Thor: Love & Thunder

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

 

So, after a colossal amount of internet whinge whenever Marvel did anything but drop this teaser, here it is.

Spoiler

• Taika seems to be in an oddly reflective mood for this one... it's a very gentle trailer.
• Everyone's favourite blonde rock lummox is working to get himself back in shape, but what for? Even a team-up with the Guardians isn't rocking his goat-powered boat right now.
• Similarly, Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie, despite rocking the suit, seems bored as all hell as the new Queen of New Asgard (which welcomes careful drivers.) Lots of admin, not enough smiting. 
• If you're wondering who our special guest god Zeus is before they turn around, that'd be one Russ Le Roq, and I'm already giggling about how that could play out.
• Bastet (Wakanda's primary goddess) also shows up, played by relative newcomer Akosia Sabet.
• Liam Hemsworth, Sam Neill and Melissa McCarthy will also be cameoing.
• No sign of Christian Bale's Gorr The God Butcher...
• ...or much action at all, in fact - the whole vibe seems to be turning away from action.
• But it all pays off in those last 3 seconds.
• Ever had that feel where you saw someone you love in a new, unexpected light, and fallen hard for them all over again?
  That. That feel right there.

 

Edited April 18, 2022 by ThaOGDreamWeaver

[Cancrusher]

Well, this is on my must-see list, now.  😁👍

[InvaderStych]

Where can I get me one of those "Strongest Avenger" trucker hats?

[Glacier Peak]

Someone explain to me the GNR music choice!!! I love GNR, but I didn't understand how it fit in with the trailer. Maybe I am overthinking it. Nice visuals, excited to see it soon!

[Apparition]

8 minutes ago, Glacier Peak said:

Someone explain to me the GNR music choice!!! I love GNR, but I didn't understand how it fit in with the trailer. Maybe I am overthinking it. Nice visuals, excited to see it soon!

 

 

Thor and Star-Lord are both children of gods, (sort of?)

[InvaderStych]

56 minutes ago, Glacier Peak said:

Someone explain to me the GNR music choice!!!

 

Yeah, sort of struck me too, but not in the same way.¹ It does fit in with the distinctly 80s aesthetic used in the titles.

 

48 minutes ago, Apparition said:

Thor and Star-Lord are both children of gods, (sort of?)

 

I can dig it.

 

However ....

 

Where do we go?
Where do we go now?
Where do we go?

 

... the ending refrain, in spite of its conspicuous absence, might be the link.

 

Where do we go when we don't know who we are?

 

That said it could just be a case of the folks hired to cut the teaser having a bit of fun.

 

 

1 - Still waiting for satisfaction of my desire for them to choreograph Thor to Amon Amarth, which is the most correct pairing.

[Glacier Peak]

Well the problem is I think of that song with its lyrics as a literal interpretation. So when I see it selectively edited in to a trailer, I'm a bit confused considering it's about a former love interest of the lead singer. Maybe I'm over thinking 😄 

[InvaderStych]

35 minutes ago, Glacier Peak said:

I'm a bit confused considering it's about a former love interest of the lead singer.

 

Not saying this is the case, but there are companies who cut trailers for their bread & butter.  Chances are Marvel rolls their own, but it is possible (though unlikely given how they love to play close to the chest with their content) they outsourced this one?

 

OTOH, the last shot of the teaser is a former love interest, so ...... 🤷‍♂️

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

"Sweet Child" is a slightly odd choice, though IMHO:

• It's still very much Blessed By The Gods Of Rock, but the pacing and whining wistful tone are ideal for a slower, more reflective trailer.
• As m'learned coll' @InvaderStych says, it's very much "where do we go now..."
• The song choice does imply our favourite 80s throwback Avenger isn't searching for something so much as... someone.
• But she's very much a new model someone. I don't know if you've been in that situation where someone tries to come back to a relationship after absence, where one has gone through a major change (on either side). But someone just trying to pick up where they left off and expecting it to all go the same... does not choose wisely.
• Learning to set aside what you had and embrace the new is a Major Learning Process for anyone, let alone our overconfident blonde lummox...
• ...even moreso when she's just taken his gig and looking damn fine doing it.
• Another lyric is "I'd hate to look into those eyes and see an ounce of pain". There's a lot of things this could refer to, not least...
  Spoiler

  This is probably not a spoiler for most of you, but Jane has simultaneously gained superpowers while slowly losing her life to cancer - Mjölnir grants the bearer a massive DamRes bonus including Toxic (hey, neat!): but can't tell the difference between poison and Midgardian chemotherapy. It also leads Odinsson and co to dismiss Jane as being the possible new Thor due to her weakened condition, which is going to annoy her. It's a big dual role in the comics: quite possibly what attracted Portman to come back, along with Waititi's script and direction.

   

Edited April 19, 2022 by ThaOGDreamWeaver

[Hyperstrike]

The music choice also reflects how much closer Thor is coming to humanity in general.

Remember the original movie.  Big, bombastic, orchestral.  Basically screams "I am a god."  This is Thor as, essentially, still a child.

But as Thor's life has gotten progressively crazier, and more alienated from his childhood, the music begins to change.  What we're seing now is a more adult Thor.  Still trying to find himself.  And finding himself VERY different from the model of his father and the one that had been laid out for him.

[Jiro Ito]

They should have called it Thfour!  It even looks Scandinavian!

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

Another thing to note in Marvel lately is that Waititi - and others - have been embracing more of the art of Marvel. Shot for shot - well, frame for frame, I suppose.

[DougGraves]

19 hours ago, Glacier Peak said:

I'm a bit confused considering it's about a former love interest of the lead singer. 

 

Um, the movie is Love & Thunder.  It is about Thor and his former love interest Jane Foster.  

[Glacier Peak]

51 minutes ago, DougGraves said:

Um, the movie is Love & Thunder.  It is about Thor and his former love interest Jane Foster.  

Yeah, good catch 👍 

[Techwright]

So based on a smattering of chatterings around the web, is this production introducing the Marvel version of the Olympians?  I've been wondering for a while if they'd ever introduce Marvel's Hercules to the MCU.  Strong like Thor, less control and common sense.  I was also wondering because a certain chain exercise looked like a very old Titan was an unwilling participant.  Made me think of Prometheus with a bad outcome. (Or perhaps a good outcome.  Sure beats getting your ever-growing liver ripped out by carrion birds every day.)

[Hyperstrike]

On 4/19/2022 at 10:28 PM, Techwright said:

So based on a smattering of chatterings around the web, is this production introducing the Marvel version of the Olympians?  I've been wondering for a while if they'd ever introduce Marvel's Hercules to the MCU.  Strong like Thor, less control and common sense.  I was also wondering because a certain chain exercise looked like a very old Titan was an unwilling participant.  Made me think of Prometheus with a bad outcome. (Or perhaps a good outcome.  Sure beats getting your ever-growing liver ripped out by carrion birds every day.)

What'd be REALLY funny if they covered the chorus from the animated Herc film on introducing him...

[Mike Morbid]

7 hours ago, Hyperstrike said:

What'd be REALLY funny if they covered the chorus from the animated Herc film on introducing him...

What about the Hercules cartoon from the 60s?

[ShardWarrior]

Trailer 2

 

 

I am hoping they are not going a little too silly for this one.  The story arc from the comics with Gorr was not a comedy.

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

I have the strangest feeling it's a way from being 100% a comedy, and will go to darker places than Ragnarok. Especially the Mad Max:Beyond Thunderdome tribute at the start of the trailer from Korg (in past tense), the village fight that Jane gets mixed up in, and the odd flicks to very Bergmanesque B&W at 1:30 to 1:40 in the version you've linked to.

 

I have a feeling Gorr wins, at least temporarily.

But for a Marvel hero, death isn't ever the end... is it? Entering Valhalla proper together would be one hell of a stage exit for Hemsworth and Portman.

 

I also think Gorr's going to get Melvined at some point, but that's just my inner teenager talking.

Edited May 24, 2022 by ThaOGDreamWeaver

[DougGraves]

Marvel has a lot of deaths in their movies from Guardians of the Galaxy to Infinity War to Ragnarok to Multiverse of Madness.  So I imagine this will have the same feel as the "modern" MCU movies while having a lot of deaths.

[Shred Monkey]

Ok so I saw it this weekend.  I went in expecting a Taika Waititi movie and came out feeling like I just watched a 2 hour GnR music video.  Seriously, not just Sweet Child of Mine, but also Welcome to the Jungle, and Paradise City plus many references in background and dialog.  GnR was practically a character in the movie (I was looking for slash to be an extra after a while, but didn't see him if he was there).

 

Generally I enjoyed the movie from a shallow "lets just have fun" perspective.  But I won't try to defend it as an amazing movie experience.  I watched it with my 16 year old son and we had a good time.

 

Spoiler

 

Christian Bale's character and performance was so well done, it didn't fit in this movie.  He had a legitimate reason for his anger.  The resolution to his story was equally impactful and satisfying.  If the entire movie had that tone, it could have been a seriously great movie.  Instead it was just a campy comedy, basically just playing for laughs the entire time.  It was fun, but I'm disappointed they wasted a clear path to being much better.

 

The reprise of GnR's November Rain to the scene of children destroying shadow monsters was epic.

 

 

Edited July 19, 2022 by Shred Monkey

[Mr. Vee]

All I can say for it is at least it wasn't quite as bad as No Way Home or Multiverse. But I'm really starting to hate these things almost as much as CW shows.

[Doc_Scorpion]

6 hours ago, Shred Monkey said:

Generally I enjoyed the movie from a shallow "lets just have fun" perspective.  But I won't try to defend it as an amazing movie experience.

Same here.

I think the basic problem is that the MCU writers/showrunners/what have you...  have never really figured out what to do with Thor [the character].  They just keep rebranding him hoping that this time it'll be different.  This time it'll stick.  They tossed away their last, best hope when he handed over the reins of New Asgard to Valkyrie.

[El D]

I can definitely understand why folks take issue with 'Current MCU Thor' - he basically got the Gimli treatment from the LOTR films.

 

IMO the core issue, at least as far as MCU progression goes, is that while Thor was much more serious/accurate to the average comic portrayal in the beginning they never expanded on Asgard or much of the Nine Realms. The origin film took place mostly on Earth with a depowered Thor for most of the runtime, and The Dark World was... well, The Dark World. The Warriors Three were just sort of 'there' after the first film, Lady Sif got sidelined, Heimdal had a few cool scenes but not much else, Odin was relevant for a bit, but Frigga never did much (aside from that great appearance in Endgame). Loki was the only other Asgard-based character with an arc, so much so that he kind of stole the focus from Thor for a bit - even in his own movies. The sad fact is, as far as the MCU goes, Asgard getting invaded and the nuked in Ragnarok was the most interesting thing to happen to it.

 

Had the first Thor been about Dr. Foster discovering a path to Asgard and the mortal science team helping Thor learn humility there, on a grand fantasy adventure (while Loki sneakily gathers intelligence on 'Midgard's protectors' from her, Darcy, and Selvig) things might have progressed very differently. Asgard might have been a place worth investing in, instead of a really pretty but flat background that was viewed as holding Thor back. An understandable view (again, Dark World) but also one that the MCU kind of did to itself.

Edited July 18, 2022 by El D

[Hyperstrike]

1 hour ago, El D said:

I can definitely understand why folks take issue with 'Current MCU Thor' - he basically got the Gimli treatment from the LOTR films.

 

IMO the core issue, at least as far as MCU progression goes, is that while Thor was much more serious/accurate to the average comic portrayal in the beginning they never expanded on Asgard or much of the Nine Realms. The origin film took place mostly on Earth with a depowered Thor for most of the runtime, and The Dark World was... well, The Dark World. The Warriors Three were just sort of 'there' after the first film, Lady Sif got sidelined, Heimdal had a few cool scenes but not much else, Odin was relevant for a bit, but Frigga never did much (aside from that great appearance in Endgame). Loki was the only other Asgard-based character with an arc, so much so that he kind of stole the focus from Thor for a bit - even in his own movies. The sad fact is, as far as the MCU goes, Asgard getting invaded and the nuked in Ragnarok was the most interesting thing to happen to it.

 

Had the first Thor been about Dr. Foster discovering a path to Asgard and the mortal science team helping Thor learn humility there, on a grand fantasy adventure (while Loki sneakily gathers intelligence on 'Midgard's protectors' from her, Darcy, and Selvig) things might have progressed very differently. Asgard might have been a place worth investing in, instead of a really pretty but flat background that was viewed as holding Thor back. An understandable view (again, Dark World) but also one that the MCU kind of did to itself.

Don't get me wrong.  Yes, I have problems with the latest film.  But the basic "conceit" of the films is something I agree with.

The first film is the full and "alien" majesty of Asgard in its prime.  Where Thor is woefully unprepared to deal with Earth/Midgard and the initial growth from being a child.

The second film shows his further alienation from his home culture and his assimilation of Earth culture.  Plus the traumas involved when his home is threatened.

The third film is kinda the "Rebelious teenager" entry in the franchise.  It's not that Thor's being rebellious.  It's that he's taking on more responsibilities with his own people, while still assimilating Earth culture.  And the Immigrant Song is the initial melding of his life as a god and his life on earth as a whole.

Infinity War MAJORLY FUBAR's Thor's growth.  Sending him off looking for himself after the end of the two films.

In L&T, he's managed to find a new balance in his life.  Yeah.  Unstable and a bit crazy.  But whose life ISN'T?
And the story of the loss of love and his acceptance of a different path for his life kinda ties it all back.

1: Operatic->Cinematic
2: Cinematic
3: Cinematic->Rock
4: Rock