Set after the events of Avengers: Endgame, Thor: Love and Thunder sees the once-mighty titular hero (Chris Hemsworth) set out with the Guardians of the Galaxy on ‘wacky adventures’, saving planets from threats to their safety. Having not dealt with the deaths of various family members and loved ones, Thor is avoiding his feelings of grief and loss. However, when he is called back home to defend Asgard against Gorr the God Butcher (portrayed wonderfully by Christian Bale), he must face his past. Teaming up with Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) and Dr. Jane Foster (a returning Natalie Portman), who has now become the Mighty Thor through a heart-tugging series of events, Thor begins a new set of adventures as he attempts to re-discover his value.
As we’ve come to expect from Taika Waititi (the director/co-writer, who is also back as Korg), the film is heavy on the silly. But, when all the ‘wackiness’ is peeled back, Thor: Love and Thunder deals with some important themes of loss, fear, and doubt, especially as Gorr questions the usefulness of gods to the people who believe in and, in many instances, suffer for them.
What is the importance of faith, especially in the midst of hardship? Is there some reward that we receive after the hardship that makes enduring it worthwhile? As someone who believes in God and has struggled with prayer myself, it was honestly kind of uncomfortable to be faced with those questions within the film. But I find that kind of discomfort useful because it made me examine myself and ask, “why do I believe what I believe?” and “why bother having any hope at all?”
Those are questions you can only answer for yourself, but Love and Thunder doesn’t leave us without offering some hope. Its central theme is that “it’s better to have loved and lost than not to have loved at all,” reminding us that love is worth the pain of possibly getting your heart broken. This sentiment is maybe cliché to some people and I, for one, would love it if we could skip the ‘loss’ part of life, even if it meant functioning as emotionless creatures who are just effective in running the world. Yet, neither of those is the case. Love and Thunder reveals the real complexities of being human and what it takes to thrive as one.
It’s really impressive that writers, Waititi and Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, are able to present these heavy subject matters with such humour. And, yes, the humour is wild. (Personally, it cut back the jokes just a little bit and let the emotion play out more.)
Still, Marvel is showing no signs of slowing down and seems bent on giving us at least one multiverse full of reasons to keep our hopes up.
Thor: Love and Thunder is available in theatres on Friday, July 8th, 2022.
As we discovered in the first film, the Guardians aren’t your prototypical heroes. In Vol. 2, we continue to see their disfunction as a group but different events throughout the film bring them closer together than ever before. Throughout the film, they battle their own insecurities knocking down emotional, spiritual and even physical walls. They are more than friends. Over time, they have become family. With each member coming from a broken background or tragedy, they teach us that family isn’t just about blood. We don’t get to choose our blood relatives and sometimes that means we got dealt a bad batch. However, our kin doesn’t define who we are. Maybe we’re searching for a father figure even though our real dad is right there. Maybe we are looking to feel emotions that we’ve never felt or lashing out because all you wanted was a sister or a brother. Maybe you just think that love is something you can never have and believe that everyone will throw you away eventually, leaving your hurt and angry all the time. Real family, when you find it, brings you the true purpose, not some false ideal that someone else tried to force on you. Though our father, mother, friends, brothers, sisters may all forsake us, we are reminded of Psalm 27:10 and take heart in knowing that the Lord will take us in.
Can we fall so far away that we can’t be redeemed? Simply put, no… but it is our choice whether or not we want to come back from that pit. In this film, different characters are left with that choice and while some followed the path to destruction, others followed the path to redemption. There is a part in the film that captures visually my imagination of what it feels like to truly be redeemed in heaven. A real bright, colorful, fireworks display of celebration that can do nothing more than bring joy to your heart and a tear to the eye. It was a great job in taking these characters and expanding their development and showing true growth.
Of course, we can’t end without talking about little Baby Groot. Many felt that he was left this way for toy sales and (even though Gunn denies it), it is probably true. However, we can’t complain that he was left this way. Yes he was adorable, but it fit the overall theme of the film and didn’t feel like it was forced in order to sell more toys. Without question, he is going to be the favorite of many coming out of this film (as if he isn’t already) but, looking at the film as a whole, you realize that he truly fits the overall theme of family and redemption.
