Image via Disney
1.
Thor: Love and Thunder, the 29th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has made $302 million at the global box office in less than a week. It’s a success by any objective measure, even if critically, the response has been more mixed.
The movie, written and directed by Taika Watiti (who also wrote and directed Thor: Ragnarok) has the director’s signature flair and breezy humor. It has great performances by Christian Bale, who plays Gorr the God Butcher, and Natalie Portman, who reprises her role as Jane/Mighty Thor. Chris Hemsworth’s Thor is funny and at ease with himself, and he looks godlier than ever.
The criticisms about Thor: Love and Thunder seem to be less about what the movie is–a frothy bit of fun–and more about what the movie isn’t. Six films and seven television series into Phase 4, and we still don’t have a clear direction of where the MCU is headed. Kevin Feige and the rest of the Disney/Marvel brain trust seem content, at the moment, to throw everything at the wall and see what sticks.
And that’s actually fine—for now. It will be cause for concern if after Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, we still don’t see a main plot emerge from all this. But not everything has to be done in service of The Big Plot; going down little tributaries and ancillary routes is what fleshes out a fictional universe, and makes it feel bigger and more expansive. And just because we don’t see the bigger picture yet, it doesn’t mean it isn’t there.
Let’s dig a bit beneath the surface. Here are 33 Easter eggs and references in Thor: Love and Thunder, plus a breakdown of the mid-credit and end-credit scenes. They give us more context about what has already happened and provide some tantalizing breadcrumbs for what’s to come.
2.Voiceover
All three prior Thor movies began with a voiceover. In Love and Thunder, Korg takes on the voiceover role, telling the story of the “Space Viking” by campfire.
3.Groot Hammer
When Thor places Stormbreaker in the dirt, it grows roots—a reminder that the handle is actually Groot’s arm, from when the Guardian cut it off in Avengers: Infinity War.
4.Enya Needle Drop
The song playing during the montage that opens the movie is “Only Time,” by Enya. An Irish Celtic artist, Enya has also composed songs for the Lord of the Rings trilogy and has sold 80 million albums worldwide.
5.Necrosword
In the comics, the Necrosword’s history is tied up with the Symbiotes (like Venom and Carnage). But in the MCU, Symbiotes aren’t really a thing (unless you count the small bit of one that stayed behind in Spider-Man: No Way Home). Instead, the MCU version of the Necrosword shares a lot in common with the Ebony Blade, which we see at the end of The Eternals. Both are powerful and appear to have been forged in pre-ancient times; both call out to and corrupt their users. The Ten Rings from Shang-Chi are of unknown origin and also communicate with their user. It’s possible that all of these artifacts are interconnected or come from the same source.
6.Guns N' Roses
We hear multiple Guns N’ Roses songs throughout the movie, usually scoring action scenes: “Welcome to the Jungle” during the opening battle with Thor and the Guardians of the Galaxy; “Paradise City” during the introduction of New Asgard; “Sweet Child O’ Mine” during Thor’s escape from Omnipotent City; and “November Rain” during the battle between Gorr, Thor, and Jane.
7.Strongest Avenger?
During the workout sequence, Thor wears a hat that reads “Strongest Avenger.” This is a reference to the scene in Ragnarok when Thor tries to figure out his Quinjet password. The password turns out to be “Point Break,” which is Tony’s nickname for Thor in the first Avengers movie.
8.
The design on Thor’s T-shirt during the opening fight is a depiction of Yggdrasil the World Tree from Norse mythology, binding the Nine Realms. You can buy the official version of it on Amazon.
9.Two Screaming Goats
In Norse mythology, Thor has two goats, Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr, which pull his chariot. The comic version of Thor also has two goats. In the movie, the goats have an unnatural, high-pitched scream, which is a reference to the viral video above.
10.The Foster Theory
While Jane Foster is undergoing chemotherapy, we see that she is now a published author. We know from the prior movies that she studied at the University of London and was even considered for a Nobel Prize. Presumably, the book covers all her findings about the Einstein-Rosen Bridge, and how it relates to the traversal of space-time.
11.'Event Horizon' and 'Interstellar'
When trying to explain the Einstein-Rosen Bridge to her fellow chemo patient, she asks if he’s ever seen Event Horizon or Interstellar. In both movies, characters explain the traversal of space time by folding paper. Jane also does this upon learning that he has seen neither film.
12.Darcy And Dr. Selvig Are Back
Darcy and Dr. Selvig last appeared together in Thor: The Dark World. Darcy also had a cameo in WandaVision. Both appear in Love and Thunder—Darcy comes to Jane’s chemo treatment, and Selvig follows up with her about the results of those treatments.
13.Tourist Trap
New Asgard has evolved, under Valkyrie’s leadership, from a fishing village to a lucrative tourist attraction, complete with tour buses, cruise ships, and tour guides. We see that New Asgard is more prosperous from the traditional golden roofs, which are slowly popping up on several of the buildings.
14.Infinity Conez
New Asgard is not above a little cash-grabbing. We see there’s a concession place named Infinity Conez, after the Infinity Stones. It also begs the question: To what extent is the public aware of the Infinity Stones?
15.Old Spice
Just because Valkyrie is King of Asgard does not mean she’s beneath a bit of commercialism. We see her filming a commercial for Old Spice. We also see her being very bored at meetings, which might explain why she goes adventuring with Thor instead of hanging back.
16.Team Thor
Prior to Thor: Ragnarok, Marvel created a series of comedic shorts about Thor and his roommate Darryl. In Love and Thunder, we see that Darryl is now a tour guide at New Asgard.
17.Nick Furry
We see that Thor has Nick Fury’s name saved in his phone as “Nick Furry,” another reference to the Team Thor shorts, where Thor wonders what Fury’s real name is.
18.A Night at the Theater with Matt Damon
Matt Damon, Sam Neill, and Luke Hemsworth reprise their roles as Asgardian actors, who re-enact the events of Thor: Ragnarok. Melissa McCarthy debuts as an Asgardian actress portraying Hela.
19.Return of Sif
Sif returns to the MCU for the first time since Thor: The Dark World. Gorr cuts off her arm in battle, though that doesn’t slow her down; she is training the next generation of Asgardian sword fighters at the end of the movie.
20.Dead God
This massive creature that Gorr killed is named Falligar. He was the patron saint of the Galactic Frontier, and was renowned for his fighting ability. The shot is lifted almost exactly from Thor: God of Thunder #3 (2013).
21.Axl Rose
Heimdall’s son’s name is Astrid, but he insists that Thor call him “Axl.” Axl Rose is the lead singer and primary songwriter behind rock band Guns N’ Roses, whose songs dominate the movie’s soundtrack.
22.LGBTQ+ Representation
There are multiple non-hetero relationships either mentioned or shown in this movie. We learn that Valkyrie, who is bisexual in the comics, saw the woman that she loved killed by Hela. Val also flirts with Zeus’ handmaidens and makes flirty comments about Jane as Mighty Thor. We learn at the end of the movie that Korg has found a fellow male Kronan to procreate with.
23.Bast
Bast is in the crowd at Omnipotence City. Wakanda worships her as a major god. She is played by Akosia Sabet.
24.Dionysius
We see a god surrounded by grapes, laughing at Zeus’ joke and calling out “Good one Dad!” This is Dionysius, who in ancient Greek mythology is the god of wine.
25.God of Dumplings
Bao, the god of dumplings, looks very similar to the dumpling child in the 2018 Pixar/Disney short Bao, an allegory about a mother who reconciles with her son.
26.The Almighty Zeus
Russell Crowe plays Zeus, the apparent leader of the gods in Omnipotent City. In ancient Greek mythology, Zeus was both king of the gods and the god of thunder.
27.Thunderbolts
In ancient Greek mythology, Zeus’ weapon of choice were his thunderbolts. They were forged for him by the Cyclops, who he freed from Tartarus.
28.RIP Loki
During the scene when Zeus flicks off Thor’s clothing, we see that Thor has an RIP Loki tattoo on his back, along with an image of Loki’s horned helmet.
29.Tarantino Homage
During the fight scene against the guards of Omnipotent City, we see that the guards bleed spurts of gold instead of red, which probably preserved the movie’s PG-13 rating. The framing and editing of the sequence suggests that this is a homage to the fight scene at the end of Kill Bill: Vol. 1, which also featured torrents of blood. In the United States, Tarantino changed the original color sequence to black-and-white to preserve his R-rating.
30.Celestials
We can see two massive Celestials framing the window where Thor makes his escape from Omnipotent City. Celestials, as we learn in The Eternals, are massive creatures that started the Big Bang and predate the Infinity Stones.
31.Hall of Statues
In the major scene at the center of the universe, where our heroes go to meet Eternity, we see the carved busts of several Marvel characters. There’s no official confirmation; fans have only speculated about the identities of them. Several of the bandied about names include Lady Death, Infinity, The Living Tribunal, Eon, and Uatu the Watcher.
Lady Death is self-explanatory—in the comics, Thanos collects the Infinity Stones and Snaps to impress her. Infinity is one of four entities that created the Infinity Stones (the other three are Death, Entropy, and Eternity). The Living Tribunal is alluded to in the TV show Loki and in Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness; it’s his job to protect the stability of the multiverse. Eon is descended from Eternity, and was an entity associated with the acquisition of knowledge and the passage of time. And Uatu, also known as The Watcher, oversees the multiverse but has sworn an oath to not interfere in its events. He appears in the Marvel TV series What If…?
32.Hemsworth's Children
Hemsworth’s entire immediate family has acting roles. His son plays the flashback child Thor, who is running at the beginning of the movie. His wife plays the woman who kisses him atop a giant wolf in a different flashback scene. And his daughter plays Love, Gorr’s orphaned child and Thor’s adopted daughter, at the end of the movie.
33.Mid-Credits Scene
In the mid-credits sequence, we find out that Zeus has survived Thor’s attack and is sending his greatest warrior, Hercules, after the Norse god of thunder. Hercules is also a character in the comics, where he is a rival of Thor and an occasional member of the Avengers. In Ancient Greek mythology, Hercules is a half-mortal and one of the strongest beings on Earth, and is famous for his labors, including the slayings of the Nemean Lion and the Hydra. Hercules is played by actor Brett Goldstein. His name is a bit of an error; “Hercules” is Romanized from his original Greek name, Heracles.
34.End Credits Scene
In the final scene, we see Heimdall welcome Jane at the gates of Valhalla, the Asgardian version of the afterlife. Although she is not strictly Asgardian, she died protecting the children of Asgard, whilst holding Mjolnir. It’s easy to believe that such an act would create an exception.
It also raises some interesting questions about the nature of godhood. Up until now, we’ve been led to believe that a “god” is usually alien from another realm in the universe that humans made contact with and began to worship since they were so otherworldly and powerful that they couldn’t conceive of them any other way (Thor, Zeus, Gilgamesh, etc). But if Jane goes to Valhalla at the end of the movie—is she truly dead? In this universes there an ultimate God above all others? Or is this simply another realm or space?
Moon Knight provided some clarification—the afterlife is real, but multiple versions of it exist, depending on what you believe. So the Wakandans go to the Ancestral Plane. The Asgardians go to Valhalla. The ancient Egyptians go to another.
We know at the very least that people can commune with the dead. We see T’Challa talk to his father in Black Panther, and we see Thor talk to Odin in Thor: Ragnarok. The question of how much else is possible could lead to some interesting developments.