Thor: Love and Thunder

I am a huge comic book movie fan. When I was a child, I absolutely loved Batman the most, followed by the X-Men. Though, if I’m being honest, I preferred the animated series of each to the live-action films. Nowadays, these aren’t the movies that get me as excited, mostly because DC Comics doesn’t seem to know how to consistently produce quality films, in the case of Batman, and the X-Men have not been seen in years. Because of that, that leaves me with the MCU – The Marvel Cinematic Universe. Almost everyone in the world knows these films—it is by far the highest grossing film franchise in history, earning over $25 billion. I must admit that, while I love some of the films in the MCU, there are others that I could do without. For example, despite the fact that l am a big fan of Captain America, I usually haven’t enjoyed the films that feature him as much, except of course for the Avengers movies. On the other hand, I have thoroughly enjoyed each Guardians of the Galaxy film. There is just something about those films that is hilarious to me while also possessing an engaging story.

Which brings me to Thor: Love and Thunder, the latest Thor film, due to come out in July of 2022. The Thor movies have changed quite a bit over time. The first movie was just fine, in my opinion, but it wasn’t my favorite of the earlier MCU films - that honor goes to the original Iron Man. However, it was a bit serious in tone and I didn’t find myself resonating with Thor`s character. However, as the Thor series went on, the character deepened, and the humor developed until I now find Thor to be one of the most interesting members of the Avengers. As the plot of Avengers: Endgame reveals, Thor will be tagging along with the Guardians of the Galaxy for his next film appearance. Perhaps, though, it could better be said that the Guardians of the Galaxy will be tagging along with him, given his natural ability to lead and his personality clash with Peter Quill, a.k.a. Star Lord.

I am excited about the general premise of the film, though not a lot of details have been released yet. Frankly, this is how I prefer it, since I am not the sort of person who reads reviews or even watches trailers before I see a film if I can help it. However, the return of director Taika Waititi also fills me with excitement. Waititi wasn’t someone I was really familiar with until he directed Thor: Ragnarok, the previous film in the Thor series. That movie is a lot sillier than the previous titles while also managing to tell a story of some emotional weight. I found it to be the most enjoyable installment of the Thor series and, combined with the inclusion of the Guardians of the Galaxy, makes me think the next film will be a fun film to watch.
However, Waititi has gone on record saying the film will be quite different from Thor: Ragnarok. He has been quoted saying it will be “so over the top in the very best way” and he made the film as if “10-year-olds told us what should be in the movie, and we said yes to every single thing”. Whether this will result in a great movie remains to be seen, but I’m definitely interested in watching it.

Michael

Vocabulary

live-action (adjective) – a TV show or movie that is not animated
franchise (noun) – a collection of at least two entries of the same artistic work (ex: a fictional character) used for a commercial purpose
resonate (verb) – to have meaning or make sense to a person at a deep level
a.k.a. (idiom) – an abbreviation of “also known as”