Content Warning! This List Contains Spoilers For Thor: Love and Thunder!
While Thor: Love and Thunder is not the best of the franchise, it is already dominating at the box office, having already secured the second-highest opening night in 2022. While fans enjoyed the humor, '80s vibe, and Thor and his team's fight against Gorr the God Butcher, it is within the background and in-between scenes that revealed a few hidden details.
Some fans perhaps overlooked these hidden details, but these references provided hints about the MCU, whether statues of the Living Tribunal or comic book references of the Necrosword - related to moments that have happened in the universe. While these details are more significant to potentially advance the plot in Phase Four (and maybe 5), there were also a few fun easter eggs that were odes to past cameos or connections to other MCU projects.
The Invasion of the Hemsworths
Chris Hemsworth’s never been alone during his time as Thor. His wife, Elsa, served as a stand-in during Thor: The Dark World, and his brother, Luke, cameoed as an Asgardian player in Thor: Ragnarok alongside Matt Damon and Sam Neill. Joining Chris in Thor: Love and Thunder were his kids. His son, Tristan, played Kid Thor during the beginning montage, while his twin Sasha played an Asgardian child.
Taking that largest and possibly most consequential role of the Hemsworth kids is his daughter, India, who plays Gorr’s daughter. Thor adopts her and brings her along on his new adventures, now as the eponymous Love and Thunder – perhaps she could become a member of the Young Avengers. In fact, Thor: Love and Thunder was not only a family movie for audiences but also for the filmmakers as Taika Waititi, Christian Bale, and Natalie Portman’s children also featured.
At The Gates Of Eternity
While on the surface Thor: Love and Thunder didn’t venture into the Multiverse like Loki, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, or Spider-Man: No Way Home did, it still incorporates an important aspect of that part of the MCU. In order to complete his mission and end all the gods, Gorr ventured to Eternity, the incredible cosmic entity that, with Infinity, represents the Multiverse.
At that hallowed gates, there were statues representing other important cosmic figures. The most obvious was the Living Tribunal, who oversees the Multiverse – who was also a fun easter egg in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Uatu the Watcher from What If…? could also be seen along with a Celestial, connecting the film to Eternals. Interestingly, one statue looked like it could represent Death, who was integral to Thanos’ story in the comics but was not incorporated into the MCU.
Team Thor Still Going
Valkyrie is now the King of New Asgard, but she’s not doing it alone. Miek is now working alongside her seemingly as her second in command. She is also joined by a character some MCU fans might not be familiar with, Darryl Jacobson. He was first introduced ahead of Thor: Ragnarok in a series of funny shorts which explained why Thor was not involved in Captain America: Civil War.
Darryl was Thor’s roommate when he decided to take a break from being a hero following the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron. In the third short, Team Darryl, he, and the Grandmaster move in together as well. It was fun to see him briefly again helping to maintain order in New Asgard now – however, knowing his luck he probably got stuck with another bad roommate.
Schedule Your Visit To New Asgard Now
As shown in the first trailer, New Asgard has become a tourism hub under Valkyrie’s rule. There are cruise ships in the harbor and they made their flying boats into rides to tour around the land. They’ve even established a theater with some great production value and a shrine for the broken pieces of Mjølnir.
A new ice-cream shop has just opened called Inifinity Conez – something that seems likely to happen now at Disney’s Marvel Campus. The town’s transformation also links Thor: Love and Thunder to Ms. Marvel since in the first episode Kamala attends Avengers Con, and people could buy trips to New Asgard.
Gods, Gods, And More Gods
As one would expect in a film featuring Gorr the God Butcher as the antagonist, there were many gods introduced in Thor: Love and Thunder. This comes shortly after Moon Knight which features several Egyptian Gods like Khonshu, Ammit, and Tawaret. The most significant inclusion was Russel Crowe as Zeus, ruling over Omnipotent City. Although in the fight it is implied that Thor killed him with his Thunderbolt, the mid-credits scene revealed his son Hercules – a popular character in the comics.
Also in Omnipotent City was Bast, the panther god from Black Panther, and another Olympian, Dionysus, played by Simon Russell Beale. There might’ve even been a reference to the lovely Pixar short Bao, in Boa, God of Dumplings. Perhaps these characters will feature elsewhere or even come back in a potential fifth Thor film as the God Squad.
Cameos Galore
Not only does Brett Goldstein from Ted Lasso premiere as Hercules – importantly another LGBTQ+ hero in the MCU – but there are several other great cameos in Thor: Love and Thunder. Luke Hemsworth, Matt Damon, and Sam Neill all returned as the Asgardian Players, this time dramatizing the events of Thor: Ragnarok. They are also joined by Melissa McCarthy as Hela and her husband, Ben Falcone as the play's director.
The first cameo comes right at the beginning. After he loses his daughter, Gorr stumbles upon his god, Rapu, who is supremely cruel and played Taika Waititi’s costar from What We Do In The Shadows, Jonathan Brugh. Importantly, Rapu is Gorr’s first kill with the Necrosword and the only one on-screen. Kat Denning and Stellan Skarsgaard also briefly cameo during Jane’s cancer treatment.
The Necrosword Speaks?
The Necrosword has a very interesting history in the comics, and Thor Love and Thunder definitely made it into one of the MCU’s coolest and most powerful weapons. It was first introduced with Gorr in 2012 and it is much more than a sword. Actually, it is the first symbiote born wrought from the shadows of the evil deity Knull. Thus, this sword is connected to Venom – who is now in the MCU following the Spider-Man: No Way Home post-credits scene.
The lore around the Necrosword in the MCU is that it is a legendary and cursed weapon capable of killing gods. It is shown to have a voice and a mind of its own, likely as a symbiote. Its powers in creating shadow monsters tie it to its creation. While it was destroyed by Jane’s final sacrifice, perhaps it can still serve a purpose in Venom’s story in the MCU
Best New Handshake
With Taika Waititi steering the ship, it’s no surprise that Thor: Love and Thunder is exceptionally funny. It showcased Chris Hemsworth’s impressive comedic chops and improv abilities in particular. One of the best jokes seems to be the byproduct of one of Thor: Ragnarok’s best jokes.
Here he is parting ways with the Guardians of the Galaxy, but his handshake with Star-Lord becomes quite intricate, like that between kids on a playground. It ends with Thor turning his arm into a snake, a cheeky reference to the funny story in Thor: Ragnarok in which Loki transformed into a snake to get close to Thor only to stab him.
Werewolves
When the first trailer was released many fans were perplexed as to who the blue-haired woman Thor was kissing. This happened to be part of a sequence showing some of his past loves, of which he had many, but none of them could ever compete with Jane Foster. Another one of his exes was a werewolf-like woman.
This could’ve just been a funny bit to get them to howl as they did, but coupled with the werewolf-like kid featured later, it could be teasing the arrival of true werewolves into the MCU. This will happen in the still untitled Halloween Special directed by The Batman’s composer, Michael Giacchino, and starring Gael García Bernal as Werewolf by Night.
Strongest Avenger
Thor is still dealing with the trauma and regret following his actions in Avengers: Infinity War. He blamed himself for being unable to bring back all the people who were snapped away by Thanos, and thus he let himself go. However, Thor: Love and Thunder featured the classic training montage to get him back into shape. He might’ve found some acceptance following Avengers: Endgame, but based on the hat he was wearing, he definitely still has a ways to go.
His hat had “Strongest Avenger” on it. This is a hotly debated topic among fans. Thor is definitely high on the list, especially after unlocking more of his powers in Thor: Ragnarok. However, competing with him are Captain Marvel and Scarlet Witch – and following Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, more and more fans are leaning toward the latter.
Valkyries
Thor ends up going to fight Gorr to save the children he kidnapped and stop him from accessing Eternity. Unfortunately, his allies were unable to join him. Korg’s body had been smashed to pieces by Zeus, Valkyrie was stabbed by Gorr, and Jane’s cancer was wreaking havoc on her body. However, when she and Mjølnir sensed that Thor needed help, she rose to the occasion and returned for one final battle.
She could fly using Mjølnir, but she chose to enter on Valkyrie’s flying horse. This is not only a nice nod to their budding friendship throughout the film, but also to Jane’s turn as Valkyrie in the comics. Perhaps if she had survived, she could’ve taken up that mantle. Perhaps that’s a storyline that could be explored in season two of What If…?.
Valhalla, But Not The End?
Tragically, Jane Foster does not survive the movie. She uses her last bit of strength to stop Gorr and destroy the Necrosword. In the second post-credits scene she arrives in Valhalla, greeted by Heimdall. That would seemingly put an end to her story, but that doesn’t need to be the case. Death is often impermanent in the comics and with the Multiverse expanding, Jane Foster could still return down the line.
Interestingly, Valhalla is the third form of afterlife that’s been featured in the MCU following the Ancestral Plane in Black Panther and the Field of Reeds in Moon Knight. She is not alone here, of course. On top of Heimdall, Jane will probably be reunited with Odin, Frigga, the Warriors Three, and maybe even Sif’s lost arm.