[Film] Thor: Love and Thunder

[Isgrimnur]

HR

Today we learned that the God of Thunder, Thor, will be returning for a fourth entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This news comes ahead of Marvel Studios’ San Diego Comic-Con panel on Saturday where fans are expecting to get a first look at Marvel’s plans for its next phase. Taika Waititi, who directed Thor: Ragnarok (2017) will return to helm the fourth entry that will see Chris Hemsworth wield the lightning once again.

[Victoria Raverna]

Asgardians of the Galaxy?

[Daehawk]

Would be nice to simply name it Thor: God of Thunder.

Then maybe stop making them because I dont want Thor:Lord of Prunes.

[Isgrimnur]

Ok this looks fun.

Thor: Love & Thunder

[El Guapo]

This should be good.

My only concern is that Ragnarok + Endgame went *heavy* into Thor as ridiculous comic relief, and I'd like to dial that back down a smidge. He is, you know, the god of thunder (at least for now).

[Jeff V]

To put things in perspective -- I saw the original Thor in the Philippines (where, IIRC, it opened there before it did here). Since then I got married, had 2 kids (8 and 5), and had my 10-year wedding anniversary. I do remember how strange it was that our ticket to this movie included a free donut. And that we gave the donuts to some kids that came banging on our taxi window while stuck in traffic heading back to our hotel.

And a few months ago was the 10 year anniversary since my last trip to the Philippines.

[naednek]

This should be good.

My only concern is that Ragnarok + Endgame went *heavy* into Thor as ridiculous comic relief, and I'd like to dial that back down a smidge. He is, you know, the god of thunder (at least for now).

I hope not, that's what makes the movie magic. I was already cracking up with the "look into the eyes that you love" Between him and Starlord, that should be tons of fun

[Blackhawk]

I have a feeling that this is all about the character finding himself. General MCU spoilers:

Spoiler:

Asgard is gone, his parents are gone, his brother is gone, his cause is gone (he lost, then he won), his rulership was passed on. His role in the Avengers is less vital than it was. Who is Thor now? What purpose does he have?

I'm guessing that continuing with this character will require that sort of 'journey of discovery'. And as for tone, even at his most badass (Ragnarok), his films were full of comedy, more so than most of the MCU films that didn't involved ants or raccoons. Thor is a badass character, but his concept is just a bit too cheesy to work in live action if taken too seriously.

[Holman]

I just had something spoiled for me, so now you have the opportunity as well.

Actual spoiler:

Spoiler:

The masked woman holding the hammer at the end of the trailer is...

Spoiler:

Natalie Portman

(Maybe this was common knowledge already? The mask made it look like the trailer wanted to keep a secret.)

[msteelers]

I just had something spoiled for me, so now you have the opportunity as well.

Actual spoiler:

Spoiler:

The masked woman holding the hammer at the end of the trailer is...

Spoiler:

Natalie Portman

(Maybe this was common knowledge already? The mask made it look like the trailer wanted to keep a secret.)

That's not much of a spoiler. It was fairly common knowledge and was revealed back when this movie was announced.

Spoiler:

There's an image of her holding Thor's hammer at a Comiccon after the announcement. And the director had a great response when asked if she will be playing "Lady Thor". His response was that no, she'll be playing the "Mighty Thor".

Edit: I say that as someone who follows MCU news and has regularly listened to multiple MCU podcasts. I don't think the average viewer is expected to know that right now, but I expect further trailers will dive into it more.

[Isgrimnur]

I have a feeling that this is all about the character finding himself. General MCU spoilers:

Spoiler:

his brother is gone

Spoiler:

[Daehawk]

Seems pretty clear to me.

[Blackhawk]

That's not really relevant to what I said, as this is about Thor's journey, and from Thor's perspective, everything I said remains true.

[Smoove_B]

[McNutt]

Natalie Portman is not something I want to see more of in the Thor movies. They had zero chemistry together.

[dbt1949]

Ditto.

[Daehawk]

[Smoove_B]

Kinda angry Sweet Child could be licensed for the MCU but they couldn't get it into Rock Band.

Either way, I am surprisingly interested in this film.

[disarm]

Kinda angry Sweet Child could be licensed for the MCU but they couldn't get it into Rock Band.

Either way, I am surprisingly interested in this film.

I wonder if that had anything to do with the fact that a fake version was already part of Guitar Hero 2

[AWS260]

Not a shocker, but the new Thor movie is really good! It's not the eye-opener that Ragnarok was, but that's probably an impossible bar to clear.

I really liked

Spoiler:

Dr. Jane Foster's arc. Also a big fan of the goats.

[Brian]

Wife and I just got back from watching it.
We thoroughly enjoyed it.

I was expecting...

Spoiler:

The Guardians OTG to feature a little more prominently but was fine with what we got.


Also, i kinda wished Russell Crowe would have hammed it up a bit more.

[Suitably Ironic Moniker]

Not a shocker, but the new Thor movie is really good! It's not the eye-opener that Ragnarok was, but that's probably an impossible bar to clear.

I really liked

Spoiler:

Dr. Jane Foster's arc. Also a big fan of the goats.

Spoiler:

I didn’t realize that dbt was in this

[hepcat]

I’m hearing a lot of complaints that the CGI is pretty awful. Is that true?

[malchior]

I’m hearing a lot of complaints that the CGI is pretty awful. Is that true?

Not to my eyes. I frankly didn't notice the CGI as good or bad which is what I hope for.

[AWS260]

The CGI didn't stand out to me at all.

[pr0ner]

I’m hearing a lot of complaints that the CGI is pretty awful. Is that true?

Nope, I don't think that was true at all.

[Dogstar]

I'm going to be one of the nay-sayers, and I thought Ragnarok was well-done. I thought this one was very uneven, and this is the first Marvel film that I've seen in awhile that I left the theater disappointed. There are some good story ideas, great talent, cool aesthetic shots, and fun humor in spots -- but it was all over the place, and didn't ultimately work for me as a cohesive whole. A much, much better film could have been made.

[rittchard]

I'm going to be one of the nay-sayers, and I thought Ragnarok was well-done. I thought this one was very uneven, and this is the first Marvel film that I've seen in awhile that I left the theater disappointed. There are some good story ideas, great talent, cool aesthetic shots, and fun humor in spots -- but it was all over the place, and didn't ultimately work for me as a cohesive whole. A much, much better film could have been made.

I watched it twice, the second time in 3D IMAX (3D added nothing but IMAX looked fantastic over "regular"). I enjoyed it but I'd have to agree with Dogstar here, story definitely felt a little too all over the place. I think in the long run it will be fun to catch scenes and lines because there are some really funny ones and cool action shots, but it didn't do much for me as a cohesive story that advanced the MCU storyline much. As mentioned above, feels like a lot of missed opportunities.

Some random thoughts:

Spoiler:

I love Natalie Portman and I was excited to see how they brought her back. It was cool seeing little girls dressed up as Thor and getting excited about a really powerful female hero. I thought her overall story worked conceptually but as others have mentioned the relationship chemistry just feels off. I don't know if it's him or her. Chris Hemsworth seems to have more chemistry with either of the weapons, and definitely with Chris Pratt. Natalie has more chemistry with Valkyrie.

Speaking of which, the use of GotG was disappointing, more like an extended cameo than anything else. I was expecting more. At bare minimum they could have been brought in at the end to help with the last fight. And seriously, wouldn't that have been much better than doing the Ewok-ish kiddy thing? It was cute but gave me too many Ewok vibes. Similar comment for Lady Sif, I mean come on, all she got to do was lose her arm? Boo. And no Loki??? Double boo.

ETERNITY - I remember seeing him in a comic a long long time ago, and always found him intriguing. But here he is basically used as a freaking monkey's paw/genie? WTF? Considering all the multiverse stuff plus timeline plots in Loki, there's nothing better to do with Eternity than have him grant a single wish? BTW since this is NOT a genie thing, why not ask for more wishes lol? Or the power to resurrect people? Or etc etc etc. Ugh.

After all the hubbub, they decide to KILL Lady Thor off? Yeah she's in Valhalla but is that really meaningful? Hopefully they bring her back (was "Thor will Return" hinting SHE would be back?) so it wasn't just a waste of time.

Oh yeah, found out the little girl is Chris's real life daughter, which kind of explains things more but makes it seem more like a vanity project.

[AWS260]

I enjoyed it a lot, but those are legit criticisms. It doesn't cohere in the way the best MCU films do.

Spoiler:

Similar comment for Lady Sif, I mean come on, all she got to do was lose her arm?

Spoiler:

I am officially over the someone-loses-an-arm-as-a-tribute-to-Star-Wars MCU meme. Brought me right out of the movie this time.

Spoiler:

Yeah she's in Valhalla but is that really meaningful? Hopefully they bring her back (was "Thor will Return" hinting SHE would be back?) so it wasn't just a waste of time.

Spoiler:

I wish they had dropped the final scene in Valhalla. Let the dead rest.

Spoiler:

Oh yeah, found out the little girl is Chris's real life daughter, which kind of explains things more but makes it seem more like a vanity project.

Fun fact: at the end of Thor 2, when Thor kisses Jane on a rooftop, that's Chris Hemsworth's real-life wife. The scene was a reshoot, and Natalie Portman wasn't available.

[hepcat]

Okay, just got back. All in all, I would call it a big step down from the last one.

I think it's because the comedy ratio was off. In the last film, Waititi found the right balance. The comedy felt freeing after the dismal tone of the previous film. And it was underscored with some meaningful themes throughout. This time, it felt forced and tired. And the meaningful themes didn't really come until the end.

Getting back to the comedy aspects, many of the "funny" scenes were just groan worthy.

Spoiler:

Sif's initial scene near the beginning being one example. I winced at that lame joke.

Hint: if you can imagine Sad Trombone in a scene and it actually makes it funnier, you've written an unfunny scene.

From there it just got more and more groan inducing.

Spoiler:

The goats were funny...for about 3 minutes. 27 minutes later and I'm wishing they'd just stop already.

And Thor was basically turned into a complete buffoon for much of it. I know in the earlier one, they played off his god status in a similar manner, but this time around they just went too far into farce too often.

However, the last half hour the film found its center and it pulled out some meaningful stuff that made it worth sitting through the bad Benny Hill that comprised much of the early film.

Overall I enjoyed myself. But like Dogstar, I was ultimately disappointed. I doubt this one will get repeated views like Ragnarok did.

p.s.

Spoiler:

I love Brett Goldstein on Ted Lasso, but he is NOT who I think of when I think of Hercules. He's going to have to bring his A game for me to buy that casting.

[Freyland]

I'm going to be one of the nay-sayers, and I thought Ragnarok was well-done. I thought this one was very uneven, and this is the first Marvel film that I've seen in awhile that I left the theater disappointed. There are some good story ideas, great talent, cool aesthetic shots, and fun humor in spots -- but it was all over the place, and didn't ultimately work for me as a cohesive whole. A much, much better film could have been made.

Saw it last night. Totally agree with this.

[stessier]

Saw it last night and enjoyed it. I just embraced the goofiness and went with it - it was a fun ride. Might have helped that I went with my daughters (12 & 15) and they both thought it was really funny.

[stimpy]

Saw it yesterday.
First MCU movie I found myself literally falling asleep in.
I'd rank it at the bottom of the list. And I LOVED Ragnarok. This was a complete letdown for me.

[Jeff V]

Saw it yesterday.
First MCU movie I found myself literally falling asleep in.
I'd rank it at the bottom of the list. And I LOVED Ragnarok. This was a complete letdown for me.

Saw it yesterday. Didn't sleep, but that's the best thing I can say about it. Asked the kids what it was about, all they said was "fighting." They didn't find it memorable either.

[Blackhawk]

I saw it a few weeks ago, and all I can say is that I barely remember it. That's usually telling. I remember not being completely bored, but 'forgot it an hour later' is always the mark of a bad film for me.

[Lassr]

Saw it the past weekend, although my ex-wife/girlfriend LOVED it, I thought it was good mindless entertainment, it was not a top Marvel movie, near the bottom for me. Does not come close to Ragnarok for Thor movies. Years after seeing Ragnarok i can still remember the plot lines and follow the movie in my head, after a week from seeing Love & Thunder, I can't even do that...

[msteelers]

I just got back from seeing this. 1:30 on a Sunday after the movie has been out for awhile, and the theater was fairly packed. That surprised me.

It was ok. I took the goofy comedy bits to be a representation of Thor’s grief and inability to move on, then the film got more serious when he actually had to deal with his issues. But it fell flat for me.

The ending was very good and saved the movie for me.

I have seen a lot of doom and gloom about the movie online, so I went in with really low expectations.

[Jeff V]

I have seen a lot of doom and gloom about the movie online, so I went in with really low expectations.

I thought it met those low expectations. I had hoped for better.

[Scuzz]

The final scene, before the credits, should be the last we see of Thor. Maybe a cameo somewhere.

[Smoove_B]

Coming to Disney+ on 9/8.