Many had waited weeks after rumors surrounding an insight of the God of Thunder’s next journey, and lo and behold, all cosmic eyeballs were on the teaser trailer for Thor: Love and Thunder upon its distribution last Monday morning.
Played to the backdrop of the classic Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child O Mine,” the 90-second teaser brings out the stylish colors and vibrancy that rejuvenated the character of Thor on the big screen when his last solo feature, Ragnarok, debuted in 2017 to excellent reviews and praise for Taika Waititi’s fun direction. The trailer gave us insights as to how Thor plans to settle down after many years of battling constant threats alongside the Avengers and friends across the galaxy, his continuing friendship with the Guardians of the Galaxy, and a quick glimpse of Thor’s former girlfriend Jane Foster stepping into battle wielding his former hammer Mjolnir and mantle.
The trailer received 209 million views across all social media platforms, which is the 7th highest in history for a trailer viewed in the first 24 hours (for now). It sits in the top tier, only behind its MCU companions, Avengers: Infinity War (230 million for teaser) and Avengers: Endgame (289 million for teaser, 268 million for final trailer). Although Spider-Man: No Way Home would be included (due to MCU connections), it remains a Sony property and stands as king with a whopping 355.5 million.
I suppose the other record for Chris Hemsworth is that he is the first individual in the MCU to get a fourth solo chapter (Endgame doesn’t count as it was the end of an era for all the heroes Marvel could get their hands on). Major kudos to him as his character once played second fiddle to Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man and Chris Evans’s Captain America, but got the best transformation and joined their status quo once Waititi sparked some massive changes in his last solo tale that led to significant roles in Infinity War and Endgame for his character arc. There is much speculation if this is his final ride with the character after playing it for 11 years with appearances in eight movies (and one post-credits).
Tessa Thompson also returns as Valkyrie, and Taika Waititi reprises his role (through CGI) as Korg in the trailer. Unfortunately, we have still yet to witness the introduction of Christian Bale’s take on a villain god butcher called Gorr and the return of Jaimie Alexander’s Sif (who last appeared in Thor: The Dark World).
Who knows what surprises are in store for us come the summertime, but expect one more trailer to debut in late May/early June after Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness kick starts the MCU box-office attraction road in a few weeks.
The official synopsis reads, “The film finds Thor (Chris Hemsworth) on a journey unlike anything he’s ever faced – a quest for inner peace. But his retirement is interrupted by a galactic killer known as Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale), who seeks the extinction of the gods. To combat the threat, Thor enlists the help of King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Korg (Taika Waititi) and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who – to Thor’s surprise – inexplicably wields his magical hammer, Mjolnir, as the Mighty Thor. Together, they embark upon a harrowing cosmic adventure to uncover the mystery of the God Butcher’s vengeance and stop him before it’s too late.”
Thor: Love and Thunder opens in theaters on July 8th, 2022.
