Thor: Love & Thunder Finally Made A Phase 1 Easter Egg Matter

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Thor: Love & Thunder.

Thor: Love & Thunder included a surprising reference to a Phase 1 Easter egg. The MCU has expanded in unfathomable ways ever since the start of Phase 1 and Thor's first appearance in 2011's Thor. With the introduction of the multiverse, new character variants, and a wide array of additional heroes arriving with nearly every project, it can sometimes feel like MCU Phase 1 details are forgotten in the mess of it all.

The Thor of Phase 1 was built heavily on his identity as a god from Norse mythology, and as a result, included some references to his legend, but these gradually started to take a backseat to bigger stories. However, when Taika Waititi began to head his stories, starting with Thor: Ragnarok, Thor's Norse stories were approached with more depth and color. Taika's jokiness and comedic style might have meant erasing or downplaying Thor's Norse roots, but on the contrary, Thor: Love & Thunder has actually brought meaning to a Phase 1 MCU Easter egg concerning Thor's mythology.

A key part of MCUarvel lore and Norse mythology is the World Tree, Yggdrasil. In both instances, the figurative tree Yggdrasil connects all of the Nine Realms, which makes it a pretty key part of the stories. Yggdrasil is first introduced in Thor, when Thor teaches Jane about to explain where he is from. In the scene, Thor explains that magic and science intersect with each other, and tells Jane how everything in the universe is connected. After this film, though, Yggdrasil is largely forgotten and not mentioned again, until it finally regained its meaning in Thor: Love & Thunder.

Thor: Love And Thunder's Yggdrasil Meaning

Thor 2011 Thor Drawing Yggdrasil The World Tree For Jane

In his final match with Gorr the God Butcher, Thor imbues the kidnapped kids with powers so they can fight and defend themselves. He reassures them that they are Asgardians, and therefore tough, but is corrected by kids who say they are from other planets. Thor announces that they are Asgardians because Asgard is its people, not where they are from, and bestows upon them the power of Thor. A golden light threads between the children as they get these powers, the camera zooms out, and the threads are revealed to form the shape of a tree. This serves as a reference to Yggdrasil, the holiest of trees. The concept of the World Tree is all about connection, and the kids all being from different worlds symbolizes the tree's meaning in the best way. They represent a united Nine Realms, something that is so rare in the MCU, honoring the holy symbol of Yggdrasil and finally paying off its first mention in Thor.

It can sometimes be forgotten that the tree symbolically connects the realms of the MCU, and Yggdrasil is a lot more important than it has been given credit for. In Norse mythology, it is the center of the cosmos, the holiest thing in existence, and therefore it should matter a lot more in Thor's MCU story. Despite being so subtle, Taika Waititi's nod to the World Tree in Thor: Love & Thunder solidified its importance, and made Thor and Jane's scene in Thor more meaningful.

Next: Is Jane Foster Really Worthy Or Did Thor Lie To Her?

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