Thor: Love and Thunder is a 2022 American superhero film based on Marvel Comics featuring the character Thor. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the sequel to Thor: Ragnarok (2017) and the 29th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film was directed by Taika Waititi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, and stars Chris Hemsworth as Thor alongside Christian Bale, Tessa Thompson, Jaimie Alexander, Waititi, Russell Crowe, and Natalie Portman. In the film, Thor tries to find inner peace, but must return to action and recruit Valkyrie (Thompson), Korg (Waititi), and Jane Foster (Portman)—who is now the Mighty Thor—to stop Gorr the God Butcher (Bale) from eliminating all gods.
Hemsworth and Waititi had discussed plans for a sequel to Ragnarok by January 2018. Love and Thunder was announced in July 2019, with Hemsworth, Waititi, and Thompson all set to return, as well as Portman who did not appear in Ragnarok. Waititi wanted to differentiate Love and Thunder from Ragnarok, seeking to make a romance film and 1980s-inspired adventure. He adapted elements from Jason Aaron's run on Thor comic books during the 2010s, which similarly debuted Gorr and saw Foster take on the mantle and powers of Thor whilst under treatment for cancer. Robinson joined to contribute to the script in February 2020, and further casting was revealed later that year including the appearance of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Production was expected to begin in late 2020 but was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Filming ultimately began in January 2021 in Sydney, Australia with Barry Idoine as the director of photography, and concluded at the beginning of June.
Thor: Love and Thunder premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, on June 23, 2022, and was released in the United States on July 8, as part of Phase Four of the MCU. The film received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the performances of Hemsworth, Bale and Portman, but criticized its visual effects and tonal inconsistencies. The film grossed $760.9 million worldwide, making it the eighth-highest-grossing film of 2022, as well as the second-highest-grossing film in the Thor franchise.
Plot Gorr and his daughter, Love, the last of their race, struggle in a barren desert. Despite their prayers to their god, Rapu, Love dies. The god-killing Necrosword calls to Gorr, leading him to Rapu's lush realm. After Rapu cruelly mocks and dismisses Gorr's plight, he renounces the god, causing Rapu to start strangling him. The Necrosword offers itself to Gorr, who kills Rapu with it and vows to kill all gods. Gorr is granted the ability to manipulate shadows and produce monsters, but is cursed with impending death and corruption under the sword's influence.
Thor has joined the Guardians of the Galaxy after the Avengers' battle against Thanos. He learns of a distress signal from Sif, so he parts ways with the team. He finds an injured Sif, who warns that Gorr's next target is New Asgard. Meanwhile, Dr. Jane Foster, Thor's ex-girlfriend, has been diagnosed with stage four terminal cancer. With medical treatment proving ineffective, she travels to New Asgard hoping that Thor's hammer Mjolnir, which was previously fractured by Hela, might heal her. 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 numerous 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.
The group arrives at the Shadow Realm but are unable to locate the children. Foster sees ancient drawings that depict Thor's battle-axe Stormbreaker as a way to summon the Bifrost to enter Eternity, and deduces the trap laid out by Gorr. She throws away Stormbreaker to prevent Gorr from accessing it. However, Gorr overpowers the group and threatens to kill Foster, forcing Thor to summon it back. Gorr steals Stormbreaker and injures Valkyrie before a weakened Foster collapses.
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.
In the aftermath, the children return to New Asgard, where Valkyrie and Sif commence their training, and a monument is erected in Foster's memory. Thor adopts Love, who accompanies him in his heroics, with Thor wielding Mjolnir and Love wielding Stormbreaker. In a mid-credits scene, Zeus sends his son Hercules to kill Thor in revenge as he recuperates in Omnipotence City. In a post-credits scene, Foster arrives at the gates of Valhalla, where Heimdall welcomes her.
Cast
Chris Hemsworth as Thor:A founding Avenger and the former king of Asgard, based on the Norse mythological deity of the same name. Director Taika Waititi said that Thor is going through a midlife crisis in the film, as he is "just trying to figure out his purpose, trying to figure out exactly who he is and why he's a hero or whether he should be a hero". Thor has a large tattoo on his back that memorializes his family and friends that have previously died. Hemsworth's twin sons Sasha and Tristan portray Thor as a child. Christian Bale as Gorr the God Butcher:A scarred wielder of the Necrosword and manipulator of shadows who seeks the extinction of the gods. Waititi described Gorr as being "very formidable" and layered. Bale felt the character had a "sort of a Nosferatu slight attitude", and took inspiration from the music video for the Aphex Twin song "Come to Daddy" (1997). Waititi opted to change Gorr's facial features in the film since his original look in the comics resembles Lord Voldemort from the Harry Potter film series. Odd Studio created Gorr's practical makeup. Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie:The king of New Asgard, based on the mythological being Brynhildr. Thompson and producer Kevin Feige said the character's bisexuality would be addressed in the film. Waititi said Valkyrie had to adjust to the bureaucratic aspects of ruling, away from the battlefield, such as dealing with the infrastructure and economy of New Asgard and hosting delegates from other countries. Jaimie Alexander as Sif: An Asgardian warrior and Thor's childhood friend, based on the Norse mythological deity of the same name. Taika Waititi as Korg: A Kronan gladiator who befriended Thor. Waititi also voices the Kronan god Ninny of the Nonny. Russell Crowe as Zeus:The king of the Olympians, based on the Greek mythological deity of the same name. Crowe wanted to perform the role in a Greek accent, but Waititi thought it would sound "too silly", so he had Crowe do takes in both a Greek and British accent, with Waititi suggesting the British accent be similar to the one Crowe used for Maximus Decimus Meridius in the film Gladiator (2000). Waititi finally concluded that Crowe was correct and used the Greek accent in the final film. Natalie Portman as Jane Foster / Mighty Thor:An astrophysicist and Thor's ex-girlfriend who is undergoing cancer treatment and who gains powers to become the Mighty Thor by wielding a reconstructed Mjolnir, the hammer previously wielded by Thor. Portman, who did not appear in the previous film Thor: Ragnarok (2017), agreed to return after a meeting with Waititi, who said Foster's return to Thor's life after eight years would be a big adjustment for him since she has had another life without him. Waititi added that Foster showing up dressed like Thor would be a "real mindfuck" for him. In preparation for her role, Portman took the Mjolnir prop home to practice using it for her stunts.
Additionally, the Guardians of the Galaxy are featured in the film, with Chris Pratt, Karen Gillan, Dave Bautista, Pom Klementieff, Sean Gunn, Vin Diesel, and Bradley Cooper reprising their respective MCU roles as Peter Quill / Star-Lord, Nebula, Drax the Destroyer, Mantis, Kraglin Obfonteri, Groot, and Rocket. Matt Damon, Sam Neill, and Luke Hemsworth reprise their roles as Asgardian actors respectively playing Loki, Odin, and Thor from Ragnarok, with Melissa McCarthy joining them as an Asgardian actress playing Hela, and McCarthy's husband Ben Falcone as the stage manager. Miek, who previously appeared in Ragnarok and the film Avengers: Endgame (2019) via CGI, is voiced by Stephen Murdoch, while Carly Rees provides the motion capture performance for the character. Also returning from previous MCU media are Kat Dennings and Stellan Skarsgård as Foster's colleagues Darcy Lewis and Erik Selvig, respectively, and Idris Elba as Heimdall in the post-credits scene. Daley Pearson appears as New Asgard tour guide Darryl Jacobson, after first portraying the role in Marvel Studios' Team Thor (2016–2018) short film series. Archive footage from previous MCU films of Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Anthony Hopkins as Odin, Rene Russo as Frigga, Ray Stevenson as Volstagg, Tadanobu Asano as Hogun, and Zachary Levi as Fandral is featured at the beginning of the film. Chanique Greyling portrays a young Frigga during a flashback sequence.
Deities introduced in the film include: Simon Russell Beale as the Olympian god Dionysus, based on the Greek mythological deity of the same name; Jonathan Brugh (who appeared as Deacon Brucke 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; Akosia Sabet as Bast, a goddess who is a member of both the Heliopolitan and Wakandan pantheons, based on the Egyptian mythological deity Bastet; Kuni Hashimoto as the Japanese god Jademurai; Carmen Foon as the Roman goddess Minerva; and Stephen Hunter as the Fur God. Also appearing in the film are Kieron L. Dyer as Axl, Heimdall's son, Chris Hemsworth's daughter India Rose Hemsworth as Love, Gorr's daughter who is adopted by Thor, and Stephen Curry as Yakan, the ruler of the planet Indigarr. Cameos in the film include Bale, Portman, and Waititi's children as New Asgard children; Hemsworth's wife, Elsa Pataky, as the wolf woman who was one of Thor's past lovers; Indiana Evans as one of the Zeusettes; Jenny Morris as a New Asgard citizen; Chloé Gouneau as Foster's mother Elaine in a flashback sequence; Dave Cory as Dwayne, a Kronan who becomes Korg's partner in a romantic relationship; and Brett Goldstein as Zeus's son Hercules in the mid-credits scene.