"It's a bold strategy" memes at the ready!
Thor: Love and Thunder arrives in theatres today (tomorrow in some territories), and Marvel Studios' fourth solo Thor movie certainly shows us a different side to Chris Hemsworth's Asgardian hero, as he grows weary of battle and turns his attention to settling down with old flame Jane Foster (Natalie Portman).
Ragnarok already showcased a more comedic (some might say "goofy") take on the Odinson, but director Taika Waititi really set out to shake things up with his sequel by delivering a version of the Avenger fans... didn't want?
"I wanted to show him in a light that most Thor fans wouldn’t really want if you were to tell them,” Waititi explains to AP News. “If you were to say them: ‘Yeah, I’m going to make Thor in love,’ it’s probably the last thing that a Thor fan really wants to hear.”
“For me, it’s good to give the fans something they don’t know that they want,” the writer/director continued. “With Ragnarok especially, when I signed on, a lot of fans were freaked out by that. They were like, ‘Who is this guy? He’s going to take our precious Thor and ruin it.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah. Exactly. That’s exactly my intention. And I’m going to make it better, you just don’t know it yet.’”
Waititi seems very confident that fans will embrace this interpretation of the character, and he has every right to be after the critical and commercial success of Ragnarok. That said, Love and Thunder hasn't fared quite so well with the critics (it currently sits at 70% on Rotten Tomatoes), and while it's expected to have a strong opening weekend, it remains to be seen how positively - or otherwise - audiences respond in the coming weeks.
What do you guys think of the more light-hearted take on Thor we've seen in The MCU over the past few years? Drop us a comment down below.
About The Author:
Mark Cassidy is a writer, photographer, amateur filmmaker, and Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic from Dublin, Ireland.