Since his debut in 2011, Thor has leaped from one genre to another. Starting with a bit of a Shakespearean origin with Kenneth Branagh, the title film has its wild side by adopting more of a heavy hair metal energy brought in by Taika Waititi in “Thor: Ragnarok.” Of course, since the film finally found commercial and critical success, it’s no wonder that Marvel Studios’ president Kevin Feige would want to continue that pace once more with “Thor: Love and Thunder”, and with Waititi back in the director’s chair no less.
Now we find ourselves revisiting the world of Thor once more, with the same kind of energy established by Waititi, but in a completely new story. It will be interesting to see where the franchise goes from here now that its title character is in search of inner peace and finds himself fighting against Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale).
Here’s the official plot synopsis for “Thor: Love and Thunder:”
In Thor: Love and Thunder Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is on a journey unlike anything he’s ever faced – a quest for inner peace. But his retirement is interrupted by a galactic killer known as Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale), who seeks the extinction of the gods. To combat the threat, Thor enlists the help of King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Korg (Taika Waititi) and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who – to Thor’s surprise – inexplicably wields his magical hammer, Mjolnir, as the Mighty Thor. Together, they embark upon a harrowing cosmic adventure to uncover the mystery of the God Butcher’s vengeance and stop him before it’s too late.
While it’s no surprise Chris Hemsworth reprises his role as Thor, the film also brings back a few fan-favorites. One of them being Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who inexplicably possesses the power of Thor now that she wields the formally destroyed Mjolnir. Of course, how this happened within the MCU is still a mystery, but it mirrors a lot of what happened in the comics, who refer to her as Thor. And while we knew this was a long time coming, it still has that wow factor, and none is more surprised than Thor himself.
Chris Pratt, Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, and Sean Gunn also reprise their Guardians of the Galaxy roles. They are presumably searching for Gamora, who went missing after they and the Avengers fought against Thanos and his army. And we get to see a lot of that cheeky humor as Peter Quill tries to give some advice to Thor, who interprets it a little too literally.
“Thor: Love and Thunder” opens in theaters on July 8, 2022.
