Thor: Love and Thunder, one of the most eagerly awaited Marvel projects, has finally come with a bang and has thus far received a fantastic reception. After Thor: Ragnarok, Taika Waititi takes over, and this is yet another funny, emotional adventure with some of Thor’s fighting prowess sprinkled in.
The movie is more lighthearted and enjoyable than it is serious, and viewers will be pleasantly delighted by several unexpected cameos and new characters that are brought into the mix.
In this video, we will walk you through every new character we met while also revealing the hilarious cameos that the audience adored. You have been forewarned that there may be some spoilers along the road.
Prior to explaining further, we have a very minor request.
Please subscribe to our channel if you enjoy our work. It may seem like a tiny gesture to you, but it means a lot to us.
Gorr the God Butcher – played by Christian Bale
One of the Hollywood icons that embodies perfection is Christian Bale. He seamlessly transitions into the roles, whether it be playing Batman in the Nolanverse or playing pivotal roles in films like American Hustle or The Machinist. Gorr the God Butcher, the film’s principal antagonist, could not possibly be handled by anybody else. Gorr, as his name suggests, is only interested in one thing: getting rid of all the gods.
He had begun as a committed follower, but the obstacles along the path had left him with a bitter taste in his mouth. When he eventually met the God he worshipped, it rocked his worldview because he had to deal with the agony of witnessing his daughter die in his arms. This God was self-centered and arrogant without a care for his devotees, and this disappointing encounter changed Gorr’s life forever. He bonded with the Necrosword, a deadly weapon that bonds with the user like a symbiote and is capable of killing Gods, and this marked the beginning of his God-slaughtering journey.
The movie version is a toned-down version of the comic books, but Christian Bale still looks intimidating enough as the serial killer of Gods. One by one, the Gods fall before him, and it grabs the attention of Thor, who is helped by his ex-girlfriend Jane, Valkyrie, and Korg, as they all try to put an end to this threat.
Even the direction of the character has been changed considerably, and in the movie he actually brings back his daughter, unlike in the comic books. It might suit the need for a happy and satisfactory ending, but the climactic moments of Gorr undermine the true nature of the cosmic threat that he is! Besides, such a character was not utilized completely and deserved a longer screen time. Even so, Christian Bale steals the show with a power-packed performance, and this is one villain that you will feel for because of his tragic backstory!
Jane Foster as Mighty Thor played by Natalie Portman
One might argue that Jane Foster is not a new character in MCU, but her appearance in Thor: Love and Thunder is certainly something very different from what we are used to. The brilliant scientist from Earth is shown to be suffering from cancer, and the treatments are not really helping in the fourth stage. We get to know that during her relationship with Thor, the latter had once requested Mjolnir to protect Jane if she was ever threatened, and it registered with the mighty weapon.
Now, when Jane is battling with her life, she becomes worthy to wield Thor’s hammer, and it also bestows Thor’s powers upon her. However, the powerful Mighty Thor version of Jane comes with a painful clause. Every time she picks up the hammer and transforms into Mighty Thor, her cancer gets worse. The treatments become useless and she moves closer to death every single time she answers her duty calls.
The movie dwells heavily on her relationship with Thor, their pent-up feelings finally finding an outlet, and their chemistry is spot on. It is adorable while it lasts, but it does take away some focus from the actual Thor. Many of the times the two are fighting together, and daring to face Gorr’s ruthless vengeance armed with the Mjolnir and Stormbreaker respectively. In an ultimate act of sacrifice, Jane picks up the Mjolnir one last time in order to save Thor’s life, despite knowing that it would mean certain death for her.
The only consolation can be found in the post-credits where you realize that she has reached Valhalla, the heavenly abode for the brave warriors. She is received by Heimdall who welcomes her into this realm. It remains to be seen what MCU plans to do with Natalie Portman’s character, but the actress was impeccable in her role, and the chemistry between Jane and Thor was livelier than ever!
Zeus played by Russell Crowe
It all started with a fan theory and a few rumors that he might be on board for Thor: Love and Thunder. The fans were pleasantly surprised to find out that he was indeed a part of the trailer, and the movie features him in a pretty important cameo.
Russell Crowe plays the role of Zeus, the King of the Olympians, the God among the Gods, chilling in the safety of the Omnipotent City. He is far from what we have seen of Zeus in the comic books. Unlike the righteous and brave king of the Gods, Zeus in the movie is more of a self-centric, ignorant character who simply cares about the merriment of the Gods. He knows about Gorr, but the fact that he has a Necrosword makes him step away from the challenge of dealing with him.
The movie mainly played around with the comedic value of the character, and Russell Crowe had the right flamboyance and comic timing for the same. When Thor made the request for help in his fight against Gorr, he was least interested. He dealt with Thor with a subtle arrogance, showing off his powers and flicking off his clothes while having him tied up.
His weapon is a deadly thunderbolt, but he is not exactly a master of warfare either because it takes Thor a little over a minute to use his own thunderbolt and punch a hole through his heart. He is presumed to be dead until we see that he has recovered from his injuries in the mid-credit scene. Maximus from Gladiator turning into a selfish God scared for his life is not exactly the character we expected, but the mid-credit scene holds some hope in this regard.
It could be a saving grace and add some seriousness to the character of Zeus, although he is still shown as someone angered over the humiliation of defeat at the hands of Thor. He orders his son Hercules to make the mortals fear God again, and the beginning of this journey would be with an act of revenge on Thor!
Hercules played by Brett Goldstein
This could well be the most important among all the new characters introduced in this movie. Hercules is only shown in the mid-credits scene, and it was a closely guarded secret that no one could imagine. We only get a glimpse of Hercules as Zeus orders him to set the records straight with Thor. The armored, muscular Hercules is played by none other than Brett Goldstein, and he could be the next important Marvel character in the movies to come. From the looks of it, he is going to have quite a few adventures facing Thor, and it may well be a situation where the two mighty warriors fight together for a cause!
Mysterious cosmic entity – Eternity
One of the most important cosmic entities in the movie is Eternity, a sentient force that has existed since the beginning of time. According to the comic book background, Eternity supported Creation, and numerous story arcs are featured around this character.
In the movie, Eternity is a representation of the Marvel universe. Gorr, the God Butcher plans to reach Eternity, where nobody has ever been before. A visitor gets to ask for one wish, and Gorr intends to wish for the death of all existing Gods. Eventually, Thor convinces him to bring back his dead daughter instead of pursuing his hateful vengeance. You can imagine Eternity to be something like a collective consciousness that is the root of every concept and structure that we see around us.
Heimdall and his son
We only see a brief glimpse of Heimdall, played by Idris Elba, as he welcomes Jane into Valhalla, but his son Axl is shown to have inherited his powers. He helps Thor to the location of the kidnapped children by sharing his vision, and it can be assumed that Axl will have a role to play in the coming movies. While Heimdall is gone, he can be the perfect substitute and continue with his legacy. If Thor is to take on Hercules, he would need all the help from his fellow warriors, and Axl’s special skills would surely come in handy.
Chris Hemsworth’s children – especially India Hemsworth as Love
You might miss out on Chris Hemsworth’s twin sons Sasha and Tristan, playing the versions of Thor in the initial flashbacks. Their blink-and-you-miss cameo, however, is compensated by Chris Hemsworth’s adorable daughter India Hemsworth. She plays the role of Gorr’s daughter, and the movie opens with a tragic sequence, where Gorr helplessly watches his daughter die in his arms.
It ignites his passion for slaughtering Gods, and in the final moments of the movie, Gorr uses his one wish at Eternity and brings her back from the dead. Thor promises to look after her in his absence, and the climactic moments of the film show us Thor’s parenting skills.
It is also revealed that Love has certain superpowers as well, and the duo head into battles protecting the weak, with Thor wielding Mjolnir and Love carrying the Stormbreaker as their weapons! It is a promising new character, and although the events are very different from the comic book fate of Gorr’s children, it might be indicative of what lies ahead. The duo of Thor and Love might be seen more in the future, and given her superpowers, she might just become a permanent superhero herself!
Chris Hemsworth’s children were not the only ones in action. Natalie Portman and Taika Waititi’s kids also star as the New Asgard kids who are kidnapped by Gorr and his Shadow Monsters.
Thor’s Goats Toothgrinder and Toothgnasher
Thor once helped a king protect his race by defeating the invading alien race. However, his actions also resulted in the destruction of their holy shrines, and the king wasn’t exactly pleased with his service. In return, he presented him with two giant goats, Toothgrinder and Toothgnasher, and they simply add to the comedic element of the movie.
Their hilarious screaming sound is frequently heard throughout the narrative, and these goats are also capable of pulling their chariot across the Bifrost as Thor and his companions look for the missing children. They also help Korg during one of the attacks by Gorr and his shadow monsters. The goats might be odd pets, but they are pretty effective, considering their contribution.
Lady Sif and Miek
Lady Sif won over a few hearts as the brave and fierce warrior from Asgard, and Jaimie Alexander reprises her role for a small cameo in Thor: Love and Thunder. Thor receives a distress call from her, and when he reaches her, he finds out that she has been attacked by Gorr, the God Butcher. She lost an arm in the fight, and she was prepared to lay there dying, until Thor convinced her otherwise. She is taken to New Asgard, and we don’t see much of her any further.
The hilarious cameos from Matt Damon, Luke Hemsworth, Sam Neil, and Melissa McCarthy
We have already spoken about how the movie prioritizes comedy and romance over everything else, and they keep up with the jokes even in the darkest hours. Matt Damon, Luke Hemsworth, and Sam Neill play the role of stage actors in New Asgard, who enact the historical events featuring Loki, Thor, and Odin respectively. Even when the children were kidnapped by Gorr and his Shadow Monsters, they were planning an elaborate play to enact the situation.
These cameos provide you no more than a few chuckles, but the quality actors that they are, even the insignificant roles are made extraordinary by their presence. Melissa McCarthy is hilarious as a chubbier version of Hela, and she has a brief appearance when they stage the events of Ragnarok! Not many have noticed that her real-life husband, Ben Falcone, plays the role of the director of the comical play.
Darcy Lewis played by Kat Dennings
Do you remember Jane Foster’s whacky assistant Darcy from Culver University? Well, she is Dr. Darcy Lewis now, and she makes a brief appearance, where she tries her best to cheer up Jane who is dying from cancer. She keeps up her spirit, and requests her to take care of herself. Just as she did in the past, Darcy continues to be a supportive friend to Jane, and always hypes her up to embrace her wild side!
Dr. Erik Selvig played by Stellan Skarsgard
Back in the days of the first Thor movie, Dr. Selvig was the first one to make the connection that the strange man they found in the middle of nowhere was actually Thor. Since then, he has come a long way, from being mind-controlled by Loki to being a savior for Thor. Love and Thunder has a rather short cameo from him, where he makes a video call to an ailing Jane. We get to know that he has been trying to find a cure for her stage 4 cancer in the lab, but he reveals that the efforts haven’t been successful so far.
Marvelous Verdict: A star-fest that could have been taken more seriously!
This is not exactly a complaint because we did enjoy the movie. It scores high on entertainment value, and some terrific actors do justice to their roles making it a performance-driven effort. There are plenty of humor and witty comebacks to be enjoyed, but not everyone desires that from their favorite superheroes, at least, not so much of it!
Every time the going starts getting serious there is something to bring a smile to your face, and this might not be preferred by those who expected a dark, gritty tale featuring Thor’s fight with Gorr, the God Butcher. Do let us know in the comments below about your views on the movie, and also tell us more about your favorite new characters.