Thor: Love and Thunder

Director Taika Waititi goes back to the Thor: Ragnarok well for another sprawling romp starring Chris Hemsworth's pompous thunder god.

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By far the most arresting character in Thor: Love and Thunder, the twenty-bajillionth Marvel movie, is the splendidly named villain Gorr the God Butcher.

Oscar-winning filmmaker Taika Waititi — who reinvigorated the franchise with a sense of color and grand comedy, thus catapulting its grosses to the highest the ...

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness benefited from the Spider-Man halo and did $245M overseas. As of Friday, Thor: Love and Thunder presales were trailing behind Doctor Strange 2‘s by 40%. Doctor Strange 2 had banked $49M in advance ticket sales a week before opening, a number which rose to $85M by its Thursday preview night before posting a 3-day of $187.4M. Thor 4‘s ticket sales are already ahead of Top Gun: Maverick, The Batman and Jurassic World Dominion at the same point in time before their opening Friday. Should Thor: Love and Thunder blow away its projections, it’s simply because word of mouth is hot and triggering walk-up business. However, an interesting trend that’s been going on lately — in particular with Rise of Gru and Jurassic World Dominion — is that sour RT scores haven’t weighed down on tentpoles’ opening weekends. The edge this time, as first teased at San Diego Comic-Con 2019, is that Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster returns, becoming lady Thor. Oh, and the big bad guy is Gorr the Butcher, played by The Dark Knight‘s Christian Bale in his MCU debut. One of the reasons why Thor: Love and Thunder is pacing behind Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is because the latter was working off the whole Spider-Man multiverse and Illuminati spoiler heat.

The impressive mix of tones and styles that director Taika Waititi pulled off in "Thor: Ragnarok" largely fizzles in "Thor: Love and Thunder," which isn't ...

Yet given the lag time between these massive undertakings it's disappointing having to pin one's hopes on the next phase. Still, "Thor: Love and Thunder" essentially sets up that scenario, with a movie that's muscular and handsome but at its best sporadically likeable, and even harder to love. There's also something almost lazy about the way kids get incorporated into the plot.

Diego reviews Marvel's Thor: Love and Thunder starring Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman and directed by Taika Waititi.

During the second half of the movie, there are enough action and good character moments to be entertained. Unfinished-looking visual effects, forced interconnectivity, and bland storytelling seem to point at what could be the eventual downfall of the franchise. However, one is left wondering just how many times is Thor going to find himself in these movies before he actually “finds himself” and is able to move on from the many tragedies that have befallen him. As she begins her quest to find a cure, whether it comes from science or Asgardian magic, the character is given new depth and a true time to shine. It is truly bittersweet watching Portman’s Mighty Thor grapple with her own mortality and her choice to become her own hero. During the film’s first hour, Thor: Love and Thunder feels oddly paced and devoid of feeling.

Taika Waititi returns to the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the jokey Thor: Love and Thunder, which is worth seeing primarily for Christian Bale's menacing ...

If Love and Thunder never quite collapses into complete jokey irrelevance, it’s because Bale is around to pull it back from the abyss, and into occasional detours of genuine menace. Love and Thunder ultimately betrays itself as an expression of the same egregiously sentimental worldview — this is another only fitfully funny joke machine that extols, in its syrupy backstretch, the transformative power of love. On the one hand, this is the story of Thor heading out to rescue a gaggle of kidnapped Asgardian children from Bale’s fallen believer, who’s sent plenty of lesser gods on a one-way, premature trip to Valhalla. On the other, it’s the hastily set-up tale of how the scientist Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) gets her hands on her old squeeze’s magic hammer and assumes the mantle of Thor. Every moment Christian Bale is on the screen in Thor: Love and Thunder is manna in the Marvel desert, a gift from the gods of villainous comic book scenery-chewing. Papering over these early scenes is a blatantly expository voice-over from Waititi, reprising the role of kindhearted rock monster and newly minted backstory reiterator Korg. Bale looks fearsome in the role, with his hairless graveyard emaciation and blackened dagger smile.

While Marvel movies review much better on average than most films, Thor: Love and Thunder is currently in the bottom five of all scored MCU movies on Rotten ...

Captain Marvel goes from a 79% critic score to a much-lower-than-anything 45%, which was absolutely due to review bombing after star Brie Larson upset some “fans” with various comments, and this was actually the moment that Rotten Tomatoes started requiring “verification” for audience scores. Black Panther, the #1 critic scored movie with a 96% has a 79% audience score. As reviews came rolling in yesterday for Thor: Love and Thunder, it became clear that something was somewhat amiss with the scores.

But after several fake deaths, Loki tragically met his demise at the hands of Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War, and while his adventures continue in another ...

Whenever that face-off finally comes, if Loki does come along for the ride, the interactions Thor could have with a redeemed and heroic version of his brother could be amazing. In the wake of Loki's death, Thor: Love and Thunder will be the first in the franchise not to feature Hiddleston, a detail that has left many worried for the film. Just moments before making the ultimate sacrifice in a bid to stop Thanos, Loki delivered his poetic final words to Thor in Avengers: Infinity War in a way that implied the two will meet again. Loki director Kate Herron recently caught an early screening of Thor: Love and Thunder and shared her spoiler-free reaction to the latest Asgardian adventure. Not him, but the character of Loki." The brotherly dynamic between Chris Hemsworth's Thor and Tom Hiddleston's Loki has been at the crux of the God of Thunder's solo franchise since the beginning.

Taika Waititi's follow-up to the beloved Thor: Ragnarok has epic silliness, terminal illness and Russell Crowe in an almost tutu.

The latest caper from Chris Hemsworth, Taika Waititi and Marvel Studios wrestles with an eternal theological question. Also, it has space goats.

There’s a C.S. Lewis book, “The Problem of Pain,” I kept thinking about when watching the characters of “Thor: Love and Thunder” ache. The filmmaker does not answer the problem of pain in a Marvel movie. Waititi also shapes much of the plot around children, which opens up thematic possibilities that end with a little too much sugar for my tastes. The heroes suffer, too: Jane with a lonely burden, Thor with serial losses, even Valkyrie with a grief that has not disappeared, only taken a new shape. With “Love and Thunder,” Jane finally feels free to be fun — and, with better chemistry with Hemsworth than ever, oh so heartbreakingly tragic. And while nothing could dim his spark, it’s a blessing that Portman returned after missing the third installment of the series. With “Thor: Love and Thunder,” the audience can finally sit back and appreciate the fantastic arc he’s taken this character on since 2011. Now, he’s traveling the stars (and ripping through Guns N' Roses on the jukebox) with the Guardians of the Galaxy. The walking definition of “it’s not fair,” even Hemsworth’s considerable physical divinity can’t distract from his god-level comic timing. An alien being called Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale) is hunting down the gods — all of ‘em! — after his faith was rewarded with unspeakable tragedy. We’ve seen Thor reckon with loss, but never with as much humanity as this outing. It’s about gods, obviously, but specifically their works — and more often, failures.

The nth sequel in the sprawling MCU is expected to bring in anywhere from $145 million to $155 million over the weekend, with some estimates reaching as high as ...

That being said, Hemsworth isn’t the only Norse god who can summon a Mjölnir. In this flick, Natalie Portman, returning to the series as astrophysicist Jane Foster, has gained her own superpowers to become the Mighty Thor. Together, this hammer-wielding duo embark on a journey to defeat Gorr the God Butcher (a terrifying Christian Bale), a galactic villain whose name sheds light on his mission to arrange the extinction of all things divine. Disney’s “ Thor: Love and Thunder,” the fourth standalone story about Chris Hemsworth’s hulking God of Thunder and the second (of three) Marvel movies to play in theaters in 2022, is gearing up to turbocharge the domestic box office. The film debuts on Friday in 4,300 North American theaters.

This shallow Marvel Cinematic Universe blockbuster doesn't give Natalie Portman's mighty return or Christian Bale's creepy baddy nearly enough time to ...

Love and Thunder doesn't live up to the incredible stories that inspired it. Love and Thunder merely alludes to this, and largely reduces Gorr's villainy to kidnapping Asgardian children as part of a grander plot. It feels like this movie couldn't wait to get away from the pesky continuity and back to the Asgardian storyline of Thor's solo movies. Though the movie fails to explore her ennui enough, Thompson infuses the character with sufficient mischief that she's a joy to watch. But the God of Thunder totally outclasses his new allies, making him seem like an overpowered video game character as he crushes their enemies and leaves the Guardians looking a bit useless. Thor: Love and Thunder seemed guaranteed to be a slam dunk.

The latest caper from Chris Hemsworth, Taika Waititi and Marvel Studios wrestles with an eternal theological question. Also, it has space goats.

There’s a C.S. Lewis book, “The Problem of Pain,” I kept thinking about when watching the characters of “Thor: Love and Thunder” ache. The filmmaker does not answer the problem of pain in a Marvel movie. Waititi also shapes much of the plot around children, which opens up thematic possibilities that end with a little too much sugar for my tastes. The heroes suffer, too: Jane with a lonely burden, Thor with serial losses, even Valkyrie with a grief that has not disappeared, only taken a new shape. With “Love and Thunder,” Jane finally feels free to be fun — and, with better chemistry with Hemsworth than ever, oh so heartbreakingly tragic. And while nothing could dim his spark, it’s a blessing that Portman returned after missing the third installment of the series. With “Thor: Love and Thunder,” the audience can finally sit back and appreciate the fantastic arc he’s taken this character on since 2011. Now, he’s traveling the stars (and ripping through Guns N' Roses on the jukebox) with the Guardians of the Galaxy. The walking definition of “it’s not fair,” even Hemsworth’s considerable physical divinity can’t distract from his god-level comic timing. An alien being called Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale) is hunting down the gods — all of ‘em! — after his faith was rewarded with unspeakable tragedy. We’ve seen Thor reckon with loss, but never with as much humanity as this outing. It’s about gods, obviously, but specifically their works — and more often, failures.

The Thor: Love and Thunder post-credits scene feature surprise cameos, and one of them just leaked online - what you need to know.

The other, of course, is Idris Elba’s Heimdall, welcoming Jane to Valhalla. Thor: Love and Thunder will have two post-credits scenes, the recent leaks said. What’s important here is that Goldstein is playing Hercules in Thor: Love and Thunder, just as rumors suggested. After all these leaks dropped online in the days preceding the premiere, a blog confirmed they were genuine and provided ample details about them. And one of those reports even teased the surprise in these scenes. That’s how Valkyrie ends up with Zeus’s Lightning Bolt in the trailer. Whether or not you can still find the Love and Thunder post-credits cameo on social media, you should know that reviews are already pouring in. But the videos are deleted quite fast. That’s because we can finally see the actor playing Hercules, and it’s quite an exciting development. But, thankfully, he did not die by the end of it, as we had suspected. If you want to be surprised, you should avoid all Love and Thunder reports this week. As for the post-credits scenes, we only got written descriptions, not actual video clips.

Taika Waititi shared insight into a Thanos-related Easter egg from Marvel Studios' Thor: Love and Thunder.

The people could be using this as a way to move forward from that event, but at the least, the ice cream at this shop is something visitors are sure to seek out as they enjoy their vacation. The Asgardians were one of the first groups to meet Thanos' wrath as he embarked on his Infinity Stone quest in Avengers: Infinity War, so it's a bit bizarre that the residents of the town are now poking fun at the Mad Titan and subsequently those that perished during the five year gap. Thanos' impact on Love and Thunder may only be minimal after the Mad Titan turned to dust in Avengers: Endgame, but he'll only be part of the tributes to the past that this movie will bring.

Jane (Natalie Portman) now has control over the giant hammer and joins forces with the Mighty Thor (Chris Hemsworth) in “Thor: Love and Thunder.” Marvel Studios ...

The “Love” element of the equation is surprisingly underwhelming, and the “Thunder” isn’t as powerful as it should be. Tessa Thompson adds some spark to the proceedings as King Valkyrie, a brave and smart and heroic character who deserves a movie of her own. Bale’s Gorr the God Butcher has a fantastic, Nosferatu-like visage and he’s a potentially memorable villain, but he’s offscreen for large chunks of the story. Given how things ended between Thor and Jane, it’s a bit awkward for them to be on this mission together, and Korg doesn’t help matters when he keeps getting Jane’s name wrong, calling her “Jane Fonda” and “Jodie Foster,” because her name is Jane Foster, get it? As was the case with the Disney+ series “Hawkeye” and “Ms. Marvel,” the mere mortals on Earth have come to celebrate their superheroes with tourist attractions. Whereas the wildly talented director Taiki Waititi found the perfect formula for bruising action, legitimately effective drama, wicked-smart comedy and even a bit of social commentary in “Thor: Ragnarok” (2017), this attempt to recapture that magic falls flat.

Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman reteam in “Thor: Love and Thunder,” a messy but emotionally ambitious film. FOX Digital film critic Caroline Siede ...

In fact, at its best, "Love and Thunder" is one of the most quietly philosophical entries in the MCU, as its characters grapple with the disappointment of meeting their godly heroes or question how to claim autonomy within the limitations of a mortal life. "Thor Love and Thunder" will beam into theaters nationwide on July 8. Jupiter Ascending (2015): Like a lot of the Wachowskis’ post- "Matrix"output, "Jupiter Ascending" is the sort of gonzo swing that definitely isn’t for everyone. About the writer: Caroline Siede is a film and TV critic in Chicago, where the cold never bothers her anyway. So, yes, there are some massive stakes at play (not to mention some delightfully wackadoo ideas about how gods spend their free time). But the most surprising thing about "Love and Thunder" is how much it operates as a small scale, introspective story about mid-life ennui. The largely episodic plot also struggles to generate the right sense of tension and pacing for a superhero adventure. The joke is that the godly powers turn the astrophysicist into a bit of an aggro lunkhead, but Portman mostly just winds up seeming lost amidst the beefy muscles and glossy airbrushing. Much in the same way "Spider-Man: No Way Home" had to clumsily deal with Peter Parker’s identity reveal before getting into the multiverse-hopping story it actually wanted to tell, "Love and Thunder" opens with an awkward throat clear as it tries and fails to find something interesting to do with the fact that "Endgame" sent Thor off with the Guardians of the Galaxy ( Chris Pratt, Karen Gillan, et al.). And though it’s a tonal experiment that doesn’t entirely hang together, the unexpected dose of emotional maturity is a welcome way to bridge the gap between the old era of Thor and the new one. ( Jaimie Alexander’s Lady Sif is also on hand for a brief cameo, but sadly, and rather inexplicably, doesn’t get to be part of the main crew.) And when his vengeful reign of terror touches New Asgard, Thor and his friends must try to recruit some new allies and save the universe from Gorr’s godly assassinations. Rather than run from Thor’s convoluted past, "Love and Thunder" embraces it — literally bringing the character’s onscreen history back into the fold via Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster, the love interest who all but disappeared since 2013.

The Taika Waititi-directed epic marks the fourth Thor solo film since the character's debut back in 2011. Alongside Waititi, star Chris Hemsworth is back as the ...

This year's streaming festivities are planned for September 8, which is 64 days after Love and Thunder's release date. Most recently, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness saw the shortest time exclusively on the big screen as it started streaming only 47 days after release in theaters. Love and Thunder has been a long time coming, as fans eagerly await Marvel Studios' latest theatrical adventure.

Natalie Portman in "Star Wars Episode III - Revenge Of The Sith." (CNN) Your bad, Taika Waititi. The " ...

"She said, 'I've been in Star Wars movies.' I forgot about those ones." And I said 'I'm trying to work on a Star Wars thing. "Natalie said to me, what do you do next?

To a large degree, modern blockbuster moviemaking has depended on the appeasement of fans to keep franchise juggernauts smoothly humming.

The kid army that helps save the day in “Love and Thunder” is just the latest uprising in Waititi's ongoing war against adulthood. The love of “Love and Thunder," which Waititi co-wrote, most directly applies to relationship between Thor and Jane, but it also relates to other aspects of the “Thor” sequel, including Christian Bale's grieving villain and the kidnapped children who play increasingly central roles in the film. The primacy of kids in “Thor: Love and Thunder” is also very much in line with Waititi's other films. “It’s more just the idea of Burbank as a place,” Waititi clarifies. That includes collaborators like Jemaine Clement (with whom Waititi made “What We Do in the Shadows”), Rhys Darby (currently paired together in the HBO Max series “Our Flag Means Death”) and many others. “The way Taika directs, the way that he does things, it’s about spontaneity,” say Harjo, who next month will debut the series’ second season. “Ragnarok” grossed $850 million worldwide, and expectations are similar for “Love and Thunder.” His ability to connect with mass audiences — despite his best efforts to subvert expectations — is surpassed by few current filmmakers. “My job is to go in and have as many ideas as I can and not think about the consequences too much, and let them keep me in the Marvel lane," Waititi adds. It was a massive leap in scale for Waititi, who after spending years painting in his late 20s turned to making comic independent films ("Boy," “Hunt for the Wilderpeople”) with deadpan absurdity and freewheeling tonal shifts. His “Jojo Rabbit,” a child’s view of Nazi Germany in which Waititi played an imaginary Hitler, received six Oscar nominations in 2020. “I wanted to show him in a light that most Thor fans wouldn’t really want if you were to tell them,” Waititi says. In “Love and Thunder” there are things that usually never enter the MCU, like kids and cancer.

Costume designer Mayes C. Rubeo talks about the costumes in 'Thor: Love and Thunder' for Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman. Read more here.

It was an interesting textile — it was handwoven and that gave it that kind of antiquity and ancient feeling to this God Butcher who comes from a very archaic world.” We created a wonderful, lightweight, dynamic and very ’80s [headpiece], and the [costumes’] colors, we wanted to make them similar to old Thor, but because Thor has all these new colors, we wanted to do something a little different for her.” For the character, Rubeo wanted to reflect his ancient background, so she referenced old marble statues and created an intricately draped costume for Bale. “It really is an explosion, and I don’t think you can go any louder than with Thor’s costumes.” She produced other versions of Thor’s uniform by incorporating more vibrant colors, like reds, blues and metallic golds to match the exaggerated aesthetic of the film. “He is a constant fountain of wanting to do a lot of new things with new technology.

Thanos may have horribly traumatized the universe when, with the snap of his fingers in Avengers: Infinity War, the Mad Titan blipped half of all life out ...

The film is looking at a $300 million worldwide opening — an estimated $140-$160 million of that in the United States and Canada. In a new behind-the-scenes video from Entertainment Tonight, director Taika Waititi and star Chris Hemsworth take viewers on a tour of the Love and Thunder set, showing off a bit of New Asgard, including that interesting ice cream shop. The shop features a large Infinity Gauntlet protruding from the building holding an ice cream cone, the ice cream itself decked out with candies that are an homage to the six Infinity Stones. It's kind of a clever idea, though given the destruction that Thanos caused to the universe writ large but specifically the horrors that the Asgardians endured due to Thanos' quest to gain the Infinity Stones, having an ice cream shop devoted to him seems like a really strange choice.

Not that you really need a primer for Thor 4, but here's a cheatsheet to shore up any loose Marvel Cinematic Universe details.

If you walked into a room and said, 'I want this and this and this.' Who's in it? Allow your expectations to be free from the influence of great Films that came before. He also said that, "If you wrote down all the elements of this film, it shouldn't make sense." Key takeaways: Key takeaways: It sounds like you don't really need to know many Marvel Cinematic Universe specifics before going in.

Thor: Love and Thunder clocks in under two hours, largely because a plethora of scenes were removed from the film. According to Thor star Natalie Portman, ...

To date, five films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have yet to receive the honor: Thor: Love and Thunder, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, The Incredible Hulk, Thor: The Dark Worlds, and Eternals. Thor: Love and Thunder clocks in under two hours, largely because a plethora of scenes were removed from the film. Usually, it's like, you're just trying to get enough good stuff to put in the film, and this had overflow.

The Thor: Love and Thunder plot and ending leaked in great detail ahead of the premiere - what you need to know.

That’s not the unconditional Love and Thunder ending, of course. For example, this Love and Thunder plot coverage tells us that the Guardians only appear in the movie briefly, leaving Thor to figure out what he wants to do with his life. And hat’s where Thor and Jane will make their last stand against Gorr. Thor will admit defeat, but he will convince Gorr to choose love over vengeance. The two plot leaks that we saw were identical, and included details about the post-credits scenes as well. We saw a couple of bare-bones Love and Thunder plot leaks in the past few weeks. Thor: Love and Thunder opens on Friday, with some previews happening as early as Wednesday. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) fans will undoubtedly storm theaters, with current estimates of a massive $300 million box office take for the film’s opening weekend.

Wondering how to watch Thor: Love and Thunder? We have all of the details about the latest Thor movie showtimes and streaming info so far.

Thor: Love and Thunder will be in theaters as early as tomorrow afternoon with the wider release date of July 8. The vast majority of MCU movies, including all three previously released Thor movies and all four Avengers movies, are available to stream on Disney Plus, rather than Netflix or HBO Max. If you currently have a Disney Plus subscription, you can stream those movies for free on the platform. One of 2022's biggest summer blockbusters is upon us, as Thor: Love and Thunder finally hits theaters this weekend.

Wondering how to watch Thor: Love and Thunder online? Wondering if it's on Disney Plus? Don't worry, we've got you covered!

Thor: Love and Thunder will indeed be coming to Disney+ at some point in the future. Several titles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have taken different timeframes going from the big to the small screen. But Thor 4 will be online to watch on a certain streaming service (as well as VOD services) sometime in the future.