Thor: Love and Thunder has divided fans. Whereas Thor: Ragnarok was hailed as a masterpiece and the right direction to take the God of Thunder in, Taika Waititi doubling down on his unique vision resulted in the sequel feeling like something of a chaotic mess. It was a visual delight, sure, and we can't fault the cast...the story, however, was all over the place.
Whether that's down to the movie being a scant two hours or Marvel Studios giving Waititi too much creative freedom is hard to say, but this Honest Trailer doesn't go easy on the blockbuster.
Taking aim at the non-stop jokes and Family Guy-level humour, the trailer quite rightly points out that Thor: Love and Thunder wasted Christian Bale's Gorr the God Butcher. It also brings up the way Valkyrie was utilised and makes some very funny (funny weird, not funny "haha") observations about the Odinson's relationship with his hammers.
We also have to give the Screen Junkies team props for calling out the fact that Korg has gone from being a loveable supporting character to someone who has quickly outstayed his welcome. The video does, however, praise the movie's visuals and Jane Foster's transformation into the Mighty Thor.
"Too silly to take seriously, there’s still a lot to love about Thor: Love and Thunder," we said in our review earlier this year, "but unlike Thor: Ragnarok, it’s unlikely to be a movie you’ll fall in love with. Marvel Studios may be developing a quantity over quality issue."
We don't know what the future holds in store for the Thor franchise. The consensus appears to be that Marvel Studios needs to once again take the hero in a different direction with a fresh creative team, though we don't anticipate another movie happening before The Multiverse Saga ends, regardless.
Check out Thor: Love and Thunder's Honest Trailer below:
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Thor: Love and Thunder's best Easter Eggs!
10. Jane Foster And The Snap
When Thor and Jane Foster are reunited, they both have very different takes on how long they've not been together. While The Mighty Thor hazards a guess at three or four years, the God of Thunder counters that with a far more precise count of over eight years and seven months.
So, what's going on?
Well, common sense says that the five-year difference is a result of Jane Foster being among those who were wiped from existence by Thanos. This would explain why the hero never tracked her down following the events of Avengers: Infinity War and confirms that The Cosmic Quest Volume II: Aftermath book isn't canon (as it suggested Jane has survived The Blip).
9. The Cast's Kids
We've heard a lot about Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, and Taika Waititi's children being in Thor: Love and Thunder, but where exactly do they appear?
Portman's children Aleph and Amala Millepied, Bale's kids, Emmeline and Joseph, and Waititi's daughters Te Kainga O'Te Hinekahu and Matewa Kiritapu are all among those kidnapped by Gorr the God Butcher (another fun Easter Egg comes when Thor grants them all a share of his powers and it spreads through them in the shape of Yggdrasil).
Hemsworth's daughter, Sasha, joined them, while her twin brother Tristan plays the young Thor. The biggest role, however, goes to India Rose. She plays Gorr's daughter and eventually joins the God of Thunder as the superpowered Love.
8. Infinity Conez
Thor: Love and Thunder is a movie with a lot of jokes (like, a lot), but does this one go a step too far?
When King Valkyrie is doing her duties as New Asgard's leader, we see her opening a new ice cream parlour that's been called "Infinity Conez." As someone recently pointed out on Twitter, isn't this the equivalent of opening a Holocaust-themed store? After all, The Blip wiped out half of all life on Earth and traumatised countless millions (if not billions).
This may be a clever pun, but it feels like Marvel Studios needs to decide just how seriously they want to treat Thanos' attack on Earth, especially when it's been completely overlooked in some recent projects.
7. "Nick Furry"
During that fun sequence exploring how and why Thor's relationship with Jane Foster ended, we see the God of Thunder take a call from former S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury.
Seeing as Thor and Jane reunited in 2013's Thor: The Dark World, we have to believe this took place sometime before S.H.I.E.L.D.'s fall in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. What Fury would be calling the God of Thunder about is undeniably intriguing, and there are clearly a lot of missions Earth's Mightiest Heroes embarked on together that we didn't get to see.
However, the funniest part of all this is that Thor has, somehow, come to the conclusion that Fury's name is "Nick Furry."
6. The Necrosword
In the comic books, the Necrosword was created by Knull, the God of Symbiotes. He dreamed it up in order to slay the Celestials after the Big Bang because they brought life and light into a universe that had previously been bathed in darkness.
Heading into Thor: Love and Thunder, we assumed a retcon might be planned to make it so that Gorr recovered Hela's similar weaponry from Thor: Ragnarok (after she died battling Surtur). Instead, Marvel Studios has stuck to the source material, a surprise considering the fact symbiotes and Venom aren't part of the MCU.
Then again, Eddie Brock did leave a piece of his alien costume behind in Spider-Man: No Way Home, so there's every chance this will all start tying together over the next few years.
5. Asgardian Actors
There are lots of fun cameos to discuss in this movie, but among the most enjoyable are those we see during another Asgardian performance. Recapping the events of Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Infinity War, Sam Neill, Matt Damon, and Luke Hemsworth reprise their respective roles as the actors playing Odin, Loki, and Thor.
Joining them this time is Melissa McCarthy as Hela, while her real-life husband gets in on the fun as part of the ensemble.
After New Asgard is attacked by Gorr, we actually see Damon and Hemsworth's Asgardians pestering King Valkyrie for the opportunity to start writing a new play about what's happened that day!
4. The MCU's First Werewolf
This may have felt like a throwaway moment, but as Marvel Studios continues to embrace the supernatural, it could be a bigger deal than you think.
While it's not addressed in a meaningful way here, New Asgard appears to have picked up a lot of strays from across the cosmos. Among them is a child who identifies themselves as being a "Lycan," and we're sure you'll know that's another word for werewolf.
Vampires already exist in the MCU and, following this Halloween's Werewolf by Night Special, we'll learn more about lycanthropes too. However, Jack Russell clearly isn't the first to succumb to that curse based on this fleeing moment!
3. Thor's Tattoos
When Thor is unceremoniously stripped down to his birthday suit by Zeus, we see that the God of Thunder has a massive tattoo on his back paying tribute to Loki. It may look funny, but it's a touching tribute to his fallen brother (remember, he has no idea there's a Loki Variant - well, two of them - alive and well out there somewhere following Avengers: Infinity War).
That's not the only fallen comrade Thor pays tribute too, though.
Look closely and you'll also see Odin, Frigga, and Heimdall's names. Moving outside of Asgard, Thor has even commemorated his fellow Avengers, Iron Man and Black Widow after their respective deaths. Unfortunately, your guess is as good as ours when it comes to the meaning of the flower, though we'd guess the broken heart is for Jane.
2. Familiar Faces From The Thor Franchise
A few characters who didn't make it onto Thor's back are The Warriors Three. Fans were not happy to see how quickly they were killed off in Thor: Ragnarok, but we're beginning to think Waititi isn't a lover of the trio based on how he uses flashbacks to poke fun at their respective demises (Korg can't even remember their names).
On the plus side, the wider Thor franchise gets a little respect with cameos from Erik Selvig and Darcy Lewis.
The latter offers Jane some support during a chemotherapy session, while Erik leaves his old friend a message to say he's been unable to find any sort of cure for her cancer.
1. Some Fun Movie References
As we've established, Thor: Love and Thunder has its fair share of references to the wider MCU, but what about other movies?
There are two noteworthy examples we picked up on, including Korg's story-framing conceit of telling Thor's story to a cave full of children instantly bringing back memories of Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. Even more obscure is the "Cocktails and Dreams" neon sign on the barge our heroes head into the cosmos on.
That's the bar chain Tom Cruise's character worked for in 1988's Cocktail, so we can only assume someone involved with this sequel was a big fan of that movie.