Finally, some shots from the set.▼
A concept sketch.▼
I find all of this pretty intriguing. Looking back at various MCU projects following Avengers: Endgame, it seems like everything is just falling apart. Things actually look worse now than they did during that brief period when HYDRA / SHIELD collapsed. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier spent a lot of time discussing that fallout, Wanda’s series dealt with factions trying—and failing—to empower Vision, and Spider-Man had to struggle under the weight of Tony Stark's legacy while facing much tougher enemies.
Thor: Love and Thunder might follow that same trajectory. There is no Asgard, so there is no throne, and no King of the Nine Realms. I don't quite get Thor's motivation to join the Guardians of the Galaxy while leaving Valkyrie alone to rule New Asgard on Earth. It feels like any villain looking to take down Asgard won't go after the realm itself anymore; they'll just target Earth. This really changes how you view things—how New Asgard, or whatever Earth's peacekeeping council looks like, would actually handle those threats. It opens a massive Pandora's box of theories regarding where the plot of Thor: Love and Thunder should actually go.
The thing that really stands out to me, though, is Nidavellir. The close ties with Asgard are gone, and that mutual cooperation used to be so vital. They seriously need to fix that and re-establish the forge to empower New Asgard and the Asgardians. I honestly can't wrap my head around the idea that in Thor 5, Thor basically left Eitri all by himself. I mean, who is even providing him with supplies or basic necessities? I wouldn't be surprised if he eventually turns against Thor or ends up helping future villains. First Asgard left him, then Thor did.
Anyway, Thor: Love and Thunder could genuinely surprise us in a good way. But if Taika keeps making movies that joke about genocide or lean too hard into a goofy narrative, I'm going to be deeply disappointed in Taika and the whole Thor franchise. The fact that I'm being this serious just shows how much I actually considered Thor 2 a masterpiece compared to Thor: Ragnarok. In this third one, we're watching the destruction of Asgard—which is essentially the fall of a godhood—but nobody feels the emotional weight because our lungs hurt from laughing! That's just my take on Taika, who seems to be slowly killing Thor with humor.
