Marvel Studios is in the middle of another stellar year. Coming off the major success of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, one of their next major projects is Thor: Love and Thunder. The Taika Waititi-directed superhero epic is coming out next month and a new clip released at the MTV Movie & TV Awards over the weekend reunites two old friends.
The 23-second clip finds Thor mixed up in battle in a seemingly quaint village on fire. The God of Thunder finds a reconstructed Mjolnir and calls to it only to see it in the hands of Jane Foster, who is now known as the Mighty Thor. While we saw pieces of this clip in the film’s two previous trailers, it doesn’t make the scene any less funny. Watching Thor whistling out to Mjolnir and chasing it like someone would with their dog is simply wholesome. On top of that, the delight on Thor’s face turning into pure confusion as his dialogue goes into slow motion is just a classic Waititi touch. It also helps that Chris Hemsworth’s acting is priceless as usual. The vibe of the whole clip kind of feels hilariously reminiscent of the Spongebob episode where Gary seemingly loves Patrick more than his famous sea sponge owner. While it’s very hard to believe that Jane is worthy of Mjolnir because of a cookie in her pocket, stranger things have happened in Waititi’s wacky version of Thor.
Love and Thunder, from its bombastic marketing so far, appears to be pushing the envelope on the absurdly goofy tone that Waititi established in Thor: Ragnarok. That approach is only further emphasized by this clip. We know that Thor is going on a journey of self discovery in this new film, and it will be exploring how he never really moved on from his first love Jane Foster. This instantly makes Thor more relatable and deeply human. Seeing Jane take on the mantle of Mighty Thor throws a whole big can of worms into Thor’s healing process. The emergence of the villainous Gorr the God Butcher doesn’t help in that fragile department either.
However, coming full circle, this new clip also continues one of Ragnarok’s biggest strengths. The comedy in the scene cleverly hides the tragedy of Thor’s story just like in its predecessor. Ragnarok dealt with very heavy material like the death of Odin and the destruction of Asgard, but you wouldn’t really know that from a first viewing because you were too busy laughing. This clip has the same effect where it’s funny at first, but the more you rewatch it and think about the scene, the more you realize how sad the themes at play here really are. Thor’s beloved Mjolnir is now in the hands of his ex and the God of Thunder is left to rediscover what he’s truly worthy of without his prized possession at his side.
Thor: Love and Thunder releases in theaters on July 8, 2022, and stars Hemsworth, Waititi, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Tessa Thompson, Chris Pratt, and Russell Crowe. While we anxiously wait for Thor’s return, you can watch the new clip down below:
