The following contains spoilers for Marvel’s Thor: Love And Thunder.The fifth solo outing for Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe borrows heavily from two different Marvel comic book storylines. The first is Thor’s quest to stop Gorr the God Butcher from destroying all of the deities in the universe. The second is Jane Foster becoming Mighty Thor when she wields Mjolnir.
Because both movie storylines borrow from these two comic book arcs, there is plenty in the movie that provides nods to those stories while they are weaved together here to create a new one. The movie also provides plenty of callbacks to earlier adventures in the MCU for fans who might have forgotten a plot point or two, making the movie rich in Easter eggs and connections all around.
New Characters In The Marvel Logo
Marvel fans have become accustomed to the iconic comic book page flip and the MCU scenes used to create the opening Marvel logo. This time around, it’s not just the movie characters that appear in the logo.
Characters who have only appeared in Disney Plus shows so far also make their first appearances in the Marvel logo in Thor: Love And Thunder. Fans can spot both Marc Spector's Moon Knight and Kamala Khan's Ms. Marvel.
The Necrosword
The Necrosword is the weapon Gorr uses when he decides to begin slaying all of the known gods in the comics as well. While the sword “calls” to Gorr in the same way that Mjolnir calls to Jane, its sentience is never explained in the movie.
In the comics, the sword is created by Knull, the god of the symbiotes like Venom. He uses it to begin slaying gods himself, but it eventually ends up with Gorr. It’s likely the symbiote aspect of the sword has been eliminated from the screen story because Venom and the symbiotes are in Sony’s hands for their connected universe of Spider-Man-related characters.
A Classic Thor Adventure
This phrase is thrown around a lot in the movie, which makes sense as Thor’s adventures in this installment are based on what are now considered classic comic book runs. More than that, however, is the “classic” look Thor has.
When Korg tells the story of Thor growing up to be a warrior, he’s wearing his classic costume from the comics at different ages. The younger version of Thor is also played by Chris Hemsworth’s son, Tristan.
Hemsworth’s brother, Luke, also returns to play Thor as part of New Asgard’s theater troupe, just as he did in Thor: Ragnarok. Matt Damon as Loki and Sam Neil as Odin also return while Melissa McCarthy makes her first appearance for the theater group as Hela.
More Friends And Family Cameos
Thor: Love And Thunder really is a family affair for those involved. Melissa McCarthy’s husband plays the stage manager for the Asgardian actors, for one, but the children of the main actors also all have roles in the movie.
Children of Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, and Taika Waititi all played members of the group of kidnaped Asgardian children. The titular Love is played by India Rose Hemsworth. Her mother, and Chris Hemsworth’s wife, Elsa Pataky even cameos as the “Wolf Woman” in flashbacks to Thor’s relationships.
Hemsworth’s former Home And Away costar Indiana Evans also plays one of the women seated with Zeus. Waititi’s What We Do In The Shadows costar Jonathan Brugh appears as Rapu, the first god Gorr kills.
MCU Cameos
While the audience knew that Thor characters like Korg and Jane would appear in the movie, some other MCU characters ended up cut, and others weren’t confirmed before the movie premiered. Characters that play a role in Thor’s past return for a few cameos.
The Warriors Three and Thor’s family appear in recycled footage of their deaths for audience members who might have missed a movie or two to remind them of what Thor has already lost. Beyond that, however, Darcy Lewis and Eric Selvig, who both first appeared in the first Thor movie, return to say goodbye to Jane. Even Nick Fury (as Nick Furry) appears via a contact in Thor’s phone.
A Snake You Cannot Trust
When Thor says his goodbyes to the Guardians of the Galaxy, he does a complicated handshake with Peter Quill. Included in that handshake is a snake that can’t be trusted before the “Asgardian one.”
That snake is likely a nod to his brother Loki, who once shapeshifted into a snake to bite Thor as a child. It’s fitting since Thor sports tattoos honoring his brother on his back in a later scene.
Thor’s Tattoos
While most of Thor’s tattoos are in honor of his brother, like the large horned helmet that covers most of his back, there are other tattoos as well.
One is a list on a scroll. It appears to feature major losses in Thor’s life that he feels responsible for. While the Warriors Three aren’t there, his mother, father, Heimdall, Tony (Stark), and Natasha (Romanoff) are. Loki is also one the list, but his name is followed by a question mark, indicating Thor hasn’t entirely lost hope that Loki’s death is an elaborate prank.
Thor’s Tee Shirts
The tee shirt Thor wears while with the Guardians Of The Galaxy appears to resemble Yggdrasil, the World Tree from Norse mythology. While the tree itself hasn’t appeared in the MCU, a carving of it did hide the Tesseract in Captain America: The First Avenger in the same city where New Asgard sets up camp.
The circular patterns on the shirt also match up with the pattern on his armor when he’s in battle later in the movie.
Darryl The Tour Guide
The Asgard Tours advertised at Avengers Con in Ms. Marvel are seen in the flesh in New Asgard. Leading the tours is a familiar face for fans of Marvel bonus content. Darryl, Thor’s roommate from a series of comedic shorts, is the tour guide.
In another nice nod, the boat that Valkyrie, Thor, Jane, and Korg use as their ship later is the Aegir, the Norse word for “sea.” In mythology, the goats actually pull Thor’s chariot across the sky, so it's fitting that they turn the boat into a spaceship of sorts.
Infinity Conez
The audience is reminded repeatedly that Thor played a role in bringing an end to Thanos in Avengers: Endgame. New Asgard isn’t forgetting that either.
The montage of Valkyrie’s obligations as King include her being present for the opening of a new ice cream parlor called Infinity Conez. The logo is, appropriately, the Infinity Gauntlet holding ice cream.
The Slayed Gods
The audience doesn’t see all of the gods that Gorr slays before Lady Sif finds him. The one that he battles her for, however, is right out of the comics. Falligar the Behemoth is the god of the Galactic Frontier in the comics as well as the champion of the Tournament of Immortals (for five centuries straight). Though he and Thor aren’t friends in the comics, they do know one another as a result of their frequent crossing of paths in space.
The image in which Thor finds Falligar slain is lifted right from the pages of Thor: God Of Thunder #3. Created by Jason Aaron and Esad Ribić, Falligar’s only appearance in comics, so far, is Thor discovering his death at the hands of Gorr.
Lady Sif Loses An Arm
When Thor tracks down Lady Sif, who has been tracking the kills of Gorr the God Butcher, she’s lost an arm in battle. Some fans might see that as a reminder of the first Phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There, someone lost an arm (or pretended to lose an arm) in every project as a nod to Luke Skywalker losing his arm in the Star Wars saga.
That’s not the case here. Comic book fans were disappointed that Lady Sif didn’t have any involvement in Thor: Ragnarok, and many wondered where she was when it was happening. MCU audiences last saw her in a memory of Loki's in Episode 4 of his Disney Plus series. In the comics, she goes into battle with Thor in Ragnarok after Loki causes it. While she survives the massive battle, she loses an arm. Her cameo here is a nod to that.
The Jane And Thor Breakup
It’s common knowledge that the relationship between Jane and Thor didn’t work out. What’s interesting here, however, is their different perspectives on the breakup, specifically, how long they’ve been apart. Jane thinks it’s only been about three years, while Thor gives a precise count over eight years, seven months, and six days.
That difference is actually a result of Jane not being one of the people on Earth to survive the Snap. She didn’t exist for five years.
Mjolnir In Pieces In Battle
Jane being able to get Mjolnir to break into pieces in battle after Hela destroyed it is similar to another comic book power it has. Mjolnir can actually duplicate itself into numerous smaller versions to be used in battle, something that hasn’t been seen on screen.
The hammer calling to Jane and essentially being able to talk to both Thor and Jane is also right out of the comics. Mjolnir, just as it and Stormbreaker are depicted in the movie, are sentient weapons.
“Half Our Soldiers Are Always Dead.”
A big deal is made about Asgard not having enough fighters after Gorr takes the children to the Shadow Realm. One Asgardian makes the comment that as many as half of Asgard’s soldiers are dead, but someone else retorts with the line, “Half our soldiers are always dead.”
That’s likely in reference to their plight in the last few movies with Ragnarok causing the destruction of the original Asgard and Thanos killing half of their people when they searched for a new home.
Guns N Roses Nods
Not only is Heimdall’s son a big fan of the rock band (even changing his name to Axl), but so, it appears, is Waititi. Four Guns N Roses songs are used in the movie for pivotal moments in the story. Axl also has posters for the band on his walls.
“Welcome To The Jungle” plays while the audience gets a look at the Guardians of the Galaxy working with Thor. “Paradise City” plays when New Asgard is shown for the first time in the movie. “Sweet Child O’ Mine” was actually used in the trailer, but also has pieces of the song played in multiple parts of the movie. “November Rain” plays for the big confrontation between Gorr and the two Thors.
Omnipotence City
This meeting place of the gods is a location out of Marvel comics. It made its debut in a Thor comic in 2013. What’s shown of the city, however, is only a small part of the location. In the comics, there’s even a never ending library that contains all the knowledge the gods could ever need. It’s also less of a meeting place, and more of a safe haven for gods from all over the universe. There’s even a “Hall of the Lost,” in which gods who haven’t been heard from are listed, which is how Thor knows Falligar has been missing in the comics.
While most of the gods aren’t named that fill the stands to watch Zeus give his speech, fans can spot one MCU god they’ll be seeing again. Bastet can be seen in front of Valkyrie and Jane at one point, and the goddess is likely to appear in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
The Gods Of Emotions And Dumplings
The cloaks that Valkyrie finds for the group to use when attending the meeting of the gods are said to be those of the “emotion gods.” The colors of the cloak, however, correspond well to the colors associated with each of the emotions in Pixar’s Inside Out.
Fittingly, they also see Bao, the god of dumplings, at the meeting, who bears a striking resemblance to Bao from the Pixar short titled after the character.
Celestial Sightings
Celestials officially became part of the MCU in Eternals, but they reappear in Thor: Love And Thunder. Two can be spotted outside of the meeting of the gods in Omnipotence City.
It also appears that some of the statues at Eternity’s location in the heart of the universe are depictions of Celestials.
Valkyrie Losing Her Girlfriend
When Valkyrie first appeared in Thor: Ragnarok, Tessa Thompson went on record in interviews and on social media that Valkyrie was bisexual in the MCU just as she is in the comics, though confirmation of that in the movie ended up in cut scenes. Thompson also revealed that in the flashbacks of the Valkyries fighting Hela, her own backstory for the character involved one of those slain warriors being Val’s girlfriend.
That idea is utilized in Love and Thunder when Korg discusses love with her, confirming Thompson’s own take on the character.
“I’m The Mighty Thor.”
When Jane Foster appears as Thor, some aren’t sure what to call her. Gorr calls her Lady Thor at one point, and she reveals she prefers Mighty Thor or Dr. Jane Foster, demanding the respect she deserves, even from a villain.
Mighty Thor is also her name as the hero in the comics, and the name of the solo series featuring the storyline the movie borrows - Jane’s battle with cancer leading her to use Mjolnir. Even Korg names her as the Mighty Thor when he tells her story at the end.
Statues At Eternity’s Location
It’s hard to make out all of the statues at the gateway to find Eternity (who has a remarkably accurate comic design) since so much of the time spent in the space is involved in a massive fight sequence. It does appear that some of the statues are of characters from Marvel comics, including the Celestials.
In addition to the creators of the Eternals, fans can also spot statues that look to be of Uatu the Watcher and the Living Tribunal. The Living Tribunal, which governs multiversal law, has also been spotted by fans in Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness when America Chavez and Stephen Strange fall through several universes, and ruins of another statue of the character were spotted in Loki Episode 5. Uatu the Watcher plays a large role in the MCU’s animated series, What If..? on Disney Plus.
The Mid Credit Scene
In the grand tradition of MCU credits, Thor: Love And Thunder features both a mid-credit scene and a post-credit scene. The mid credit scene takes fans back to the City Of Omnipotence to reveal that Zeus actually survived the thunderbolt to the chest from Thor.
It also reveals the first look at Hercules in the MCU. He’s played by Ted Lasso’s Brett Goldstein. Many fans speculated that Hercules could make an appearance in the movie, but this appears to be setting up a conflict with Thor over Thor’s treatment of Zeus for a potential fifth movie.
The Post Credit Scene
The post credit scene reveals that Jane Foster’s death brings her to Valhalla, where Heimdall is there to welcome her. This isn’t so much an Easter egg, but confirmation that her becoming Mighty Thor and dying while using Mjolnir to stop Gorr gives her a warrior’s death.
Her death scene following the fight, in which she dissolves into gold particles, isn’t unlike the golden blood spilled by Jane, Valkyrie, Thor, and Korg when they battle gods earlier in the movie either, indicating that Jane doesn’t just die as a warrior, but as a god.
Moon Knight has also made it clear that people are able to return to the land of the living from different planes of the afterlife. Marc Spector is able to save himself and Stephen in Episode 6. Just because Jane is in Valhalla doesn't mean the audience won't see her again.
Thor: Love And Thunder landed in theaters on July 8, 2022.