Chris Hemsworth and Taika Waititi’s fourth “Thor” installation in the MCU was one for the history books, and of course, it left viewers with huge questions by the end. Primarily - what’s next for these characters, new and old? CinemaBlend’s Managing Editor, Sean O’Connell, has some answers. Follow along as he breaks down exactly what happened between the God of Thunder and Gorr the God Butcher, what's up with that end-credits scene with Zeus and THAT character, and what all this means for Thor (and the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe) moving forward.
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00:00 The ending of Thor Love and Thunder is turning the MCU into quite the family affair.
00:04 So let's dive into that and talk about what it means.
00:07 You ever feel lost?
00:08 Just look into the eyes of the people that you love.
00:11 Not me.
00:15 What?
00:16 Just listening.
00:17 Hey guys, it's Sean O'Connell, the managing editor at Cinema Blend,
00:25 here with an ending explained video for the new film Thor Love and Thunder,
00:30 starring Chris Hemsworth, Christian Bale, and directed by Taika Waititi.
00:33 Now, needless to say, because this is an ending explained video,
00:37 we're going to assume that you have already seen the latest MCU film,
00:41 Thor Love and Thunder.
00:42 Do not go forward watching this video unless you've seen the latest film,
00:45 unless you just don't care about stuff like major spoilers
00:48 and us revealing what happens at the end of the film.
00:51 There are some significant things in play,
00:54 not just for Thor, but for directions that the MCU can go moving forward.
00:59 And we're going to get into some conversations about what the bigger themes of
01:03 Phase 4 have been so far, and how I think they're going to sort of continue
01:07 and develop and maybe point to a bigger sort of team-up film down the line.
01:11 And so now, assuming that you've seen Thor Love and Thunder,
01:14 let's get into that ending and what it means going forward.
01:16 Kids get to popcorn now.
01:18 For point one, I want to start with the fact that Thor sort of becomes Daddy?
01:22 And I know that that's a meme of like, Chris Hemsworth is kind of Daddy.
01:26 But Thor, the actual character, the God of Thunder,
01:30 is becoming a father figure to a character named Love.
01:34 And I find this really interesting because the character is also played by
01:37 Chris Hemsworth's daughter in real life, whose name is India.
01:40 She's 10 years old.
01:41 So it is more of a family affair that Chris Hemsworth is getting some of his
01:44 children involved in.
01:45 And one of his twin sons actually stands in for young Thor.
01:49 I'm going to assume that it's in that montage where Thor is running through
01:53 the years.
01:54 And so it's really, really cool that Hemsworth, in addition to Taika Waititi
01:59 and Natalie Portman and I believe Christian Bale,
02:01 all got their kids involved in this story, probably in the part where
02:06 the Asgardian children are, you know, the kids in the cage who eventually get
02:10 broken out and help with the battle towards the end.
02:12 So where did this character come from?
02:14 As you guys know, once Gorr the God Butcher was able to use Stormbreaker
02:20 to open up the portal to eternity, they all enter into this flaccid
02:24 looking location where it's very, very peaceful and Gorr is able to make
02:29 the wish that he's been striving towards the entire film, which is the
02:33 elimination of all the gods.
02:34 But he recants, essentially recognizes the error of his ways.
02:39 The pull of family becomes too strong.
02:40 The emotion overwhelms him.
02:42 Jane, at that point, is dying because of the sacrifices she has made
02:46 to maintain her power through Mjolnir.
02:49 And she knew that the cancer that was inside of her was going to overwhelm
02:53 her, essentially, at that point.
02:55 So what happens is Gorr essentially wishes for his daughter, his youngest
02:58 daughter, who he lost at the beginning of the film, to be resurrected.
03:02 And noticing that bit of sacrifice, Thor agrees to take on this character.
03:07 We call her Love because towards the end of the film, as we realize that
03:11 Thor is essentially serving as a father figure to her, she is referred to as
03:15 the love to his thunder and the two of them sort of storm off onto their own
03:20 adventure.
03:20 At the very least, we know that Love, this character that we're referring to
03:24 as Love, has some really interesting powers.
03:26 And we didn't really get to see the full extent of what she's capable of.
03:29 But because she was created by eternity, there's really no end to the number
03:33 of things that she could possibly be able to do.
03:36 And I think it all but guarantees that we're going to get another Thor movie
03:39 that shows her possibilities and the way that she's teaming with Thor to pull off
03:43 whatever it is they're going off to do at the very end of this movie.
03:46 One of the things I find really interesting is the way that this is sort of
03:49 furthering something that we're seeing a lot in Phase 4, which is a major,
03:53 established, significant MCU character being paired with a younger version of
03:59 almost themselves as a mentee type of role, whether it be a Hawkeye,
04:04 Clint Barton taking on Kate Bishop, played by Hailee Steinfeld,
04:09 in the Hawkeye television series.
04:11 We know that Kamala Khan is going to end up working with Captain Marvel,
04:15 Brie Larson's character later on.
04:17 And you can even, to a certain extent, call America Chavez a bit of a counterpart
04:21 to Doctor Strange in their adventure through Doctor Strange's
04:26 The Multiverse of Madness.
04:27 And even though Yelena is essentially the same age as Black Widow, it was, again,
04:32 this sort of Phase 4 idea of a family member of some sort being a counterpart
04:36 who has to tag along with the main hero and then eventually branch off.
04:40 Now, where do I think that that's sending us?
04:43 Like, I think it's important to sort of bring up that if all of these new
04:45 characters are being introduced through existing characters, a lot of these
04:50 people, such as Kate Bishop, America Chavez, Kamala Khan, well, Kamala Khan's
04:55 been an Avenger, but they're all sort of members of a team that has assembled
05:00 and been formed through multiple characters over the years called
05:02 the Young Avengers.
05:04 And if I think we're going to get another Avengers movie at some point down the
05:06 line, it could be a Young Avengers that pulls this sort of ensemble of young
05:12 characters together.
05:14 So there's a number of different ways that the MCU can go forward with these
05:16 new characters being introduced.
05:18 And I find it really interesting that India Hemsworth may one day pick up the
05:23 mantle of the mighty Thor and take over where her father left off.
05:27 Maybe it's a take on the new foe who we met in the mid-credits sequence.
05:31 "What a classic Thor adventure."
05:32 Another thing that's happening in Phase 4 a lot are new characters being
05:36 introduced in the mid-credits sequence, whether it be Harry Styles joining the
05:40 MCU in Eternals or even the most recent one where Charlize Theron showed up in
05:44 the mid-credits sequence of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness to
05:48 finally play his onscreen love interest of Clea.
05:51 In this film, Thor Love and Thunder, we return to Zeus, who has been injured,
05:56 but not killed.
05:57 And thank God, because I thought Russell Crowe was a total blast playing Zeus.
06:02 You know, over the top, chewing scenery, bringing a little bit of the
06:06 Tychus-specific humor to this world, while also, you know, also bringing the
06:10 weight of the mythology that comes with sort of the Norse gods, which I thought
06:13 was fantastic.
06:14 And to that end, we meet Zeus's son, Hercules.
06:19 So Zeus is essentially complaining about the fact that, you know, the gods exist
06:24 and are only really important to humans when we are in some form of trouble, and
06:30 that we only really turn our attention to them when we need help, essentially.
06:35 And other than that, they are just off in their own existence and not really
06:38 paying attention to the power and the might of the gods.
06:41 And you can tell that he's definitely angered by the things that Thor did to
06:44 him and stole his lightning bolt and sort of let it be known that Zeus isn't nearly
06:50 as powerful as people in that council were led to believe that he is.
06:54 And so he is going to send his son on a mission to go after Thor in what I would
06:59 have to assume is the next standalone Thor movie.
07:02 And one of the big reasons why I am so extremely excited to see Hercules
07:07 join the MCU has nothing to do with the character, but the fact that he's played
07:10 by Brett Goldstein, the actor who plays Roy Kent in the outstanding sitcom,
07:15 Ted Lasso.
07:16 And if you watch Ted Lasso, you know that Brett Goldstein essentially plays
07:19 this gruff, emotionless character who is the perfect foil for Jason Sudeikis'
07:26 extremely optimistic Ted Lasso.
07:28 And I just know that when you pair the personality that Chris Hemsworth brings
07:34 to Thor against what Brett Goldstein is able to do on screen, Thor versus
07:38 Hercules is going to be a battle for the ages and honestly can't get here soon enough.
07:43 Here it comes.
07:44 This ends here and now!
07:49 All right, the final thing that we have to talk about is the fact that this
07:53 bothers me a little bit, but maybe there are no stakes in the MCU, right?
07:57 Like I know that that's a knock on Marvel and that no one's actually really dead.
08:02 And so while we saw Jane Foster sacrifice herself and give up the role of the
08:06 mighty Thor, she's welcomed into Valhalla by Heimdall, which again expands into
08:12 another realm of the Thor universe and a place where we could continue to explore
08:17 if we wanted to.
08:18 Now, that might be the end all.
08:20 Like that could just be Jane Foster arriving in Valhalla.
08:23 We know that she died in battle, which was something that was discussed over
08:26 the course of the film.
08:27 And maybe that's it.
08:28 Maybe that was just Natalie Portman's send off.
08:31 But it also, I think, sticks a little thumbtack in the board and saying if we
08:36 needed a way to bring her back, because this has been done in the comics before
08:40 and feels very comic-y, that Thor could go into Valhalla and essentially rescue
08:45 not just Jane, but also Heimdall and bring them back if he wanted to.
08:49 That sort of, again, negates the idea that these important characters gave
08:55 their lives in sacrificial moments.
08:58 I mean, Heimdall is the one who sort of sent Bruce Banner away before Thanos was
09:03 able to finish him off in Infinity War.
09:05 And here we just have this very emotional moving sacrifice by Jane Foster at the
09:09 end of Thor, Love and Thunder.
09:10 I'm choosing to believe that it's just their send off, but knowing how many
09:14 times that the MCU has brought Loki back from the dead, multiple, multiple times.
09:20 I also do believe that if those characters are needed for either a
09:24 standalone Thor movie or something in the MCU, Marvel sort of wrote themselves
09:30 an open door that these characters aren't exactly gone, gone, but just in a
09:35 location that's hard to get to, but possible to return them from.
09:38 And, you know, bringing about Valhalla just as a point sort of further explores
09:44 something that the MCU has been doing in phase four, which is diving a little bit
09:47 deeper into the afterlives that are significant to the major characters.
09:50 Whether we saw the, the Egyptian form of the afterlife in Moon Knight that our
09:55 character had to figure out a way to return from.
09:57 Of course, we've seen the astral plane in Black Panther, and that could be a
10:01 significant part of Wakanda forever, which we're going to get to see in the fall.
10:05 And now here, the introduction of Valhalla.
10:08 So it is interesting that Marvel is not just exploring the cosmic side of it and
10:12 then the terrestrial side of it, but getting into more of the spiritual, I
10:16 won't say religious, but more of the spiritual side of it, of where your soul
10:19 could potentially go after you have left this plane of existence.
10:25 Deeper things, deeper things that Marvel isn't afraid to sort of wrap their brain
10:28 around and explore as phase four continues.
10:31 Oh God, we're going to die.
10:33 I kind of find it interesting that Thor Love and Thunder didn't connect to the
10:36 larger MCU stories that are in play at the moment and was able to be its own
10:40 little standalone bit.
10:41 I know eventually we're going to get to some other MCU stories that will tie
10:45 together into whatever the larger story that Kevin Feige is trying to tell here,
10:49 but this wasn't one.
10:50 So if you had any questions about how Thor Love and Thunder came to an end, let
10:53 me know in the comments down below and I will try to answer them for you.
10:56 In the meantime, Thor sort of gets put on a shelf because we don't know when we're
10:59 going to see Chris Hemsworth again, even though the ending of this movie really
11:03 left a lot of plot threads open for storytellers to continue to pick up and
11:08 explore it.
11:08 Because if you stayed through the end credits, and I know you stayed through the
11:11 end credits, it does say in text, Thor will return.
11:15 We just don't know when or in what context.
11:18 Could be a cameo, could be a supporting part, could be Thor 5.
11:21 As soon as we know, we will let you know.
11:23 There are two events that will be happening this year where I think we're
11:26 going to get more details about the future of, you know, not just Thor, but
11:30 the MCU in general.
11:32 One is the Marvel panel that's going to be presented at San Diego Comic-Con, and
11:36 then the other is the Marvel panel that will be presented at Disney's D23 Fan
11:41 Expo.
11:42 And you know that we're going to be covering all of those events here on
11:45 CinemaBlend.
11:46 So for the latest commentary, keep it right here on CinemaBlend.
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