Thor: Love And Thunder Trailer Breakdown: A Hero No More
Fans have been clamoring for it for weeks, and Marvel decided to make everyone's Monday morning just a bit more interesting by finally releasing the "Thor: Love and Thunder" teaser trailer. And, as Marvel Cinematic Universe movies go, this is very much a teaser, as it offers mere tastes of the madness coming our way in director Taika Waititi's follow up to 2017's beloved "Thor: Ragnarok."
While we do have a great many questions, we are going to take a much closer look at what is going on here by breaking down the trailer, moment by moment. Let's dig in, shall we?
The evolution of Thor
The trailer opens up with some soft guitar work and we see a young Thor running through the woods. As the footage rolls on, we see the God of Thunder transitioning through the years rapidly, going from teen Thor to pre-God Thor when we first met him in 2011.
It's a kind of fun way to showcase the evolution of this character in rapid succession to help set the stage for the story about to be told here. Not to spoil anything we're going to talk about here in a few moments. Also, make note of teen Thor's comic-accurate costume, which is certainly a nice touch.
The god returns
The whole montage concludes with a bit of fire and brimstone as we see Chris Hemsworth return with a fancy new fur-lined cape. He looks dead serious, but in a focused way, not in a "god of war" sort of way, and that is going to become very important as we move along here.
Tools for peace
Here we get to arguably the single most pivotal moment in the trailer, which sees Thor declare that Stormbreaker, his ax from "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Endgame," is but a humble tool for peace. He is no longer a god of war. He is trying to find his way and doing so through peaceful means.
Meditating Thor
Now we see a very peaceful, kind of beautiful shot with Thor, once the angry son of a beloved God of Asgard, meditating underneath a tree, overlooking nature in an unknown location, contemplating who exactly he is. Let us not forget that he surrendered the Asgardian throne to Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie (more on that in a minute) at the end of "Endgame." So he's got some soul searching to do.
Workout montage
When last we left our hero, he had put on quite a bit of very understandable depression weight following Thanos' snap. However, Thor is getting back in shape here, using gigantic chains instead of ropes to do so. Also, notice his "Strongest Avenger" hat as a nice little callback to "Ragnarok."
As for what those chains are attached to? The decaying bones of a giant being, perhaps a troll based on the shape, though it is totally unclear. It's also around this time that "Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns N' Roses kicks in full stop, which makes for a remarkably interesting choice of soundtrack.
The Guardians of the Galaxy return
Now we get to one of the big moments as the Guardians of the Galaxy are back. Thor blasted off with Star-Lord and the gang at the end of "Endgame" and it appears they are spending some real-time with one another. In this case, he is annoying Chris Pratt's Star-Lord right before a battle.
While everyone else is trying to be stealthy about it, Thor decides to just get right out in the open and make a mess of things. This clearly does not sit well with Star-Lord and the two are still seemingly at odds, with a pinch of love still there between them. Also, make note of Thor's very different get up here, as he's seemingly trying to fit in with the Guardians a bit more.
Abstaining from battle
Here, in an entirely different battle shot with Thor wearing his more traditional garb, he is choosing to abstain from battle. Clearly, something has happened to make him want to be a god of peace, rather than a god of war. What is that thing, exactly? The answer to that question is being hidden for now.
The Guardians say goodbye
In this shot, we see the Guardians taking off from an unidentified planet in the Milano, seemingly ending their team-up with Thor, leaving him to find his path in the galaxy as a new man declaring, "My superheroing days are over." Though he won't be alone.
Hello, Korg!
And would you look at that! Our pal Korg (played by Waititi) is back for more, and it appears that he is going to be paling around with Thor for much of this adventure as we'll come to find out throughout the rest of this trailer. The dynamic between these two was so strong last time around that it's hard to imagine anyone will have an issue with that. Also, make note of his colorful new pants.
Space goat chariot
Waititi has promised a crazy movie and this shot of space goats (which is actually something ripped right from the comics) carrying a space boat across the water is truly something to behold and makes it seem as though Marvel let the filmmaker cut loose once again. Perhaps even more so than on "Ragnarok."
Olympus?
We're going to get some more evidence very soon to point us in this direction, but it appears the above city/planet is Olympus, the home of Zeus.
We've also got the above shot from much later in the trailer to help cement the point that this is indeed Zeus' stomping grounds. Thor, in the pages of Marvel Comics, ends up blending in a lot of actual Norse mythology so including Zeus and other real gods, as well as locations such as Olympus, would make an awful lot of sense. Especially as we're entering the fourth movie in the franchise.
A mysterious pirate kiss
Now here's something interesting! We see a blue-haired person who appears to be a space pirate of sorts, and Thor is kissing them. It's been a little bit since Thor had an actual on-screen romance with Natalie Portman's Jane Foster, and maybe he's going to cut loose on this little self-discovery mission. But old flames will return (more on that in a minute), making this proposition all the more interesting.
Behold! Russell Crowe as Zeus!
Well, well, well, if it isn't Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe entering the MCU as none other than Zeus. Hence, why we feel it's safe to assume that shot from earlier is indeed Olympus.
While we don't see his face, the thunderbolt there, as well as the shot from the back, make it pretty damn clear who we're looking at. Now, what will bring Thor face-to-face with Zeus? That is an interesting question that has absolutely zero answers right now.
High five, bro
Not a whole lot to say here of substance but it is nice to see Korg and Thor continuing to develop their bromance with a crisp high five here. What has prompted their excitement? We shall see but this is one of the most promising relationships going in the MCU right now.
From page to screen
This is without question one of the more impressive shots from the trailer, but it also is ripped directly from the pages of Jason Aaron's "Thor" run in the comics. And I don't mean a little wink and nod, this is a straight-up, completely faithful pull.
While the creature is named Falligar the Behemoth, this very much looks like the Deviants from "Eternals," and that could provide a little bit of connective tissue to last year's MCU film.
New Asgard, tourist destination
This is another very interesting show, as we see New Asgard back on Earth. Only it has seemingly become a huge tourist destination following the events of "Endgame," with cruise ships hanging out in the waters just offshore, which adds a pretty interesting wrinkle to the whole thing.
Hello, Valkyrie!
Speaking of interesting, here we have our first look at Tessa Thompson back in the saddle as Valkyrie. Though she is in a suit-and-tie in a board room filled with other suits. She is now the King of Asgard and it appears her duties have become quite tiresome and boring, given the look on her face. Perhaps all of this tourism business and the duties of an Earth-bound leader are not what she had in mind?
The full Guardians lineup
And finally, we see the whole Guardians of the Galaxy team (minus Gamora) assembled, whilst Star-Lord give some advice to Thor. Saying, "You ever feel lost, just look into the eyes of the people that you love," he is very clearly looking at his crew.
Thor can't help but try to force his head into the frame hoping that Peter Quill loves him too. Thor just needs somebody to love, apparently. Hence, the title of the movie.
Jane Foster returns ... as The Mighty Thor!
Last, but most certainly not least, the final moments of the trailer reveal Thor's trusty hammer Mjolnir coming into the frame but missing his hands entirely and heading straight for the hand of none other than Natalie Portman's Jane Foster. We haven't seen Jane in quite some time and, as we can see, she is our new Thor. This, it would seem, is quite the surprise to Chris Hemsworth's God of Thunder, given the look on his face.
This is yet another key storyline ripped directly from the pages of Marvel Comics. Clearly, much is being hidden here as we don't even get a look at Christian Bale, who is playing the movie's villain, Gorr the God Butcher. As is often the case, we are left with more questions than answers but this is one heck of a note to leave off on. We'll see what more we can learn when the full-length trailer arrives a little closer to the movie's release.
"Thor: Love and Thunder" hits theaters on July 8, 2022.