Marvel has finally released a teaser for the highly anticipated Thor: Love and Thunder just a few short months before the film’s release. There is a lot to see in one minute and 30 seconds of footage so let’s take a closer look and break down exactly what we have learned from this first look.
The teaser opens up with a young Thor running through the woods. As he passed some trees, we get a time jump and seen an older Thor, now appearing as a young man (god?) and sporting his classic comic-accurate costume. Finally, one more jump shows us a more familiar MCU version of the character.
Voice over from Thor himself explains that he is essentially done fighting and that he is now a tool for peace. We see him planting Stormbreaker in the ground and walking away from his powerful weapon. Remember, the handle of Stormbreaker came from Groot in Avengers: Infinity War. Could this sprout a new Groot? We do see Thor wielding Stormbreaker later on in the teaser so he probably didn’t leave it planted long enough to find out.
We see the return of Bro Thor, the relatively out of shape version of the character who we saw in Avengers: Endgame. He’s working out with chains while wearing a hat that says “Strongest Avenger,” and the rest of the teaser tells us that this workout eventually helps him to lose the way and get back into his God of Thunder-like shape.
Another shot in this same location shows us that Thor is working out in sight of a giant skeleton. Given that we know Gorr the Godbutcher will serve as the villain of this film, could this be the skeleton of a god like Surtur? And if so, did the finding of this apparent murder inspire Thor to get back in shape and look into who could be murdering gods? We’ll get a little more on that later on.
We then see that Thor is still working with the Guardians of the Galaxy. They appear to be teaming up on some sort of planet, surrounded by some kind of blue aliens. While the most familiar blue species in the MCU would be the Kree, these beings don’t appear to be the Captain Marvel villains as they seem to be much more peaceful. Meanwhile, Star-Lord seems to be getting tired of Thor’s antics.
Thor is sporting a Ravager outfit, blending in with the group of world-jumping bandits once led by Yondu. He dramatically throws off his jacket and it lands on the face of one of those blue beings. Specifically one who appears to be of some importance.
Thor holds true to his talk of remaining peaceful though as, on what looks like the same planet from the previous shot, the Guardians run into an apparent battle while Thor stands behind and eventually walks away.
We then see what looks like the Milano lift off from a junk-covered planet and jump out of sight. The next shot reveals that it left a smiling Thor and Korg behind on this planet. Could they be returning to Sakaar, the planet on which they first met as gladiators in the Grandmaster’s games? And if so, what for?
We then see what looks like New Asgard as a ship of some sort is pulled by two giant magical goats over the water. These goats have been in the service of Thor for a long time in the comics and go by the names Toothgrinder and Toothgnasher.
The ship appears to be carrying Thor, Valkyrie and Korg and serves as some sort of party vessel, as is evident from the neon sign on board.
In the next shot, we see a new mythical-looking location. Based on the ensuing shots, this appears to be the MCU’s version of Olympus, home of the Greek gods.
We then briefly step away from Olympus to see a pirate-inspired sequence in which a mysterious blue-haired woman swings onto a ship and into Thor’s arms before they kiss. This could be a look at Thor’s more, um… “peaceful” days or perhaps a dream sequence or something along those lines. Either way, it doesn’t appear this woman will have a large role to play in the film.
After the words “Not Every God” appear on screen, we see Thor’s ship approach a seemingly frozen planet. We then get a look at Thor standing on the bow of his ship as Storbreaker summons the bifrost ahead of them for their travels.
We then see some kind of gigantic, extravagant chamber that looks to be entirely made out of marble and gold. After some magical theatrics, a lightning bolt is caught out of midair by a mysterious hand.
This hand (and lightning bolt) appear to belong to the MCU’s version of Zeus, who we know will be played by Russell Crowe. While we never get a look at his face in the teaser, we do see him from behind as he plays up to his audience in this massive chamber.
Following up one the “Not Every God,” we see “Has A Plan.” Thor hasn’t exactly been the planning typ thus far in the MCU and it appears this movie will give us more of the same.
Again, the villain in this film is set to be Gorr the God Butcher. He was not given that name by mistake, he earned it. So if you put two and two together, it probably doesn’t mean great things for Zeus. We’ve already seen one apparent god skeleton in this teaser and the next shot shows the corpse of another. The great thing about this shot is that it is taken right out of the comics. In “Thor: God of Thunder #3,” Thor find the corpse of Falligar the Behemoth after he is slain by Gorr. Here, Thor and Korg seem to stumble upon the body of the fallen god. Thor certainly appears troubled by this sight.
We get another look at New Asgard, which we first saw in Avengers: Endgame. The city appears to have become a tourist destination as we can see cruise ships in the distance.
Valkyrie, who was left in charge of New Asgard by Thor, appears to be very disinterested as she meets with some other world leaders.
Another shot of Olympus shows us a giant statue of Zeus at the center of this beautiful city. Meanwhile, we can also spot a few familiar characters walking across a bridge into the city. We can clearly see Valkyrie and Korg but there also appears to be two Thors. We’ll get an explanation for that later.
We also hear voice over from Star-Lord, who says “remember what I told you – if you ever feel lost, just look into the eyes of the people that you love.” We then see Star-Lord saying those words as he looks at the rest of the Guardians. Thor slowly and hilariously creeps into the shot though as he tries to gaze into Star-Lord’s eyes. It looks like we’ll be getting more of the hysterical relationship between these two characters like we saw in Endgame.
We see the familiar logo for the film as the teaser comes to an apparent end.
However, in true Marvel fashion, there is still more to see. In the middle of an apparent battle, Thor is shocked to see a reforged Mjolnir fly through the air before it is caught by someone else. The camera pans don to reveal Jane Foster, now in full Thor gear, holding Mjolnir.
We’ve known for some time now that Natalie Portman would be reprising her role as Jane for this film and also that she would take up Mjolnir and the mantle of The Mighty Thor. Remember, whosoever holds this hammer, if they be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor. Jane is clearly worthy and this is why we will have two Thors in this film.
Notably absent from this teaser is the aforementioned Gorr. I would expect to see a far more menacing teaser featuring the villain in the future.
Thor: Love and Thunder comes to theaters on July 8.