'Thor: Love And Thunder' Ending Explained
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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00:00The ending of Thor Love and Thunder is turning the MCU into quite the family affair.
00:04So let's dive into that and talk about what it means.
00:07You ever feel lost?
00:09Just look into the eyes of the people that you love.
00:14Not me.
00:15What?
00:16I was just listening.
00:23Hey guys, it's Sean O'Connell, the managing editor at CinemaBlend,
00:25here with an ending explained video for the new film Thor Love and Thunder,
00:30starring Chris Hemsworth, Christian Bale, and directed by Taika Waititi.
00:34Now, needless to say, because this is an ending explained video,
00:37we're going to assume that you have already seen the latest MCU film,
00:41Thor Love and Thunder.
00:42Do not go forward watching this video unless you've seen the latest film,
00:45unless you just don't care about stuff like major spoilers and us revealing
00:49what happens at the end of the film.
00:51There are some significant things in play,
00:54not just for Thor, but for directions that the MCU can go moving forward.
00:59And we're going to get into some conversations about what the bigger themes
01:03of Phase 4 have been so far and how I think they're going to sort of continue
01:07and develop and maybe point to a bigger sort of team-up film down the line.
01:11And so now, assuming that you've seen Thor Love and Thunder,
01:14let's get into that ending and what it means going forward.
01:16Kids get to popcorn now.
01:18For point one, I want to start with the fact that Thor sort of becomes daddy.
01:22And I know that that's a meme of like, Chris Hemsworth is kind of daddy.
01:26But Thor, the actual character, the God of Thunder,
01:30is becoming a father figure to a character named Love.
01:34And I find this really interesting because the character is also played
01:36by Chris Hemsworth's daughter in real life, whose name is India.
01:40She's 10 years old.
01:41So it is more of a family affair that Chris Hemsworth is getting
01:44some of his children involved.
01:45And then one of his twin sons actually stands in for young Thor.
01:49I'm going to assume that it's in that montage where Thor is running
01:53through the years.
01:54So it's really, really cool that Hemsworth, in addition to Taika Waititi
01:59and Natalie Portman, and I believe Christian Bale, all got their kids
02:02involved in this story, probably in the part where the Asgardian
02:07children are, you know, the kids in the cage who eventually get
02:10broken out and help with the battle towards the end.
02:12So where did this character come from?
02:14As you guys know, once Gorr the God Butcher was able to use Stormbreaker
02:20to open up the portal to eternity, they all enter into this placid
02:24looking location where it's very, very peaceful and Gorr is able
02:28to make the wish that he's been striving towards the entire film,
02:32which is the elimination of all the gods.
02:34But he recants, essentially recognizes the error of his ways.
02:39The pull of family becomes too strong.
02:41The emotion overwhelms him.
02:42Jane, at that point, is dying because of the sacrifices she has
02:46made to maintain her power through Mjolnir and she knew that the
02:50cancer that was inside of her was going to overwhelm her, essentially,
02:54at that point.
02:55So what happens is Gorr essentially wishes for his daughter, his
02:58youngest daughter, who he lost at the beginning of the film, to be
03:01resurrected and noticing that bit of sacrifice, Thor agrees to take
03:06on this character.
03:07We call her Love because towards the end of the film, as we realize
03:11that Thor is essentially serving as a father figure to her, she is
03:14referred to as the love to his thunder and the two of them sort of
03:18storm off onto their own adventure.
03:20At the very least, we know that Love, this character that we're
03:24referring to as Love, has some really interesting powers and we
03:26didn't really get to see the full extent of what she's capable of,
03:29but because she was created by eternity, there's really no end to
03:33the number of things that she could possibly be able to do.
03:36And I think it all but guarantees that we're going to get another
03:38Thor movie that shows her possibilities and the way that she's
03:42teaming with Thor to pull off whatever it is they're going off to
03:45do at the very end of this movie.
03:47One of the things I find really interesting is the way that this
03:48is sort of furthering something that we're seeing a lot in phase
03:51four, which is a major, established, significant MCU character being
03:56paired with a younger version of almost themselves as a mentee type
04:01of role, whether it be a Hawkeye, a Clint Barton taking on Kate
04:08Bishop, played by Haley Steinfeld in the Hawkeye television series.
04:11We know that Kamala Khan is going to end up working with Captain
04:14Marvel, Brie Larson's character later on.
04:17And you can even, to a certain extent, call America Chavez a bit
04:21of a counterpart to Doctor Strange in their adventure through
04:25Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.
04:27And even though Yelena is essentially the same age as Black Widow,
04:31it was, again, this sort of phase four idea of a family member of
04:35some sort being a counterpart who has to tag along with the main
04:38hero and then eventually branch off.
04:40Now, where do I think that that's sending us?
04:43Like, I think it's important to sort of bring up that if all of
04:45these new characters are being introduced through existing
04:49characters, a lot of these people, such as Kate Bishop, America
04:53Chavez, Kamala Khan, well, Kamala Khan's been an Avenger, but
04:57they're all sort of members of a team that has assembled and
05:00been formed through multiple characters over the years called
05:02the Young Avengers.
05:04And if I think we're going to get another Avengers movie at some
05:06point down the line, it could be a Young Avengers that pulls this
05:10sort of ensemble of young characters together.
05:14So there's a number of different ways that the MCU can go forward
05:16with these new characters being introduced, and I find it really
05:19interesting that India Hemsworth may one day pick up the mantle
05:24of the mighty Thor and take over where her father left off.
05:27Maybe it's a take on the new foe who we met in the mid-credits
05:30sequence.
05:31What a classic Thor adventure.
05:33Another thing that's happening in Phase 4 a lot are new
05:35characters being introduced in the mid-credits sequence, whether
05:38it be Harry Styles joining the MCU in Eternals or even the most
05:42recent one where Charlize Theron showed up in the mid-credits
05:45sequence of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness to
05:48finally play his on-screen love interest of Clea. In this film,
05:52Thor Love and Thunder, we return to Zeus, who has been injured
05:56but not killed.
05:58And thank God because I thought Russell Crowe was a total blast
06:01playing Zeus, you know, over-the-top, chewing scenery, bringing
06:05a little bit of the Taika-specific humor to this world while
06:08also, you know, also bringing the weight of the mythology that
06:11comes with sort of the the Norse gods, which I thought was
06:14fantastic. And to that end, we meet Zeus's son, Hercules.
06:19So Zeus is essentially complaining about the fact that, you
06:22know, the gods exist and are only really important to humans
06:27when we are in some form of trouble and that we only really
06:31turn our attention to them when we need help, essentially.
06:35And other than that, they are just off in their own existence
06:38and not really paying attention to the power and the might of
06:40the gods. And you could tell that he's definitely angered by
06:42the things that Thor did to him and stole his lightning bolt
06:46and sort of let it be known that Zeus isn't nearly as powerful
06:50as people in that council were led to believe that he is.
06:54And so he is going to send his son on a mission to go after
06:58Thor in what I would have to assume is the next standalone
07:01Thor movie. And one of the big reasons why I am so extremely
07:05excited to see Hercules join the MCU has nothing to do with
07:08the character, but the fact that he's played by Brett Goldstein,
07:12the actor who plays Roy Kent in the outstanding sitcom Ted
07:15Lasso. And if you watch Ted Lasso, you know that Brett Goldstein
07:18essentially plays this gruff, emotionless character who is
07:23the perfect foil for Jason Sudeikis' extremely optimistic
07:27Ted Lasso. And I just know that when you pair the personality
07:33that Chris Hemsworth brings to Thor against what Brett Goldstein
07:36is able to do on screen, Thor vs.
07:38Hercules is going to be a battle for the ages and honestly
07:42can't get here soon enough.
07:44Here it comes.
07:45This ends here and now!
07:50The final thing that we have to talk about is the fact that
07:53this bothers me a little bit, but maybe there are no stakes
07:56in the MCU, right?
07:57Like I know that that's a knock on Marvel and that no one's
08:00actually really dead.
08:02And so while we saw Jane Foster sacrifice herself and give
08:05up the role of the mighty Thor, she's welcomed into Valhalla
08:10by Heimdall, which again expands into another realm of the
08:14Thor universe and a place where we could continue to explore
08:17if we wanted to. Now, that might be the end all. Like that
08:20could just be Jane Foster arriving in Valhalla.
08:23We know that she died in battle, which was something that
08:26was discussed over the course of the film.
08:27And maybe that's it.
08:28Maybe that was just Natalie Portman's send-off. But it also,
08:32I think, sticks a little thumbtack in the board and saying
08:35if we needed a way to bring her back, because this has been
08:39done in the comics before and feels very comic-y, that Thor
08:43could go into Valhalla and essentially rescue not just Jane
08:46but also Heimdall and bring them back if he wanted to. That
08:50sort of, again, negates the idea that these important
08:54characters gave their lives in sacrificial moments.
08:58I mean, Heimdall is the one who sort of sent Bruce Banner
09:01away before Thanos was able to finish him off in Infinity
09:05War. And here we just have this very emotional moving
09:08sacrifice by Jane Foster at the end of Thor, Love and Thunder.
09:10I'm choosing to believe that it's just their send-off, but
09:13knowing how many times that the MCU has brought Loki back
09:17from the dead, multiple, multiple times, I also do believe
09:21that if those characters are needed for either a standalone
09:25Thor movie or something in the MCU, Marvel sort of wrote
09:29themselves an open door that these characters aren't exactly
09:33gone-gone, but just in a location that's hard to get to, but
09:37possible to return them from. And, you know, bringing about
09:39Valhalla just as a point sort of further explores something
09:44that the MCU has been doing in Phase 4, which is diving a
09:46little bit deeper into the afterlives that are significant
09:49to the major characters, whether we saw the Egyptian form
09:53of the afterlife in Moon Knight that our character had to
09:56figure out a way to return from. Of course, we've seen the
09:58Astral Plane in Black Panther, and that could be a significant
10:02part of Wakanda Forever, which we're going to get to see in
10:05the fall. And now, here, the introduction of Valhalla. So
10:08it is interesting that Marvel is not just exploring the cosmic
10:11side of it and then the terrestrial side of it, but getting
10:14into more of the spiritual, I won't say religious, but more
10:17of the spiritual side of it, of where your soul could potentially
10:20go after you have left this plane of existence. Deeper things,
10:26deeper things that Marvel isn't afraid to wrap their brain
10:28around and explore as Phase 4 continues.
10:31Oh God, we're going to die.
10:33I kind of find it interesting that Thor Love and Thunder
10:35didn't connect to the larger MCU stories that are in play
10:38at the moment and was able to be its own little standalone
10:41bit. I know eventually we're going to get to some other
10:43MCU stories that will tie together into whatever the larger
10:47story that Kevin Feige is trying to tell here, but this wasn't
10:49one. So if you had any questions about how Thor Love and
10:52Thunder came to an end, let me know in the comments down
10:54below and I will try to answer them for you. In the meantime,
10:57Thor sort of gets put on a shelf because we don't know when
10:59we're going to see Chris Hemsworth again, even though the
11:02ending of this movie really left a lot of plot threads open
11:05for storytellers to continue to pick up and explore. Because
11:09if you stayed through the end credits, and I know you stayed
11:11through the end credits, it does say in text Thor will return.
11:15We just don't know when or in what context. Could be a cameo,
11:19could be a supporting part, could be Thor 5. As soon as we
11:22know, we will let you know. There are two events that will
11:25be happening this year where I think we're going to get more
11:27details about the future of, you know, not just Thor, but
11:30the MCU in general. One is the Marvel panel that's going
11:34to be presented at San Diego Comic-Con, and then the other
11:37is the Marvel panel that will be presented at Disney's
11:40a D23 Fan Expo. And you know that we're going to be covering
11:43all of those events here on Cinema Blend. So for the latest
11:46commentary, keep it right here on Cinema Blend.