Thor Love And Thunder ^NEW^
Kaja Wombles
Due to an enchantment Thor unknowingly placed on it years earlier to protect Foster, Mjolnir reforges and bonds itself to her. Thor arrives in New Asgard just as Gorr's attack begins. Thor is surprised to find Foster wielding Mjolnir, but teams up with her, Valkyrie, and Korg to fight Gorr. The group thwarts Gorr, but he escapes, kidnapping several Asgardian children and imprisoning them in the Shadow Realm. The group travels to Omnipotence City to warn the other gods and ask for their help in creating an army. The leader of the gods, Zeus, is unwilling to help, thinking they can remain safe and hidden from Gorr in the City; he also believes that Gorr will not be able to achieve his stated goal of visiting the realm of Eternity, where he will be granted one wish, presumably to destroy all gods. As a security precaution, Zeus orders the group's capture to prevent them from exposing the City's location to Gorr. When Zeus injures Korg, Thor impales Zeus with his thunderbolt, which Valkyrie steals before they escape to confront Gorr in the Shadow Realm. On the way, Thor learns of Foster's cancer diagnosis.
Upon traveling back to New Asgard, Thor discovers that Foster's Thor form is not allowing her body to naturally fight the cancer. Due to this, Thor travels to Eternity's altar alone and using Zeus's thunderbolt, imbues the children with his power to fight Gorr's monsters while he battles Gorr. When Foster senses that Gorr is about to kill Thor, she joins the battle with Mjolnir to save him. They destroy the Necrosword, freeing Gorr from its influence, but the three are brought into Eternity's realm. With Gorr poised to make his wish, Thor implores Gorr to revive his daughter instead of destroying the gods. Thor then leaves Gorr to make his decision and attends to Foster, who succumbs to her illness and dies in his arms. Moved by their display, Gorr wishes for Eternity to revive Love, which it grants. As Gorr dies from the curse, he requests Thor to take care of Love.
Deities introduced in the film include Simon Russell Beale as the Olympian god Dionysus,[20] Jonathan Brugh (who appeared in Waititi's 2014 film What We Do in the Shadows) as Rapu, a god from Gorr's home planet who becomes his first victim,[30] Akosia Sabet as Bast, a goddess who is a member of both the Heliopolitan and Wakandan pantheons,[35] Kuni Hashimoto as the Japanese god Jademurai,[33] and Carmen Foon as the Roman goddess Minerva.[36] Also appearing in the film are Kieron L. Dyer as Axl, Heimdall's son,[37] Chris Hemsworth's daughter India as Love, Gorr's daughter,[20] and Stephen Curry as Yakan, the ruler of the planet Indigarr.[38] Cameos in the film include Bale, Portman, and Waititi's children as New Asgard children;[39] Hemsworth's wife, Elsa Pataky, as the wolf woman who was one of Thor's past lovers;[31] Indiana Evans as one of the Zeusettes;[39] Jenny Morris as a New Asgard citizen;[20] Chloé Gouneau as Foster's mother Elaine in a flashback sequence;[40] Dave Cory as Dwayne, a Kronan who becomes Korg's partner in a romantic relationship;[41] and Brett Goldstein as Zeus's son Hercules in the mid-credits scene.[30]
At the end of July, Waititi said they had been writing the script off and on for over a year and he was taking another pass on it that week. He said it was very romantic, and explained that he wanted to make a romance film because he wanted to make something that he had not done before,[66][86] and, as such, wrote the film as a love story.[87] He later said the film was "about love, with superheroes and outer space", and that he wanted to "embrace this thing that I was always a bit dismissive of, and explore this idea of love, and show characters who do believe in love".[88] That October, Hemsworth said Waititi was still writing the script and expressed his excitement for doing something drastically different with his character, as he did in his previous three MCU films.[89] Waititi later described Love and Thunder as the craziest film he had ever made and explained that each element was intended to not make sense. He said it would have its own "distinct flavour" from Ragnarok,[90] which he called a 1970s space opera with a festive, party-like tone. He saw this film as a 1980s adventure, taking inspiration from posters for films such as Conan the Barbarian (1982) and The Beastmaster (1982) as well as art seen on vans in Venice Beach,[13] with the works of Jack Kirby and the cover of "old" Mills & Boon romance novels also serving as "visual touchstones" for the film.[87] He said it was not serious or dramatic, but it did explore themes such as love, loss, and "our place in the world" while making the characters ask themselves the questions: "What is your purpose? What is the reason that you're a hero, and what do you do when you have these powers?"[13] The film's ending involving Love underwent multiple revisions.[91]
Todd Gilchrist at The A.V. Club graded the film 'B', feeling that it did "[revisit] the cheeky, sentimental tone of the nearly universally beloved Thor: Ragnarok, and propels its eponymous hero into new adventures that bring full circle a journey that started with the very first, much-less-beloved Thor back in 2011." He praised Portman and Bale's performances, with the latter's character being considered "the most interesting and sympathetic Marvel adversary since Michael B. Jordan's Killmonger in Black Panther", and Waititi's "distinctive imagery [in the film] that may disturb and upset some viewers", outpacing Sam Raimi's accomplishments in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022).[197] Leah Greenblatt at Entertainment Weekly also gave a similar grade, feeling that although "its cheerful melee of starry cameos, in-jokes, and Cliffs-Notes mythology, feels a lot like franchise fatigue, it also has frequent moments of gonzo charm, thanks largely to the Technicolor lunacy of writer-director [Waititi] and a cast that seems inordinately game to follow his lead."[198]
I suspect that, beyond the symbolic violence, the MCU audience is drawn to tales of heroic love, which have deeply human and Christian resonances. In a positive sense, Thor: Love and Thunder finds its meaning in precisely that love.
Fear not. I am not here to pile on about why you should hate Love And Thunder, nor am I going to try and decide if it is better or worse than The Dark World. I am a shameless Marvel shill who loves both those movies, despite the internet telling me why I shouldn't. I'm just here to talk about the briefest of cameos in Love And Thunder. An appearance you might have missed if you popped to the loo. In fact, they were on the screen for such a short amount of time that you would have missed their smiling face while bending down to pick up that piece of popcorn you dropped. You ate it, didn't you? How do you know it was even the one you dropped?
Thor calls out to Gorr and pleads for him to choose love over death as he rushes to Mighty Thor's side. Their love reminded him of the love he had for his daughter, thus deciding to use his wish to resurrect her. Foster soon succumbs to the cancer, vanishing into Valhalla. Thor accepts Gorr's request to take custody of his daughter before he dies from the Necrosword's curse.
With a rock n' roll soundtrack and a bevy of beloved stars, Thor: Love and Thunder seemed poised to be a victory lap for Taika Waititi. After helmer Alan Taylor's Thor: The Dark World went over like a wet fart in 2013, this charismatic writer/director/actor not only rebranded the titular God of Thunder into an adorkable himbo for Thor: Ragnarok but also cast himself as the lovable rock creature Korg. Waititi also introduced thirst trapping to the MCU by way of a strapped Valkyrie, a naked Hulk, and a long-established sex symbol, Jeff Goldblum. Fans would likely have been giddy for more of the same in Waititi's follow-up. But while a bunch of the characters we've loved return for this fourth installment, the thrill is gone. Thor: Love and Thunder is a mess that can't make sense of what matters.
"It felt like a fun, one-off family experience," Hemsworth said. "I don't want them to now go and be child stars and actors. It was just a special experience we all had and I loved it. They had a great time."
For the past few years Taika Waititi has been enjoying a cultural moment. However, it is likely that, especially considering the outwardly negative social media response to him and some of his work recently, he is hitting the wall where people are annoyed by a previously beloved figure due to their oversaturation and constant presence in 'the conversation.' Social media response to Waititi's work has shifted from 'I'll see anything he does' to 'That guy again? Don't you find him annoying?'
I don't think that the issue that fans are having with Thor is that he's being 'cheapened,' but that the very concept of a superhero and a superhero story is being poked at for fun. I'd argue that the success of the newest Spider-Man movie has implied that audience goers want to be told that they're right for loving the things that they love and that they should be rewarded for it.
But the most interesting part of the marketing push here is the focus, especially in the last few weeks, on making sure to show Waititi as much love as possible. Featurettes, commercials, feature profiles and more all have people talking about how amazing he is to work with and so on.
In this podcast series, two complete MCU fans, Megan Dougherty, co-founder of One Stone Creative, and I, indulge in a passion for all things in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We previously reviewed all the movies, and now we begin a series on WandaVision. If you want to indulge in your love for the MCU with two fans passionate about all things MCU, this is the podcast series for you. In today's episode, Megan and Tom are back to look at the movie Thor-Love and Thunder for this offering.
The first thing to know is that this film is enormous fun. As he did in Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Waititi brings his distinct voice to the Marvel Cinematic Universe's cookie-cutter franchise. His formula balances a tongue-in-cheek tone with adventure, prizing wit over action; a relief from Marvel's more sombre instalments. (Doctor Strange has his qualities but he's not a witty sort.) In Love and Thunder, Waititi injects more emotion than in Ragnarok and goes for weightier themes, about nihilism and belief, love and death. The themes may be half-baked, but they exist.
9738318194