“Thor: Love and Thunder” is directed and co-written by Taika Waititi, along with co-writer Jennifer Kaytin Robinson. It follows Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale) as he goes down a path of revenge to make every god in the universe pay for the death of his daughter (played by India Rose Hemsworth). Since New Asgard is a pit-stop in that path, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) tries to catch him early and stop him. But he fails, and so do King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) and Mighty Thor/Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), thereby allowing Gorr to kidnap Asgardian children. So, they (along with Korg) travel into the great beyond to rescue the children and find a weapon that can hopefully rival Gorr and his uber-powerful Necrosword.
Spoilers Ahead
Why Does Gorr Choose To Redeem Himself Before Dying?
The short answer to that question is that Marvel is too scared to make an out-and-out bad villain after Thanos (Josh Brolin) because it will probably impact their toy sales. Here’s the long answer. Gorr wants Stormbreaker because it will give him access to Eternity, who will grant him one wish, and he will use that wish to destroy all the gods in the universe. So, he lures Thor, Valkyrie, and Jane to the Shadow Realm and tries to nab Stormbreaker. The trio put up a passable fight, but when Thor summons the Bifrost to get out of there, Gorr snatches it and proceeds to the temple that has the pathway to Eternity.
Valkyrie is benched because Gorr stabbed her through the back (but it didn’t kill her because she has to appear in future movies). Jane is benched too because, as revealed to Thor, her Mighty Thor transformations have aggravated her cancer. If she transforms again, she is going to die. So, Thor goes out on his own, armed with Zeus’s (Russell Crowe) thunderbolt and reaches right when the kids (who are with Gorr in the temple) are about to be crushed by the headpiece of a statue of a Celestial. Realizing that he won’t be enough to face Gorr and his shadow monsters, he gives his power to the kids (on a temporary basis), and they engage their respective enemies.
While the Asgardian kids, led by Heimdall’s son Axl (Kieron L. Dyer), manage to hold their own, Thor gets knocked down. And just when Gorr is about to stab Thor with the Necrosword, Jane shows up and saves him. Jane keeps Gorr busy while Thor stops Stormbreaker from creating a pathway to Eternity. They do manage to take Stormbreaker out of Gorr’s hold and also destroy the Necromancer sword. But that doesn’t stop Gorr from stepping through the gate to Eternity, thereby transporting himself, Thor, and Jane into a cloudy void with a water-y floor. Gorr approaches Eternity and is about to make his wish, but Thor and Jane stop him.
The duo manages to convince Gorr (who is now out of the Necrosword’s spell) to wish for his daughter’s resurrection because Thor will look after him even after Gorr’s gone. Jane dies and turns into pixie dust. Gorr dies too. The shape of Eternity turns into Gorr’s daughter, which means that Gorr chooses the life of his daughter over the death of the gods. Back in New Asgard, the children return to be trained by Valkyrie and Sif (Jaimie Alexander). Korg proceeds to have a baby with a Kronan called Dwayne (it’s a Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson joke, yes). Thor adopts Gorr’s daughter, who is called Love, apparently. She can shoot beams out of her eyes and wield Stormbreaker. Thor goes back to using Mjolnir. And they jump into a battle with some bad aliens.
See More: ‘Thor: Love And Thunder’ Review – One Of The Worst Movies Of The Year
Is That Hercules In The Mid-Credits Scene?
Yes, that’s Hercules in the mid-credits of “Thor: Love and Thunder,” and he is being played by Brett Goldstein, who gained an immense amount of popularity for playing Roy Kent in “Ted Lasso.” And, yes, Zeus is apparently not dead. His thunderbolt just went straight through his chest, and he is healing. But he is angry because Thor humiliated him in front of everyone in Omnipotence City. He is also angry because humans don’t revere Gods as the real superheroes and instead consider the folks in capes and unitards as Gods. So, he is sending Hercules to make Thor fall from the sky and start the journey of regaining his former glory.
As per the comics, Thor first appeared in the Marvel comic series called “Journey into Mystery.” It wasn’t until 1966 that he got his own self-titled issue. And the cover of that issue featured him fighting Hercules. Hercules was initially established as Thor’s rival, but he eventually went on to become his ally. He has been a part of the Avengers and helped them take on Mad Thinker, Namor, Diablo, Dragon Man, Red Guardian, Whirlwind, and the Titan Typhon. His personality is similar to that of a pampered celebrity. So, it will be quite interesting to see Goldstein take on this role and work opposite Hemsworth.
‘Thor: Love And Thunder’ Post-Credits Scene Explained: Who Does Jane Foster Meet In The End?
Jane Foster is dead in Midgard (the Asgardian name for the Earth realm). But since she became a Space Viking before dying, her soul and/or her physical self has been transported to Valhalla. There she is welcomed by Heimdall (Idris Elba). He was last seen getting stabbed by Thanos (Josh Brolin) in “Avengers: Infinity War.” But apparently, he has been chilling all this time in Valhalla. Which brings up the question: do any of the Asgardians need to mourn? Because if death means chilling in Valhalla, then all death is meaningless? Am I right, or am I overthinking this too much? Anyway, Jane and Heimdall are in Valhalla, and I guess she’ll meet Odin (Anthony Hopkins) and Frigga (Rene Russo) there and party together.
So, as per the comics, Jane Foster’s stint as Mighty Thor wasn’t this short-lived. She took on Malekith and Cul Borson. She took part in the Secret Wars. She became a senator of the Congress of Worlds whilst being pursued by Cul. She aided Thor in the war between Svartalfheim and Alfheim and encountered several versions of Loki. Her death in the comics and her death in the movie are similar. Turning into Mighty Thor aggravated her cancer. But in order to stop Mangog, she did it anyway and died. Thor and Odin pulled Jane back from the gates of Valhalla and essentially resurrected her. And she continued to fight her cancer and stayed away from Mjolnir and her Mighty Thor transformation. Will the movie do all this in the future? I seriously don’t know.
