Thor: Love and Thunderrecently saw Chris Hemsworth return as the Odinson in his most divided outing. Some fans loved the movie while other fans won’t admit its existence. By all accounts, Chris Hemsworth will return to the role, but fans remain skeptical about its potential as a worthwhile addition to the MCU. If he does get another movie, it would be the first Marvel character to receive a fifth installment.
Sadly,Thorhas been the weakest of the MCU movies only seeing overwhelming support whenThor: Ragnarokhit the screen. That gave everyone reason to believe fans wouldenjoyLove and Thunderjust as much, especially since the same team was returning. That’s why the next movie that centers on Thor needs to take a page from Hugh Jackman and his movieLogan. It’s the one comic book movie that did something different and fans still revere it today.
How Logan Changed Wolverine’s Story
Even before Wolverine ever landed on the big screen inX-Men, he was a fan-favorite. Hugh Jackman’s portrayal of the character only increased the appreciation fans had along with broadening the audience. Wolverine has always been a tragic character from having no memory of his tragic childhood to living through traumatic military experiments to unrequited love. However,Loganshowed a very different side of the character that fans never thought they’d see. They watchedWolverine face his own mortalityand parenthood.
James Mangold basedLoganon Mark Millar’s and Steve McNiven’sOld Man Logancomic book series.Loganshows Wolverine at the end of his rope in a future that’s dying right alongside him. The X-Men disbanded years before the film starts andmutants are evaporating from the planet. Mangold took the superhero movies that highlighted optimism and nobility and flipped them on their head withLogan. His movie showed a dim view of superheroes where even the one who could do something good chooses to stay out of it and drive cars for a living.
Besides being a superhero movie with an R-rating, the thing that sets this movie apart from other superhero movies and the Wolverine fans know is the finality of it. Sure,Deadpool 3is bringing Hugh Jackmanback as Wolverine for one last hurrah, butLoganserved as a conclusion to a story. Audiences expected these characters to last forever, butLoganchose a different path. It showed a way for these characters to make an impact and still progress a story. Without a finale, every superhero is just a symbol of futility and inevitability. There’s always a battle that needs fighting.
Thor as the All-Father
The God of Thunder for the MCU has one major phase of development he has yet to pass through, and that’s becoming the All-Father. While he is technically the All-Father sinceOdin passed away inThor: Ragnarok, Thor never displays the powers he should have received after Odin’s demise. Or rather, Odin never passed them on.
In the comics, Thor’s powers increase exponentially after taking over for Odin as the All-Father. With this power, also known as the Odin Force, the All-Father taps into the cosmic and mystical energies of Asgard, enhancing his abilities to the point that he could contain a nuclear explosion if he needed to. This is a power level that fans want to see Thor exhibit in his own movie.TheThormovieshave all been personal stories for the character, but none of them have captured the depth of feeling that these stories are capable of achieving.
It might seem like giving Thor such abilities makes him overpowered, but it’s rather quite balanced. The more power he expends, the weaker he gets until he has to sleep. Asgardians called it the OdinSleep, but with Thor as the All-Father, they would call it the ThorSleep. MCU fans saw Odin undergo this process inthe firstThorfilm. There’s no set amount of time the All-Father needs to sleep, which puts it up to the writers. This would only add to the intrigue of a finalThormovie.
Thor 5 is Still not Official
There’s still noThor 5scheduled for release. However, if audiences stayed for the end of the credits, they would see the banner that proclaims “Thor will return,” directly saying a fifth installment is imminent. Furthermore, Kevin Feige went on record to say that they haven’t told all of the greatest stories Thor has to offer, andLove and Thunderleft some loose ends worth tying up for afifth and final movie.
Audiences see Thor adopt Gorr’s daughter, Love, at the end ofLove and Thunder. He trains her, and the duo commits themselves to protecting those in need. That alone could tell a deeply personal story that the character needs to make his MCU exit. Sure, Hercules appeared during the credits, hinting of an inevitable showdown between the two gods, which would make for some great action sequences. However, what a finalThormovie needs is forthe heirs of Asgard to reunite.
Thor has no idea that Loki lives on, albeit from a different timeline. Audiences received a remarkable reaction from Loki when he saw his own death at the hands of Thanos, displaying several seasons worth of character development in the span of minutes. Fans love Thor from the comics, butTaika Waititi’s interpretationof the character has divided MCU fans. They need something deep, emotional, and drastically different from previousThormovies to say their goodbyes.
