeks are glorious. The reaction of the people in the chamber make sense. I am pretty sure if I saw Chris Hemsworth naked in person, I would gasp and faint as well. It feels extremely true to life. Even if the rest of "Thor: Love and Thunder" was actual dog shit (and it definitely isn't), I'd still suggest watching it, because, honestly, seeing a picture doesn't do it justice. You definitely want to see it moving and in living color.

"Thor: Love and Thunder" is a divisive movie amongst MCU fans. I can't think of a franchise that has such a rollercoaster when it comes to fan reactions. The first "Thor" was OK. A solid origin story that people liked. It was also at the beginning of the MCU, so we didn't have much to compare to. "Thor: The Dark World" I think is universally disliked. It is definitely my least favorite Marvel movie and it was pretty clear that there needed to be a new direction. Enter director Taika Waititi and "Thor: Ragnarok." Where the second Thor is disliked, it feels like lots of viewers love "Thor: Ragnarok" so it feels like Marvel though well, we'll give them way more of Waititi being Waititi. But it turns out that isn't necessarily what people wanted.

If you've watched other Waititi properties like "What We Do In the Shadows" or "Our Flag Means Death" you should see a lot of that those shows in this movie. It is full of comedy and I think for the most part the comedy works. But I don't necessarily think there are enough serious elements that really balance everything out. Let's start off by talking about the things in the movie that work.

Dueling Thors.

One thing the movie does absolutely right is the return of Natalie Portman as Jane Foster. After "Thor: The Dark World," Portman famously declined to appear in any other MCU films because she felt like she had been relegated to the thankless girlfriend role. She would only come back if Jane had agency of her own and she completely does in this film. Waitit borrows heavily from Jason Aaron's "Mighty Thor" run where Jane Foster, recently diagnosed with cancer, takes up the mantle of the Mighty Thor after Thor is found to be unworthy. Each time Jane wields Mjolnir, she gets weaker and that is what happens here. 

Portman really shines in this movie. She's always brought this effervescence and sense of fun to the role of Jane Foster even when she doesn't have a ton to do. And that is here. But we also see different facets. Portman makes it clear why she is an Oscar winner. She really shines in small moments whether it is when she breaks the sink in the bathroom in New Asgard or even when she is being held by Thor at the end of the movie. Portman radiates the joy that Jane feels as The Mighty Thor. It's great to watch her kicking ass and taking names and how gung ho she is while she does it. I love how bad she is at battle cries. It's wonderful to see Portman have real agency in this movie. She discovers that Gorr is leading them in to a trap to get Stormbreaker. She lays into Gorr in the climax. I love when he calls her Lady Thor and Jane reminds him that she is the Mighty Thor which is definitely a big fuck you to the vocal minority of fans who complained when Jane took over as Thor.

Chris Hemsworth is great as Thor. He knows ever facet of this character and he consistently shines. I really do this evolution of Thor into a full fledged lovable himbo. He is extremely charismatic. He is naturally funny. But he can be serious when it calls for even if that doesn't happen much in this movie. At this point, Hemsworth could play Thor in his sleep and that isn't an insult. I think this is the most chemistry I've really seen between Portman and Hemsworth. I don't know what changed, but they feel the most compatible in this film more than the other two "Thor" films that they appeared in together. Tessa Thompson is back as Valkyrie. She feels like more of an ancillary player in the film than she did in "Ragnarok" but she is still a joy each time she's on screen as the put upon ruler of New Asgard and as the joyful warrior back in action. Her scenes with Portman are wonderful.

Another serious actor joins the "Thor" franchise with "Thor: Love and Thunder." First it was Cate Blanchett as Hela and now it's Christian Bale as Gorr the God Butcher. Gorr is a great villain that is relatively new to the comics and I was excited to learn that he'd be making his live-action debut in this movie. The movie stays pretty true to Gorr's roots. After being abandoned by his gods and his daughter dying, Gorr takes up the Necrosword and goes on a rampage to kill all gods. I think Bale does a solid job. He's a great actor and he brings gravitas to the role. I just wish there had been more of him in the movie. It sometimes feel like we are being told what a threat he is without really seeing it. I think that if they had shown him killing a few more gods it would have helped. There didn't need to be a ton of scenes. Maybe like one or two fleshing him out would have been really helpful.

This dude came to kill some gods.

There may be too much comedy in "Thor: Love and Thunder" when you compare it to the rest of the film, but the comedy lands more than it doesn't. There are a lot of bits in this movie and if you know me, you know, I do love a bit especially when they work. One of my favorite bits in this movie is the jealousy that Stormbreaker has for Mjolnir when Thor's original hammer returns. Stormbreaker crashes Thor when he tries to fly with it. There is a scene where Stormbreaker inches in from off screen that makes me howl with laughter every time I see it. There are the giant goats that Thor gets from the people he rescues with the Guardians of the Galaxy. There's no reason that the screaming goats should still be this funny, but it definitely is.

I'm sure folks will correct me if I'm wrong, but "Thor: Love and Thunder" definitely feels like the queerest MCU movie so far. It is heavily implied that Heimdall's son, Axl, is trans. When he contacts Thor, Thor calls him Astrid repeatedly even after being correctly and Thor is consistently corrected and told to stop deadnaming the child. Valkyrie is being her best bi self throughout the movie. Korg meets a nice rock man at the end of the film who is rocking (get it?) a pretty killer mustache. I do enjoy how all of this is pretty matter-of-fact. And I want more of it, because I'm greedy.

Now, let's get in to some of the things that don't work in this movie. I am sure there is a lot of it in other later Marvel films but it is clear with this one that Marvel is cannibalizing itself at this point. "Thor: Love and Thunder" really cribs from other films in the MCU and they aren't even trying to hide it. Tonally, "Thor: Love and Thunder" feels a lot like a "Guardians of the Galaxy" movie and it definitely doesn't help that the Guardians make a cameo in this movie. The repeated use of Guns n' Roses music doesn't help. I get why they do it. Because of Axl and everything but it still gives the movie a Guardians vibe. Korg reciting the story of Thor at the beginning and the story of Thor and Jane Foster later on definitely gives fast talking Luis from the "Ant-Man" films. I get that his kind of thing is going to happen, but for god's sake, at least try to hide it a little bit?

Girl power.

Then there is the subplot involving the kidnapped kids from Asgard. This really doesn't work for me at all. Like, I get why they do it. The whole film they are setting up Thor to become the guardian of Gorr's daughter, Love. And we aren't even going to get into how much I hate that her name is Love. It is just too cheesy for me. It all feels very cliche. Gorr kidnapping the children to draw Thor out and using them as bait. Gorr being the twisted dad to the kids because of the loss of Love. Ugh. Typing that sentence hurt me. Imbuing the children with the power of Thor so they could fight Gorr and his creatures was also met with a big shrug from me. Do we really need more child soldiers? Also, did we need to make a kids in cages joke? This whole thing was a massive miss for me. I would have been fine with just Thor and the Mighty Thor beating down Gorr. The rest felt extremely unnecessary.

Russell Crowe shows up as Zeus and is just kind of there. It definitely looks like he's having a good time, and I did enjoy his curtsy when he approaches Thor, but I wanted a little bit more. This is Russell Crowe! I feel like they really underused him and it's too bad.

It sounds like "Thor: Love and Thunder" won't be the final Thor project that Marvel puts out and there is definitely some stuff set up for the next film. Thor and Love are righting wrongs wielding Stormbreaker and Mjolnir respectively. The mid credits scene shows Zeus smarting from being "killed" by Thor and deciding to use Hercules for revenge. And hello, Brett Goldstein. Hopefully, Zeus will be more impactful the next time that he appears in the MCU. The post credits scene shows Jane entering Valhalla and being greeted by Heimdall, which was a nice little period to Jane's story. 

"Thor: Love and Thunder" gets a lot of hate which I think is a little undeserved. This was my first time watching the movie since it premiered and I have to say I still had a lot of fun watching it.

Next up, Marvel introduces Bruce Banner's sister with it's first legit half hour comedy, "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law."

What do you all think? Is "Thor: Love and Thunder" underrated? Does it deserve the hate? Are you for it or against it? Let me know in the comments.