Thor Theory: Love & Thunder Copies Loki's Variant Trick To Defeat Gorr

Thor could end up defeating Gorr the God Butcher with the help of variants in Thor: Love and Thunder, copying the variant trick seen in Loki. The Marvel multiverse has been growing in prominence throughout the MCU’s Phase 4. Other universes and their respective iterations of Marvel characters were key to the premises of Loki and Marvel’s What If…?, and will continue to be essential aspects of the upcoming Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. With Christian Bale cast as Gorr the God Butcher, Love and Thunder may be a loose adaptation of Jason Aaron's Thor: God of Thunder comics, which featured multiple Thor iterations from across time and space, giving the film a perfect opportunity to include variants of the God of Thunder.

With the mainstream MCU’s Loki having died in Avengers: Infinity War, a Loki variant who was created by The Avengers’ timeline meddling in Avengers: Endgame, stars in the Loki Disney+ series. Throughout his mind-bending multiverse misadventures, Loki teams up with other Loki variants, such as Sylvie, an older version of himself, and even Loki as an alligator. By the end of the series, the TVA’s secretive leader, Nathanial Richards (“He Who Remains”) is killed, opening the floodgates to dangerous Multiversal threats, such as Kang the Conqueror. While the original MCU version of Loki is dead, the 2012 variant seen in Loki could return, if the MCU needs Loki once again.

Love and Thunder will continue Thor’s story following the Infinity Saga. With Asgard gone and its few remaining people living on Earth (with Valkyrie ruling them), Thor is now part of the Guardians of the Galaxy. The film will also see the return of Jane Foster, who will somehow acquire Mjolnir following its destruction in Thor: Ragnarok and possess the powers of Thor. If Love and Thunder faithfully adapts one key aspect of Gorr the God Butcher’s comic appearances, Thor Jane, and the Guardians may find themselves teaming up with Thor variants to defeat Gorr, making Thor’s upcoming adventure similar to Loki’s.

Gorr The God Butcher's History With Thor Variants In Marvel Comics

Gorr the God Butcher is a rather recent member of Thor’s rogue’s gallery, but he’s easily one of the Asgardian’s most dangerous enemies. Once an ordinary being, Gorr became disillusioned with the concept of deities when he watched his family suffer and die, with his prayers for their survival gone unanswered. Gorr resolved to kill every deity, an endeavor that isn’t so lofty in the Marvel universe, where “Gods” are simply aliens who are worshiped by certain civilizations. Gorr’s rampage of vengeance inevitably puts him at odds with Thor, who works with variants of himself to defeat the dreaded God Butcher.

Thor is one of six heroes who defeat Gorr in Jason Aaron’s Thor: God of Thunder story arc. Along with Thor the Avenger (the mainstream Thor), there’s a younger iteration of the Thunder God, Young Thor, who does not yet wield the mighty hammer, Mjolnir. They’re joined by King Thor, an alternate-universe version of Thor who rules Asgard as the new All-Father, and his three granddaughters, the Goddesses of Thunder (Frigg, Ellisiv, and Atli). Gorr’s homicidal quest takes place throughout time and space, and it was only by working together did Thor and his allies defeat him.

Why Thor May Need Variants To Defeat Gorr In Love & Thunder

Gorr is an ordinary “mortal” humanoid whose power comes from All-Black the Necrosword, a weapon that Gorr took from the dying God Knull (the creator of the symbiotes made famous by the Spider-Man comics). The weapon is itself a symbiote, bonding with Gorr and giving him extremely potent superpowers. Gorr’s strength and durability are perhaps even greater than Thor’s, as he’s shown defeating Thor in one-on-one fights multiple times and even proving victorious over all three Thor variants in Jason Aaron’s comics. In addition to enhancing Gorr’s physical attributes, All-Black grants him the ability to create constructs made of dark energy. Gorr typically uses this power to make deadly tendrils, but he also creates minions known as “Black Berserkers” with it.

All-Black is the ideal weapon for Gorr, as it was created specifically to kill the most powerful cosmic beings, including even Celestials. Moreover, the weapon (and thus its wielder) grows stronger as it kills deities. Gorr wiped out entire pantheons of Marvel Gods in Thor: God of Thunder, with King Thor and his granddaughters being the only ones left in their reality. Gorr was killed at the end of Jason Aaron’s arc when Thor the Avenger and his two variants used Gorr’s all-too-mortal character flaws against him, separated him from All-Black, and decapitated him. If Love and Thunder follows the source material and introduces Thor variants, they’ll need to work in tandem to similarly defeat the MCU’s Gorr.

Which Thor Variants Could Appear In Thor: Love & Thunder

The team of Thor variants that defeated Gorr in the comics only consisted of three iterations of Thor and three of King Thor’s descendants, and these variants may appear in Love and Thunder as well. In addition to Young Thor, modern Thor, and an alternate universe’s King Thor, Love and Thunder will include another in-universe variant: Jane Foster. Jason Aaron’s comics not only introduced Gorr to the Marvel comics, but they also had Jane become Mjolnir’s new wielder, giving her Thor’s powers in the process. How Jane obtains Mjolnir remains to be seen, but perhaps she acquires it from another point in the main MCU timeline (via Young Thor) or is gifted it by another universe’s Thor, such as King Thor. There may be other Thor variants in Love and Thunder as well, such as the fan-favorite “Throg,” a Thor variant who is permanently stuck in the body of a frog.

How Love & Thunder's Variant Story Will Be Different From The Comics

The MCU’s Thor is a markedly different character than his comic incarnation, especially following Thor: Ragnarok. In addition to having a completely different trajectory for his characterization, Thor is also a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, which will give him a team of additional allies in his conflict with Gorr. The Guardians, with difficulty, defeated a Celestial in their second movie, proving them to be invaluable against someone like Gorr. The addition of a Mjolnir-wielding Jane Foster will blend elements of Jason Aaron’s comics as well. Likely to be the biggest difference between the comic and film version of Gorr’s storyline, however, will be tone. If Love and Thunder retains the irreverent style of Ragnarok, it’ll lack the gravitas of Gorr’s comic arc. With the potential for Thor variants fighting Gorr, however, Thor: Love and Thunder will have one notable aspect in common with Loki.

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