Thor: Love and Thunder has arrived, making Thor the first (and only) of the original Avengers to cross the trilogy mark into a fourth solo installment—take that, Iron Man. That’s right, the unlikely Norse god has somehow outlived all of his fellow Phase 1 superheroes and is still going strong — but the question is: What’s really going on in Thor 4, and what does that mean for The Mightiest Avenger?
We’ll break down the ending of Love and Thunder, including the post-credits stings, here and now. This obviously means major spoilers await, so please proceed with caution and don’t say we didn’t warn you.
Love and thunder
Gorr (Christian Bale), empowered by the god-killing Necrosword, has made it his mission to cut a bloody swath across the universe, killing any and all gods indiscriminately. But methodical dietary genocide was not his primary mission. Instead, he was trying to find a way to Eternity, a hidden mystical place at the center of the universe where one could go to have a wish granted. It is assumed that Gorr’s desire would be to destroy the gods in this way, sort of like his own snap of the Infinity Gauntlet. In fact, the MCU’s take on Eternity not only sounds a lot like a much simpler (and less quest-oriented) version of the Infinity Gauntlet, but it also sounds like Vashanti’s book from Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Apparently the MCU is just loose with all the powerful MacGuffins these days. Who would have guessed?
To orchestrate this plan, Gorr kidnaps Asgardian children to lure Thor, who has Stormbreaker, into the shadow realm, which will allow Stormbreaker to unlock the gate to Eternity and give Gorr access. Most of these details are left undeveloped – like why the recently created (from Infinity War) Stormbreaker would be a key component in an ancient interdimensional puzzle box – but given the semi-conscious nature of Thor’s weapons, it’s entirely possible that these threads will be explored in time.
After a massive confrontation where both the Asgard children (replaced as baby Thors) and Jane as Thor played huge roles, Gor managed to open the gate to Eternity, but Thor managed to follow him, interrupting his plans to possibly wish for the death of all the gods. Instead, Thor convinces him to wish for his daughter’s resurrection – with the understanding that the Necrosword is actively killing Gor and he won’t live to see her. It’s unclear why the wish can’t also predict that Gorr can survive – but it’s also unclear if killing all the gods with his wish was ever Gorr’s plan all along.
Gorr’s wish works, killing him but reviving his daughter, who Thor takes into his care – however, she is far from a normal child as she is empowered by Eternity and can wield the Stormbreaker. The two become adventurers – “Love and Thunder” – traveling the universe to protect those in need, with Thor acting as her “uncle”.
Eternity?
While this isn’t technically the first time that Eternity has been mentioned in the MCU (it was inadvertently mentioned in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 during Peter’s vision from Ego), it is the first time that it’s been actively explored—though much remains unclear. In the comics, it is an “abstract concept”, the conscious embodiment of time and the origin of consciousness in the universe. Like most abstract ideas in Marvel comics, it can mean a lot — and it changes often. What’s more, what we see in the movie bears very little resemblance to what we see in the comics, and the idea of him becoming (or giving powers to) a child is entirely new to the MCU.
That said, it’s hard to hazard much guesswork about what this new kid — Love — will actually mean going forward. We can assume that she’ll continue to be Thor’s niece/warden for a while, that her powers will continue to grow, and that she’ll end up being a major player in some way, somewhere down the road. But neither she nor Thor have confirmed appearances in Phase 4, so it’s hard to know when that will happen.
We do know Thor will be back at some point, though, thanks to a helpful title card at the end of the credits, we just don’t know when.
Jane, Valkyrie and everyone else
Of course, Thor and the newly minted Love aren’t the only people in the mix for this movie. There’s also the newly crowned Mighty Thor, Jane Foster, who, after being diagnosed with cancer, is empowered by Mjolnir to become a superhero herself. Like the comics, Mjolnir gives Jane superpowers and health, but unlike the comics, it doesn’t act as a temporary cure for her cancer – she’s still actively dying, even when empowered, and is running on ticking time.
Naturally, this comes to a head in the final battle with Gorr, when Jane uses Mjolnir to destroy Gorr’s Necrosword, effectively killing him and herself. Her sacrifice is honored by the reception in Valhalla, which we see in the second scene after the credits, with Heimdall there to greet and welcome her.
Meanwhile, Valkyrie returns to New Asgard, where she continues to work as king. Sif also arrives in the city after a brief injury that cost her an arm, and works to begin training the next generation of Asgard warriors alongside Valkyrie.
Of these Asgard children, the most important will likely be Axel, Heimdall’s fledgling son, who played a major role in helping Thor and the team find the kidnapped children in Gor’s scheme. However, we don’t know when he will reappear or what the future holds for him.
The scene(s) after the credits
As mentioned earlier, the second credits scene was an occasion to reassure fans that despite her death, Jane Foster will live on in Valhalla. It included a cameo from Heimdall, who died in Infinity War – but naturally, that wasn’t the only scene to look out for.
Before that, the scene in the middle of the inscriptions starts back to the Greek pantheon, with Zeus (previously thought to have been killed) talking to someone recovering from his wounds. He now has an obvious grudge against Thor after Thor humiliated and injured him, and plans to do something about it. He will send his son Hercules (played by Ted Lasso’s Brett Goldstein) to hunt down Thor.
We only see for a split second Hercules agreeing to Zeus’ command, but it looks like he’s serious.
When, where and how this conflict will play out for the two characters is unclear – but it’s certainly something to watch out for in the future.
Thor: Love and Thunder is now in theaters.
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