What '80s action star seemingly gets a loving nod in the new "Love and Thunder" trailer?
Does Thor's t-shirt have a hidden meaning?
And which celestial beings return from "Eternals"?
Keep watching.
It's hard not to notice the snazzy shirt Thor sports during several pivotal scenes in the
trailer.
Die-hard fans won't be shocked to learn that this sartorial choice may just contain a deeper
meaning, which connects it to the rest of the movie's plot, as well as Thor's mythological
roots.
The symbol on the shirt, an artfully drawn tree with a black trunk and black branches,
with white circles all the way down, placed against a large red circle — is most likely
a visual representation of the mighty Yggdrasil, the World Tree.
Norse-Mythology.org explains that Yggdrasil is a sacred and important part of the spiritual
landscape of the Viking world.
The tree supports the entire universe.
Its deep roots extend all the way to Valhalla, while its strong, gnarled branches stretch
above the clouds.
Yggrasil's health is vital to keeping the living world in harmony, and the cosmos depends
upon it.
When Yggdrasil trembles or withers, bad things are headed Asgard's way.
In the MCU, the original Asgard is now just a memory, but as Odin said,
"Asgard is not a place, never was.
This could be Asgard.
Asgard is where our people stand."
So if Yggdrasil does fit into the plot of "Thor: Love and Thunder," the Thunder God
may just be the right one to preserve it.
Eagle-eyed fans will remember that in a previous "Thor: Love and Thunder" trailer, Thor takes
the time to meditate under a tree that looks like Yggdrasil.
That Thor heads to such a sacred spot to attain some sense of peace and guidance was interesting
enough, but his Yggdrasil T-shirt may indicate that enlightenment is just what he finds there.
The last time we saw a Celestial intervening in the MCU, it gave Sersi a stern telling
off before snatching her and a selection of other Eternals away from the planet they'd
just saved.
"You have chosen to sacrifice a Celestial for the people of this planet."
Now, it's been confirmed in the final trailer for "Thor: Love and Thunder" that those cosmic
colossi are going to make another appearance.
Just how big of a part do they play in Thor's battle against the God Butcher?
In a frantic escape from Olympus, we see The Revengers going full steam ahead and at risk
of colliding with two unnamed Celestial beings.
Even though these Celestials dwarf the Goat Boat, they still seem small compared to the
newborn Celestial that nearly hatched in "Eternals."
With that in mind, the Celestials might be peeking their head not through a window, but
a portal of some sort.
Or these are just decidedly smaller than Celestials we've seen in the past.
Size aside, might these mighty beings be a key factor in defeating Gorr?
Or, given their antagonistic ways in the past, are they just going to be another problem?
Traveling the universe can be a taxing ordeal for those without an effective means of traversing
incredible distances.
In the past, the Asgardians have used the rainbow bridge, the Bifrost, to almost instantly
teleport to various locations.
This process usually scorches symbols and runes on the ground.
This is the reason why people on Earth have a mythology involving Thor, Odin, and Loki
— because Asgardians have visited Earth at varying points in time, and their visitations
left marks, giving rise to legends.
In Norse Mythology, rainbows were believed to be the physical embodiment of the Bifrost
bridge.
Unfortunately, the primary means of harnessing the power of the Bifrost was destroyed during
the events of "Thor: Ragnarok."
Luckily, though, it seems that Thor and his companions may have found a cool new way to
invoke the Bifrost, judging by this new trailer.
Their Viking-style longship appears to be generating its very own Bifrost while it soars
through the air, which may mean that the "Asgardians of the Galaxy" will still be able to hop around
the universe with ease using a combination of the boat and Thor's goats, who also have
origins in Norse mythology.
Whether the boat's abilities are somehow connected to Stormbreaker remains to be seen.
Thor has wielded both Mjolnir and Stormbreaker, and can summon lightning on a whim.
Based on the latest trailer for "Love and Thunder," he's also quite flexible.
When two chariots fly at Thor at super speed.
The God of Thunder manages to stop both vessels in their tracks simultaneously by pulling
off a move often associated with Belgian action star Jean-Claude van Damme.
Thor does an impressive split with one foot on each chariot, stopping both with nary a
sweat broken.
The move is incredibly reminiscent of the splits van Damme would perform in his movies,
as well as a 2013 Volvo commercial where he performed the act while on two trucks.
We likely won't ever know for certain if the Thor moment draws directly from van Damme's
resume, but seeing how the marketing for the movie has incorporated the 1980s classic "Sweet
Child O' Mine" and the film features plenty of '80s fashion, it seems incredibly likely
that it's meant to be a reference.
We've seen Thor working with other heroes in all in previous trailers, it's been unclear
whether there'll be a full team-up or just a bunch of individual scenes.
The newest trailer confirms that Thor, if no one else, considers himself the driving
force of a very particular team:
"I'm putting together the greatest team ever."
In a voiceover that spans much of the trailer, Thor introduces the latest version of his
Revengers — or possibly the Asgardians of the Galaxy.
The team consists of Korg, Valkyrie, Jane Foster, and the Guardians of the Galaxy, which
currently include Star-Lord, Rocket, Groot, Drax, Nebula, and Mantis.
There's also Kraglin, who seemingly is a full-blown Guardian by this point or at least is close
to getting there.
When you combine all that power and skill, as well as take into account the many absurdly
powerful villains the various people in this squad have defeated, it's hard to imagine
a villain who'd give them any further difficulty.
It's also kind of unnerving to think just how dangerous Gorr the God Butcher must be
if Thor has to put together this all-star squad just to stand a chance.
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