Thor: Love and Thunder will see the return of many beloved characters as well as Thor’s main weapon, Mjolnir, but through that, it risks repeating a big Avengers: Endgame mistake. The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase 4 is introducing new characters, places, and events, but it’s also continuing the stories of already established characters, among those Thor, the first hero in this connected universe to get four solo adventures… though he won’t be alone on this one.
Directed by Taika Waititi, Thor: Love and Thunder will reunite viewers with the God of Thunder (Chris Hemsworth) after the events of Avengers: Endgame. As Thor tries to find inner peace, he’s forced to return to action, and with the help of Korg (Waititi), Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), and Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who has now become Mighty Thor, he will fight against Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale), the most dangerous villain he has faced so far. Thor will not only finally reunite with Jane Foster after all these years, but Thor: Love and Thunder will also see the return of Mjolnir, which risks repeating an Avengers: Endgame mistake.
Mjolnir is Thor’s main weapon and it played an important role in his story during his first appearances in the MCU, as Thor’s “worthiness” as a hero was directly linked to the mythical hammer. Thor: Ragnarok made some necessary changes to Thor by giving him a personality, sense of humor, and showing that his worthiness and value as a hero weren’t linked to an object, and so Mjolnir was destroyed by Hela. Avengers: Infinity War gave Thor a brand new weapon through Stormbreaker, but Avengers: Endgame brought Mjolnir back through the Time Heist, and Thor: Love and Thunder is doing the same and making Thor excited about it when he should have moved on from it by now.
Marvel debuted a Thor: Love and Thunder clip during the MTV Movie & TV Awards in which Thor is fighting in what seems to be New Asgard on fire and calling for Mjolnir among the crowd. The hammer, which has somehow been put back together as the cracks are very visible, starts to float towards Thor, who happily and excitedly reaches out while saying “you’re back”, only for it to go in the opposite direction to meet Jane/Mighty Thor. Although it’s understandable that Mjolnir holds a special place in Thor’s heart given that they fought many battles together and it’s a reminder of Asgard and his family, making Thor happy to have the hammer again risks taking many steps back in his character development as he had already moved on from it and the whole concept of “worthiness” attached to it.
Thor: Love and Thunder will continue Thor’s recovery after the events of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, and Jane’s return as the Mighty Thor will surely be a big shock for the God of Thunder, so it’s understandable that he could go through another identity crisis, thus why he’s excited to see Mjolnir coming at him again. Still, it’s a risky move from Marvel as Thor has come a long way since his debut in 2011, and it could be repeating an Avengers: Endgame mistake by making Mjolnir a key object in Thor’s story again.