Who's that giant, dead creature?
And the big question: What's up with Jane Foster?
Keep watching as we dig into the small details that may have flown by in the "Thor: Love
and Thunder" trailer.
At the very start of the teaser, there's a short sequence showing Thor at various stages
of his life.
Interestingly, Thor's costume changes dramatically as he shifts from child to teenager to adult,
and it would appear that the teenage Thor is actually wearing his original costume from
the comic books.
Specifically, he appears to be wearing the outfit that artist Jack Kirby created for
the character when he debuted in 1962's "Journey into Mystery" #83.
This iconic look saw the God of Thunder sporting a red cape, a sleeveless blue vest, black
and yellow striped boots, along with a gleaming metal helm with wings on either side.
This continues the endearing MCU Phase Four tradition of finding ways to get heroes into
perfect replicas of their original Silver Age comic book costumes, as seen in the garb
worn by Scarlet Witch in "WandaVision" and Classic Loki in "Loki."
Oh, and that Spidey costume at the end of "No Way Home," too.
As Thor is working out with some pretty hefty chains, he's sporting an outfit with a rather
humorous nod to "Thor: Ragnarok."
What really stands out about this outfit is the fabulous trucker hat that has the words
"Strongest Avenger" plastered across it in the font of the original "Avengers" logo.
MCU fans will remember this moniker from "Thor: Ragnarok," when Thor tries to activate the
Quinjet by placing his hand on the scanner and submitting his name for voice recognition.
"Strongest Avenger."
"Access denied."
"Strongest Avenger!"
"Access denied."
Soon after, Bruce Banner, a.k.a.
The Hulk, hops on board and signs in as the Strongest Avenger.
This time, the nickname is accepted.
It's definitely a blow to Thor's ego that the Hulk is the biggest and baddest, and it
looks like by the time "Love and Thunder" comes around, he still hasn't gotten over
this perceived slight.
The trailer offers a quick glimpse of Thor and his rock buddy Korg in a snowy, frigid
landscape as they gaze upon the massive corpse of a creature that looks to have been absolutely
fearsome in life.
For comic book fans, the appearance of this behemoth should come as no surprise.
Director Taika Waititi has lovingly recreated the spitting image of a comic book panel from
"Thor: God of Thunder" #3 depicting Falligar, the Patron god of the Galactic Frontier.
Despite his scary appearance, Falligar was a friendly acquaintance of Thor's.
His slaughter, then, is a clear sign that the film's big bad, Gorr the God Butcher,
played by Christian Bale, is already killing deities.
When you've got a villain like Gorr the God Butcher, it stands to reason that "Love and
Thunder" will have a lot of deities popping up for Gorr to butcher.
One god that might be at particularly high risk is Zeus, the revered ancient Greek ruler
of Olympus.
But the trailer coyly hides who's playing him.
Russell Crowe has been confirmed as playing the king of the Greek gods, with no clarification
as to just how much he'd be appearing in the film.
Judging by the teaser, it could be a prominent role.
Thor looks to be paying a visit to Olympus, perhaps to speak with Zeus himself about the
threat of Gorr.
We can see Crowe's take on the character basking in praise of his subjects.
Will Zeus share similarly stoic characteristics to the dearly-departed Odin, or is this father
of the Greek gods going to be a more haughty, arrogant figure Party Thor from "What if...?"
might hang out with?
"Prepare yourselves…for the party prince!"
Zeus' demigod son Hercules is a major Marvel superhero in the comics, and even an Avenger.
So whether he appears in this film or not, Herc is almost certainly on the way.
After all the pain he's suffered in recent films, Thor is now very much on a journey
of self-discovery and enlightenment.
That's illustrated in the scene where he meditates under a tree.
In many mythologies and religions, trees are closely associated with themes of knowledge
and self-discovery.
Norse mythology has its very own tree — Yggdrasil.
Odin is granted knowledge of other realms and runes by hanging himself from one of Yggdrasil's
branches for nine days and nights.
We also see Thor planting his branch-handled axe, Stormbreaker, in the ground, much like
one would a sapling.
Stormbreaker then fires a Bifrost-beam on Thor's Viking space-boat.
It seems that Thor's tree is meant to grant him valuable knowledge and abilities to hop
between realms, maybe even to realms belonging to other gods.
At the end of "Avengers: Endgame," Thor leaves New Asgard to go off with the Guardians of
the Galaxy, and he names Valkyrie the ruler of this new home for Asgardian refugees.
"It's time for me to be who I am rather than who I'm supposed to be.
But you, you're a leader."
Despite all their loss, the Asgardians have persevered, and when audiences last saw New
Asgard, it appeared to be a small village.
This teaser trailer suggests that the town has perhaps started to thrive under Valkyrie's
rule.
Cruise ships appear off the coast of the city, and even a flying Asgardian ship sails over
people's heads.
A white van marked "New Asgard Tours" further suggests that the Asgardians' new home might
have started a thriving tourism industry.
Valkyrie, however, does not necessarily look thrilled in her position as New Asgard's ruler.
Almost echoing the now-iconic image of Steve Rogers proving himself worthy, the trailer
depicts Jane Foster wielding a mysteriously reforged Mjölnir, much to the original Thor's
surprise.
Eagle-eyed fans will note that the cracks running through the great hammer signify that
this will be the same Mjölnir that Hela so unceremoniously destroyed in "Ragnarok."
It's still not clear whether Jane or someone else put the magical hammer back together.
Another big question is just how much of the Jane Foster version of the Mighty Thor's comic
book origin story will make its way into "Love and Thunder."
Because if Marvel Studios adapts it faithfully, this movie might be a huge tearjerker.
In the comics, Jane is diagnosed with cancer before being deemed worthy of wielding Mjölnir.
The incredible power keeps her illness at bay, but it also purges her normal body of
chemotherapy each time she reverts back to normal.
We'll have to see how faithfully the story is adapted when "Thor: Love and Thunder" hits
theaters on July 8.
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