Sequels Thor: Love and Thunder

[JtheDreamer]

And what if nothing is stripped from Thor. Because there's really no worthiness enchantment in his innate power. What if the reason why Natalie Portman decided to come back was because of Taika and his vision/script, Taika said it was an emotional story from the comics... so i'm guessing he could pull on the idea that Jane Foster is sick like in the comics, maybe now it's because of remnants of the Aether who affected her health and she decided to go to New Asgard in order to get proper treatment like before... There they would rebuild Mjolnir from the shards left on the cliff and this would give Jane Foster the opportunity to change into a version of Thor, one that keeps her disease from getting worst...

What if Natalie Portman accepted to come back because she finally could be much more than a nerdy scientist in love with a god. She could play on her strengths, the drama of a woman suffering from cancer and the badassery of a woman turning into a Thor like character... Maybe they brink back Jane Foster so they can give a proper ending, an emotional and satisfying conclusion to her relationship with Thor.

The possibilites are there for a great story. I choose to keep optimistic about it and trust Taika to deliver something special as he did with Ragnarok.

If what you say is true, there's still the fact that I really don't care about their relationship. I'm sure I'm not alone on this. That shipped sailed a long time ago and honestly they weren't anything special together on-screen anyways.

 

[JtheDreamer]

I was actually thinking about this, too. I mean, Ragnarok, we establish that Thor doesn't even need a hammer...then the first thing he does is get whooped by Thanos off-screen, and declare that he needs a new hammer/ax. he then shows up, uber-Thor, whoops up Thanos's army by himself almost, then gets fat and becomes a joke of a hero. Now, he's going to be replaced, pretty much. I expect him to be tripping over his own feet and having his own hammer land on his toe with Jane having to lift if up for him. Seriously, I'd bet that scene ends up in there. I just hate that we're fast-forwarding to legacy characters. Falcon-Cap, Jane-Thor...it was not a great time in the comics, if I recall, although Jane-Thor was at least well-written.

If I see Amadeus-Hulk, I'm just out of here. Probably my least fave legacy character, especially when we've not seen enough Hulk in the MCU.

It's interesting because there are people on here who claim the Jane-Thor series was well written. However most of the threads I follow on Reddit trash that run and aren't shy about their disappointment this franchise just went.

The whole legacy thing (as I've stated many times) is lazy and bores the hell out of me. I get why it's done in the comics i.e. running out of stories after decades of material - but are we really already at that stage in the MCU? This is coming from someone who actually wanted to see BRB on-screen, but I make exception due to his origin/story. It's almost pointless now since everyone and their mother is going to have wielded one of Thor's weapons.

 

[JtheDreamer]

I get that this is the film Taika wants to make. And it sounds like it's a great arc by Aaron. I'll need to read it at some point.

I'm just not as big of a fan of Aaron as others. I agree that Straczynski's run was better. The God Butcher arc was OK. I liked the creepiness of it and the origin of Gorr. He was a genuinely scary foe. But I actually really preferred Jurgen's run with Desak the Godslayer which was a very similar story if you ask me. But it was all the more poignant because of the juxtaposition of Thor's actions as King in that elseworlds kind of tale and it made Desak seem almost justifiable.

But I digress. This is the Jane story. I remain open minded.

However, is it just me or does it seem like too much all at once? All these legacy male characters getting swapped for female. Even Captain Marvel was originally a dude. I mean I get it if you're a woman and you feel this kind of representation is long overdue but why not spread these transitions out over time? It would feel more organic and less gimmicky to me. I probably opened a can of worms with this comment.

Can't remember if I said it in this thread already, but even though I'm not a woman I would've thought women to prefer the elevation of ORIGINAL female characters, not male superhero hand-me-downs.

Over in the MCU Phase 4 thread I joked that you've never seen a male Black Widow and the comics have had female superheros for a very long time. This kind of thing only works one-way. I don't see that changing either.

 

[JtheDreamer]

I need to reserve judgement but I totally get why you're feeling this way. I love almost all the movies but Thor is the number one thing that's kept me interested in the MCU to date. But I still can't shake this feeling of dissatisfaction with the way Thor's been handled over all these films. Iron Man and Cap go out like total bosses and Thor's in this weird kind of transitional state. It's natural to want to see payoff for tagging along for the journey. Let's hope we're all pleasantly surprised.

Right now, if I change my mind about seeing this - I hope you're right. It's scary to think he could possibly bow out of the MCU after turning into a depressed, overweight slob and handing his namesake/powers over to a forgotten MCU character. It's not even mad scientist, it would be a head scratcher and completely unacceptable.

 

[WBwins]

Well just like that my enthusiasm has been dampened. I get that others are excited but I'm starting to wonder if the things I've wanted to see in a Thor film will ever be realized.

I'll try and keep an open mind but right now it looks like I was right to be worried. Taika is a weird dude but he's clever. Ragnarok wasn't what I expected but it was a great film in its own right and delivered some of my favorite movie Thor moments.

Man though... what a terrible cringy title. It makes me think this film is just going to be a total joke and that Ragnarok's humor will look tame by comparison.

I never read the Jane Thor story line but maybe I should before I judge this. I'm familiar with the dying of cancer angle but after the way Taika handled the destruction of Asgard I'm not sure he'll hit the right emotional beats there. I don't love everyone going around wielding Mjolnir but if anyone else was to do it, I was hoping it would have been Beta Ray Bill. And just because you wield Mjolnir that doesn't make you Thor. I mean that's like his name. It's not a title like Captain America or a secret identity like Spider-Man.

Natalie coming back is actually one of the things that is retaining my interest personally. I didn't like how she was written out of these films. She's a wonderful actress and with the right writing and direction she will do great.

Tremendously disappointed at the lack of Sif. Hoping for Amora. Still hoping for BRB. Balder or Mangog would have been great. Guess we'll see what happens.

Agree hundred percent

 

[Abudefduf]

It's interesting because there are people on here who claim the Jane-Thor series was well written. However most of the threads I follow on Reddit trash that run and aren't shy about their disappointment this franchise just went.

That means nothing, though. The only recent female-led comic I can think of that internet nerds haven't trashed is Rucka's Wonder Woman.

Captain Marvel, Ms Marvel, Spider-Woman, Domino, Mighty Thor... they're all awful according to them. The reality is that female-led comics are not being written just for close-minded male nerds anymore and that makes them mad. The fact that many of the comics they hate are written by women is just a coincidence, I'm sure.

Tl;dr - Mighty Thor was good.

 

[DillySuperDilly]

Thor is not a mantle like 007 is. Having the power OF Thor & being called Thor are two different things. It would be silly naming another character any type of Thor when Thor is another character entirely & still alive at that & very unimaginative

 

[Asharad]

We had a new Batman for a while, but it wasn't female so there wasn't a meltdown.

 

[Ragnaroknroll]

I don't think anyone who's reasonably open minded about diversity has a problem with someone else wielding Mjolnir no matter what they look like - provided they are worthy. (I mean genetically altered Korbinites aren't real but that was the whole point of Beta Ray Bill - he was horrible to look upon. How could this monster be worthy?)

However, the poignancy of worthiness is totally lost the longer that list grows and everyone starts passing around Mjolnir like a game of musical mallets.

If Hemsworth's Odinson is bowing out than why not BRB? Fans have been clamoring for Beta Ray Bill because he's cool and different and has a great background story and Simonson's arc is one of the highlights of literally decades of Thor tales. After what Marvel has done with visually representing characters like Rocket and Groot, how cool would it be to see him brought to life on the big screen? Also Thor and Bill have a camaraderie which would have been really great to explore.

If Mjolnir's next wielder is a girl then so be it. (Hela wielded Mjolnir pre enchantment for what it's worth.) And I don't care if it's Jane if the story is good. But don't call her Thor. She's not Thor. She's Jane. I mean if his name was Gary the Viking would she become Gary? It doesn't make sense at all. It's dumb.

 

[HammerDown]

They have the right material to make a compelling story. It's all about making the right choices and executing them well. I don’t see Taika ditching Thor for a Jane Foster version but I do see him use Jane Foster Thor story from the comics to create a impactful arc that deeply impacts Thor’s own journey.

The smart money is to bring Jane Foster Thor to further Thor’s own journey. Simple as that.

 

[roxas99]

Thor is not a mantle like 007 is. Having the power OF Thor & being called Thor are two different things. It would be silly naming another character any type of Thor when Thor is another character entirely & still alive at that & very unimaginative

Even if it was a mantle does anybody on here really believe that Natalie Portman is about sign on for 10 more MCU films in order to order takeover for Hensworth going forward lol

This is the big reason why Im fine with her being Thor in the upcoming film because we all know that there is no chance in hell Portman is sticking around after Thor 4. She has no interest in being the face of the Thor franchise and the only reason she signed up for this one was because she really wanted to work with Taika Waititi

Now had they announced a new young actress was suddenly going to be playing the role of female Thor then that would have been something fans would have rightfully been worried about but as it stands Thor 4 is likely Portman final MCU film

hopefully her and Taika Waititi lets Jane go out on a high note

 

[ComicChick]

I honestly don’t see Portman coming back unless there was a compelling script and something that made her want to revisit the character after what happened before.

I also don’t see her coming in to take over the franchise either. She’s also older than hemsworth. I recall some mentioning his age and how long he wants to play the character.

I really don’t see her being valkyries queen either. But if they are using the female Thor, maybe it will be in that by mentoring and helping Jane, Thor starts to become the man he was, the king he’s supposed to be. She may be able to get things out of him that no one else could.

I haven’t read the comics but I learned in here, she ends up dying. I don’t know if that is planned for the movie or not but can thor handle losing anyone else? That’s part of the reason for his downward spiral.

And please, no Darcy?

 

[DillySuperDilly]

Even if it was a mantle

Thor is not a mantle Thor is Thor the hammer gives worthy people Thors powers. It would have been just as silly if Cap told people to call him Thor because he can carry the Hammer. This would not be funny or make sense

 

[Mr. Peanut]

Now that i think about it, it was interesting to have Angela Jolie on stage when introducing Thor: L&T.
Simply because they brought up "The Mighty Thor" storyline which in turn sees Jane Foster go through a similar problem like AJ went through as well. I wonder if she has any idea of it because it should mean a lot to her and other women in that condition.

Assuming the movie doesn't treat it as a joke.

No offense to Ragnarok (I loved it), but between it, GotG, and Deadpool, it had the least ability to treat serious issues with gravitas. Will Waititi make an exception when dealing with cancer?

 

[MahvelBaby!]

I feel pretty chill. Thanks though.

We're discussing movies about imaginary characters on a movie discussion forum.

Exactly...

 

[JtheDreamer]

Exactly...

Can we stop pretending that there isn't a middle-ground where one isn't losing their mind over it? There's a level of attachment and respect some have for these characters and don't want to see them homogenized.

 

[herolee10]

I honestly don’t see Portman coming back unless there was a compelling script and something that made her want to revisit the character after what happened before.

I also don’t see her coming in to take over the franchise either. She’s also older than hemsworth. I recall some mentioning his age and how long he wants to play the character.

I really don’t see her being valkyries queen either. But if they are using the female Thor, maybe it will be in that by mentoring and helping Jane, Thor starts to become the man he was, the king he’s supposed to be. She may be able to get things out of him that no one else could.

I haven’t read the comics but I learned in here, she ends up dying. I don’t know if that is planned for the movie or not but can thor handle losing anyone else? That’s part of the reason for his downward spiral.

And please, no Darcy?

I don't know about that. I mean a compelling script and the chance to take over a popular franchise may have been compelling enough for her to join hands with Marvel again.

By giving the Thor franchise to Portman, that would allow Chris to appear in other films as a supporting character like how Hulk did in Ragnarok. So you'd get his water down version of Thor in other films (i.e. Guardians) while Natalie would carry on the solo franchise as the new Mighty Thor.

I mean do I agree with any of this? Absolutely not. I think it's one of the most insulting and stupid ideas that I've ever seen in my life. However, it's kind of become clear to me that Hemsworth and the rest of the folks involve don't want to portray a serious version of Thor that has dramatic weight behind him and just want to use the character for "Jay and Silent Bob" type jokes.

 

[herolee10]

I'd also like to add that I think's a real shame that we'll never get to see the level of of depth that Chris displayed in Thor's emotions when he had learned that it was impossible to undo Thanos's actions at the start of Endgame. You were really able to see the depth of Thor's despair in that one moment and saw Thor turn into a tragic figure as he walked away from executing Thanos.

To go from that to the comic relief Thor for the remainder of the film was just staggering to watch. It was Endgame went under its own "Justice League" style re-shoots.lol

And seeing as how Taika prefers capturing the humor out of any grim situation, I seriously doubt that we'll ever see Thor portrayed with dramatic depth for a long time. At least, not with Chris's Thor. If Taika made something like "Ragnarok" feel like mild disturbance then Lord knows on how far he'll go with a title like "Love and Thunder".

 

[Shuri]

I'm assuming Thor won't be in Guardians 3 now

Good. I know I'm in the minority, but I never wanted him in it. I wanted Thor 4 which we are getting and hopefully a small role in Captain Marvel 2.

 

[Shuri]

Why do I get a feeling that there gonna pull one over us fans with lady thor? I keep thinking its a lady thor from another earth in the multiverse given this comes out after dr strange 2 or its jane from the first two movies and she is played for laughs more then anything

I hope she's from another universe.

 

[roxas99]

By giving the Thor franchise to Portman, that would allow Chris to appear in other films as a supporting character like how Hulk did in Ragnarok. So you'd get his water down version of Thor in other films (i.e. Guardians) while Natalie would carry on the solo franchise as the new Mighty Thor.

I mean do I agree with any of this? Absolutely not. I think it's one of the most insulting and stupid ideas that I've ever seen in my life. However, it's kind of become clear to me that Hemsworth and the rest of the folks involve don't want to portray a serious version of Thor that has dramatic weight behind him and just want to use the character for "Jay and Silent Bob" type jokes.

As I said before there is no chance in hell that Portman is going sign on to 10 picture deal with marvel in order to take over a franchise that Chris Hemsworth himself is no longer willing to star in. If anything I expect chris Hemsworth to still be doing Thor 5, 6, and 7 while Portman will have long move on to her next project

I mean I like Chris as much as the next person but between him and Portman its obvious who has the bigger career outside of the MCU and it ain't him

If marvel wants a woman to take over the Thor franchise for the next 10 years
they are going to have to find another actress because Portman is not sticking around after Thor 4

 

[Mjolnir Reborn]

I don't know about that. I mean a compelling script and the chance to take over a popular franchise may have been compelling enough for her to join hands with Marvel again.

By giving the Thor franchise to Portman, that would allow Chris to appear in other films as a supporting character like how Hulk did in Ragnarok. So you'd get his water down version of Thor in other films (i.e. Guardians) while Natalie would carry on the solo franchise as the new Mighty Thor.

I mean do I agree with any of this? Absolutely not. I think it's one of the most insulting and stupid ideas that I've ever seen in my life. However, it's kind of become clear to me that Hemsworth and the rest of the folks involve don't want to portray a serious version of Thor that has dramatic weight behind him and just want to use the character for "Jay and Silent Bob" type jokes.

No one needs to take over the franchise for Thor to do other things. Just look at Iron Man, they didn't have anyone else take over after Stark to do Iron Man movies, they just stopped and used him in several other films. There's nothing that says that a certain film has to be made in the MCU so they'd need to change up roles to fit it, they just tell the stories they want to tell. Therefor I don't see any relevance to the idea that they would put in Portman to allow for Hemsworth to do other films.

I would disagree about the dramatic weight. While Endgame leaned a bit too much to the comedy I still think there's been some good dramatic scenes that show that aspect in the last few films. It's not the focus of the films but I don't think it's absent either.

 

[herolee10]

Good. I know I'm in the minority, but I never wanted him in it. I wanted Thor 4 which we are getting and hopefully a small role in Captain Marvel 2.

If the Thor that they're referring to in "Love and Thunder" is actually about Jane then I don't see what harm it'll do to have Chris spend more time with the Guardians.

Assuming if Natalie has signed on to reprise her role for several more films as the new Thor, then Chris could be used to guest star in other films.

 

[herolee10]

As I said before there is no chance in hell that Portman is going sign on to 10 picture deal with marvel in order to take over a franchise that Chris Hemsworth himself is no longer willing to star in. If anything I expect chris Hemsworth to still be doing Thor 5, 6, and 7 while Portman will have long move on to her next project

I mean like Chris as much as the next person but between him and Portman its obvious who has the bigger career outside of the MCU and it ain't him

If marvel wants a woman to take over the Thor franchise for the next 10 years
they are going to have to find another actress because Portman is not sticking around after Thor 4

I don't think she would sign a 10 picture deal either. However, I don't think that they would go through all of this trouble to bring Portman back to play the new Thor for just one film.

And in all honesty, if the goal is to make Jane the new Thor then I would prefer for Chris to leave the franchise and be a supporting character in other films. If Jane's Thor turns out to be a big hit then Chris's Thor is just going to be constantly lost in Jane's shadow for future installments and I would prefer the save the character what little dignity he has left after EG.

 

[herolee10]

No one needs to take over the franchise for Thor to do other things. Just look at Iron Man, they didn't have anyone else take over after Stark to do Iron Man movies, they just stopped and used him in several other films. There's nothing that says that a certain film has to be made in the MCU so they'd need to change up roles to fit it, they just tell the stories they want to tell. Therefor I don't see any relevance to the idea that they would put in Portman to allow for Hemsworth to do other films.

I would disagree about the dramatic weight. While Endgame leaned a bit too much to the comedy I still think there's been some good dramatic scenes that show that aspect in the last few films. It's not the focus of the films but I don't think it's absent either.

Well whatever dramatic scenes Thor had in EG were unfortunately overshadowed by the comedic tone that they went for most of his scenes.

And like I mentioned earlier, I would rather have Chris's Thor either leave the franchise and appear in other films OR just have him killed off so that he doesn't get bumped to supporting actor in the franchise that he started.

Honestly, the more that I think about it, the more that I get upset at the idea that Thor will have lost both his name/moniker and his birthright to other characters.