00:00The ending of Thor Love and Thunder is turning the MCU into quite the family affair.
00:04So let's dive into that and talk about what it means.
00:07You ever feel lost?
00:09Just look into the eyes of the people that you love.
00:14Not me.
00:15What?
00:16I was just listening.
00:23Hey guys, it's Sean O'Connell, the managing editor at CinemaBlend,
00:25here with an ending explained video for the new film Thor Love and Thunder,
00:30starring Chris Hemsworth, Christian Bale, and directed by Taika Waititi.
00:34Now, needless to say, because this is an ending explained video,
00:37we're going to assume that you have already seen the latest MCU film,
00:41Thor Love and Thunder.
00:42Do not go forward watching this video unless you've seen the latest film,
00:45unless you just don't care about stuff like major spoilers and us revealing
00:49what happens at the end of the film.
00:51There are some significant things in play,
00:54not just for Thor, but for directions that the MCU can go moving forward.
00:59And we're going to get into some conversations about what the bigger themes
01:03of Phase 4 have been so far and how I think they're going to sort of continue
01:07and develop and maybe point to a bigger sort of team-up film down the line.
01:11And so now, assuming that you've seen Thor Love and Thunder,
01:14let's get into that ending and what it means going forward.
01:16Kids get to popcorn now.
01:18For point one, I want to start with the fact that Thor sort of becomes daddy.
01:22And I know that that's a meme of like, Chris Hemsworth is kind of daddy.
01:26But Thor, the actual character, the God of Thunder,
01:30is becoming a father figure to a character named Love.
01:34And I find this really interesting because the character is also played
01:36by Chris Hemsworth's daughter in real life, whose name is India.
01:40She's 10 years old.
01:41So it is more of a family affair that Chris Hemsworth is getting
01:44some of his children involved.
01:45And then one of his twin sons actually stands in for young Thor.
01:49I'm going to assume that it's in that montage where Thor is running
01:53through the years.
01:54So it's really, really cool that Hemsworth, in addition to Taika Waititi
01:59and Natalie Portman, and I believe Christian Bale, all got their kids
02:02involved in this story, probably in the part where the Asgardian
02:07children are, you know, the kids in the cage who eventually get
02:10broken out and help with the battle towards the end.
02:12So where did this character come from?
02:14As you guys know, once Gorr the God Butcher was able to use Stormbreaker
02:20to open up the portal to eternity, they all enter into this placid
02:24looking location where it's very, very peaceful and Gorr is able
02:28to make the wish that he's been striving towards the entire film,
02:32which is the elimination of all the gods.
02:34But he recants, essentially recognizes the error of his ways.
02:39The pull of family becomes too strong.
02:41The emotion overwhelms him.
02:42Jane, at that point, is dying because of the sacrifices she has
02:46made to maintain her power through Mjolnir and she knew that the
02:50cancer that was inside of her was going to overwhelm her, essentially,
02:54at that point.
02:55So what happens is Gorr essentially wishes for his daughter, his
02:58youngest daughter, who he lost at the beginning of the film, to be
03:01resurrected and noticing that bit of sacrifice, Thor agrees to take
03:06on this character.
03:07We call her Love because towards the end of the film, as we realize
03:11that Thor is essentially serving as a father figure to her, she is
03:14referred to as the love to his thunder and the two of them sort of
03:18storm off onto their own adventure.
03:20At the very least, we know that Love, this character that we're
03:24referring to as Love, has some really interesting powers and we
03:26didn't really get to see the full extent of what she's capable of,
03:29but because she was created by eternity, there's really no end to
03:33the number of things that she could possibly be able to do.
03:36And I think it all but guarantees that we're going to get another
03:38Thor movie that shows her possibilities and the way that she's
03:42teaming with Thor to pull off whatever it is they're going off to
03:45do at the very end of this movie.
03:47One of the things I find really interesting is the way that this
03:48is sort of furthering something that we're seeing a lot in phase
03:51four, which is a major, established, significant MCU character being
03:56paired with a younger version of almost themselves as a mentee type
04:01of role, whether it be a Hawkeye, a Clint Barton taking on Kate
04:08Bishop, played by Haley Steinfeld in the Hawkeye television series.
04:11We know that Kamala Khan is going to end up working with Captain
04:14Marvel, Brie Larson's character later on.
04:17And you can even, to a certain extent, call America Chavez a bit
04:21of a counterpart to Doctor Strange in their adventure through
04:25Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.
04:27And even though Yelena is essentially the same age as Black Widow,
04:31it was, again, this sort of phase four idea of a family member of
04:35some sort being a counterpart who has to tag along with the main
04:38hero and then eventually branch off.
04:40Now, where do I think that that's sending us?
04:43Like, I think it's important to sort of bring up that if all of
04:45these new characters are being introduced through existing
04:49characters, a lot of these people, such as Kate Bishop, America
04:53Chavez, Kamala Khan, well, Kamala Khan's been an Avenger, but
04:57they're all sort of members of a team that has assembled and
05:00been formed through multiple characters over the years called
05:02the Young Avengers.
05:04And if I think we're going to get another Avengers movie at some
05:06point down the line, it could be a Young Avengers that pulls this
05:10sort of ensemble of young characters together.
05:14So there's a number of different ways that the MCU can go forward
05:16with these new characters being introduced, and I find it really
05:19interesting that India Hemsworth may one day pick up the mantle
05:24of the mighty Thor and take over where her father left off.
05:27Maybe it's a take on the new foe who we met in the mid-credits
05:30sequence.
05:31What a classic Thor adventure.
05:33Another thing that's happening in Phase 4 a lot are new
05:35characters being introduced in the mid-credits sequence, whether
05:38it be Harry Styles joining the MCU in Eternals or even the most
05:42recent one where Charlize Theron showed up in the mid-credits
05:45sequence of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness to
05:48finally play his on-screen love interest of Clea. In this film,
05:52Thor Love and Thunder, we return to Zeus, who has been injured
05:56but not killed.
05:58And thank God because I thought Russell Crowe was a total blast
06:01playing Zeus, you know, over-the-top, chewing scenery, bringing
06:05a little bit of the Taika-specific humor to this world while
06:08also, you know, also bringing the weight of the mythology that
06:11comes with sort of the the Norse gods, which I thought was
06:14fantastic. And to that end, we meet Zeus's son, Hercules.
06:19So Zeus is essentially complaining about the fact that, you
06:22know, the gods exist and are only really important to humans
06:27when we are in some form of trouble and that we only really
06:31turn our attention to them when we need help, essentially.
06:35And other than that, they are just off in their own existence
06:38and not really paying attention to the power and the might of
06:40the gods. And you could tell that he's definitely angered by
06:42the things that Thor did to him and stole his lightning bolt
06:46and sort of let it be known that Zeus isn't nearly as powerful
06:50as people in that council were led to believe that he is.
06:54And so he is going to send his son on a mission to go after
06:58Thor in what I would have to assume is the next standalone
07:01Thor movie. And one of the big reasons why I am so extremely
07:05excited to see Hercules join the MCU has nothing to do with
07:08the character, but the fact that he's played by Brett Goldstein,
07:12the actor who plays Roy Kent in the outstanding sitcom Ted
07:15Lasso. And if you watch Ted Lasso, you know that Brett Goldstein
07:18essentially plays this gruff, emotionless character who is
07:23the perfect foil for Jason Sudeikis' extremely optimistic
07:27Ted Lasso. And I just know that when you pair the personality
07:33that Chris Hemsworth brings to Thor against what Brett Goldstein
07:36is able to do on screen, Thor vs.
07:38Hercules is going to be a battle for the ages and honestly
07:42can't get here soon enough.
07:44Here it comes.
07:45This ends here and now!
07:50The final thing that we have to talk about is the fact that
07:53this bothers me a little bit, but maybe there are no stakes
07:56in the MCU, right?
07:57Like I know that that's a knock on Marvel and that no one's
08:00actually really dead.
08:02And so while we saw Jane Foster sacrifice herself and give
08:05up the role of the mighty Thor, she's welcomed into Valhalla
08:10by Heimdall, which again expands into another realm of the
08:14Thor universe and a place where we could continue to explore
08:17if we wanted to. Now, that might be the end all. Like that
08:20could just be Jane Foster arriving in Valhalla.
08:23We know that she died in battle, which was something that
08:26was discussed over the course of the film.
08:27And maybe that's it.
08:28Maybe that was just Natalie Portman's send-off. But it also,
08:32I think, sticks a little thumbtack in the board and saying
08:35if we needed a way to bring her back, because this has been
08:39done in the comics before and feels very comic-y, that Thor
08:43could go into Valhalla and essentially rescue not just Jane
08:46but also Heimdall and bring them back if he wanted to. That
08:50sort of, again, negates the idea that these important
08:54characters gave their lives in sacrificial moments.
08:58I mean, Heimdall is the one who sort of sent Bruce Banner
09:01away before Thanos was able to finish him off in Infinity
09:05War. And here we just have this very emotional moving
09:08sacrifice by Jane Foster at the end of Thor, Love and Thunder.
09:10I'm choosing to believe that it's just their send-off, but
09:13knowing how many times that the MCU has brought Loki back
09:17from the dead, multiple, multiple times, I also do believe
09:21that if those characters are needed for either a standalone
09:25Thor movie or something in the MCU, Marvel sort of wrote
09:29themselves an open door that these characters aren't exactly
09:33gone-gone, but just in a location that's hard to get to, but
09:37possible to return them from. And, you know, bringing about
09:39Valhalla just as a point sort of further explores something
09:44that the MCU has been doing in Phase 4, which is diving a
09:46little bit deeper into the afterlives that are significant
09:49to the major characters, whether we saw the Egyptian form
09:53of the afterlife in Moon Knight that our character had to
09:56figure out a way to return from. Of course, we've seen the
09:58Astral Plane in Black Panther, and that could be a significant
10:02part of Wakanda Forever, which we're going to get to see in
10:05the fall. And now, here, the introduction of Valhalla. So
10:08it is interesting that Marvel is not just exploring the cosmic
10:11side of it and then the terrestrial side of it, but getting
10:14into more of the spiritual, I won't say religious, but more
10:17of the spiritual side of it, of where your soul could potentially
10:20go after you have left this plane of existence. Deeper things,
10:26deeper things that Marvel isn't afraid to wrap their brain
10:28around and explore as Phase 4 continues.
10:31Oh God, we're going to die.
10:33I kind of find it interesting that Thor Love and Thunder
10:35didn't connect to the larger MCU stories that are in play
10:38at the moment and was able to be its own little standalone
10:41bit. I know eventually we're going to get to some other
10:43MCU stories that will tie together into whatever the larger
10:47story that Kevin Feige is trying to tell here, but this wasn't
10:49one. So if you had any questions about how Thor Love and
10:52Thunder came to an end, let me know in the comments down
10:54below and I will try to answer them for you. In the meantime,
10:57Thor sort of gets put on a shelf because we don't know when
10:59we're going to see Chris Hemsworth again, even though the
11:02ending of this movie really left a lot of plot threads open
11:05for storytellers to continue to pick up and explore. Because
11:09if you stayed through the end credits, and I know you stayed
11:11through the end credits, it does say in text Thor will return.
11:15We just don't know when or in what context. Could be a cameo,
11:19could be a supporting part, could be Thor 5. As soon as we
11:22know, we will let you know. There are two events that will
11:25be happening this year where I think we're going to get more
11:27details about the future of, you know, not just Thor, but
11:30the MCU in general. One is the Marvel panel that's going
11:34to be presented at San Diego Comic-Con, and then the other
11:37is the Marvel panel that will be presented at Disney's
11:40a D23 Fan Expo. And you know that we're going to be covering
11:43all of those events here on Cinema Blend. So for the latest
11:46commentary, keep it right here on Cinema Blend.
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