Thor: Love and Thunder is almost here, featuring the return of Taika Waititi as director and voicing the large Thor pal Korg, plus the long-awaited scene of Chris Hemsworth′s Thor and his hammer Mjolnir passing him over for Natalie Portman′s Jane Foster to become the next Thor, as envisioned in the 1970s by Donald Glut and Rick Hoberg in the pages of What If…? and re-introduced only recently by writer Jason Aaron in the monthly Thor comics. Now we have the second trailer, featuring glimpses at even more fun–and Christian Bale and his black-and-white-toned villainy.
Here it is, the next trailer for Thor: Love and Thunder:
With a small but significant first–and possibly only–season now behind us, the latest Marvel series proved the promise of the series opener wasn’t just a fluke. With unusually fantastic superhero storytelling and backstory, top acting, and unparalleled art production and music, Moon Knight is a serious contender for not only the best of Disney’s era of superhero series, it also springs ahead as better than all the Netflix Marvel series and any series (DC, Marvel, or indie) that came before in the superhero genre, complete with a Dark Knight villain done right, and a Wonder Woman who finally delivered on the excitement and potential of nearly a century of comic book superheroines. The sixth and final episode of the season is now streaming on Disney+. We’re only through four months of 2022, and even with some high calibre shows so far, if you see only one series this year, so far this is the one not to miss.
With the premiere of the first trailer for Thor: Love and Thunder comes an onslaught of great tie-in toys. Funko Pops like Thor and his flying longship! Action figures of Natalie Portman’s Thor with Mjolnir! Our first good look at Christian Bale’s villain Gorr as an action figure!
Best of all, many are available for pre-order now here at Entertainment Earth and here at Amazon. Check out some great tie-ins below from Thor: Love and Thunder:
Thor: Love and Thunder is almost here, featuring the return of Taika Waititi as director and voicing the large Thor pal Korg, plus the long-awaited scene of Chris Hemsworth′s Thor and his hammer Mjolnir passing him over for Natalie Portman′s Jane Foster to become the next Thor, as envisioned in the 1970s by Donald Glut and Rick Hoberg in the pages of What If…? and re-introduced only recently by writer Jason Aaron in the monthly Thor comics. As we saw at the end of Avengers: Endgame, Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) is the new King of Asgard. In this trailer she looks… bored with that. And Thor, sans eye patch, is trying to find himself, looking like he’s ready to drift off into the sunset. Feels like a bit of a downer. But it’s just a trailer. It does have swashbuckling Ravager pirate Thor flying a Viking Tours longboat led by goats Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder, with a cocktail bar complete with neon sign, and his blue-haired girlfriend (is that Sif?).
It doesn’t give us a look at the villain Gorr played by Christian Bale yet, but here it is, the first trailer for Thor: Love and Thunder:
The best of the Marvel Cinematic Universe happens when a new writer or director’s vision is something we haven’t seen before. For the movies, that’s merging into the MCU a quirky space fantasy crew in Guardians of the Galaxy, superheroes with restricted powers as in Thor: Ragnarok, or starring a less than super superhero like in Ant-Man. In the TV series it’s introducing a unique, cool style like in Luke Cage or featuring an ex-military antihero with serious drama like in The Punisher. In Disney’s Moon Knight, which is premiering its pilot episode now on Disney+, it’s building an intense, thrilling character who finds that something or someone has taken over his body, and he–and the audience–have no idea why. It’s a mix of ancient mythology, magic, and adventure of the level of Raiders of the Lost Ark, with the best of today’s actors creating some truly fantastic and exciting characters. And that’s just the first hour.
“I can’t tell the difference between my waking life and dreams.”
Anyone else see the Jason Isaacs series Awake? It, too, followed a hero who was alive in two different worlds, each where he believed he was awake and the other, the world in his dreams. That’s the path Marvel Studios is taking with Moon Knight, the next MCU superhero series, which stars Oscar Isaac (is he Steven Grant or Marc Spector?), coming later this month to Disney+.
Marvel released a brief featurette providing some insight into the character, including interviews with Isaac, plus Ethan Hawke, who plays Arthur Harrow, and Disney exec Kevin Feige. Check it out below, along with previous trailers for the series:
It’s a surprising and unique story in Phase IV of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s WandaVision, the almost hallucinogenic, time-tripping story of the aftermath of Avengers: Endgame through the eyes of Wanda Maximoff. Now fans have their first look inside the making of the series in Marvel’s WandaVision: The Official Marvel Studios Collector Special, a full color, hardcover, souvenir guide to the characters, creators, and development of the Disney+ series. It’s being released in three editions, one via newsstands, one via comic shops (add it to your pull list at Elite Comics now), and a hardcover version you can pick up here at Amazon and at brick and mortar bookstores (it’s currently an Amazon #1 Best Seller!). Enjoy a preview for borg readers below from Titan.
Instead of what has been done at past panels at San Diego Comic-Con–having a panel for each or just a few major projects–Marvel Studios exec Kevin Feige was on-hand to get several announcements out the door and as many key cast members in and out of his single panel as possible. For the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase IV, that means tying in Disney’s (pay) streaming service with the movies. The big takeaway? New logos are pretty much all there is so far to share, plus key casting and timing announcements. And although the last Phase had some changes along the way, it looks as if these ten projects will round out the entirety of Marvel over the next few years. The biggest frustration for fans of the X-Men and Fantastic Four is why nobody at Marvel has been getting a head start on these two massively popular teams of characters–money is definitely going to be left on the table for the duration of Phase IV by pushing out these projects. Why aren’t these Priority #1 with someone at Disney in light of the long lead-time the corporation had for the Fox acquisition?
The new time table is straightforward: Black Widow movie (May 1, 2020), The Falcon and the Winter Soldier TV series (Fall 2020), Eternals movie (November 6, 2020), Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings movie (February 12, 2021), WandaVision TV series (Spring 2021), LokiTV series (Spring 2021), Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madnessmovie (May 7, 2021), What If…?animated series (Summer 2021), HawkeyeTV series (Fall 2021), and Thor: Love and Thundermovie (November 5, 2021). The most eagerly awaited film after this year’s Avengers: Endgame was the hinted-at Guardians of the Galaxy/Thor or Asgardians of the Galaxy team-up movie, but Marvel still has not confirmed that project, unless it’s tied into the 2021 film. Also relegated to “in development” status: Black Panther 2, Captain Marvel 2, Fantastic Four, X-Men, and the next Tom Holland Spider-Man movie (Spider-Man is Iron Man’s replacement, right?). Silence seems to confirm the death of the Marvel Netflix universe of Luke Cage,The Punisher, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist, and maybe even Disney+ projects Runaways, Ghost Rider, and Helstrom. FX’s Legion was already announced as canceled, and we lost track of how many times The New Mutants movie has been pushed back. Even bigger unknowns are the next Ant-Man and The Wasp, which had Hank Pym actor Michael Douglas already discussing it as a prequel, and if anyone is thinking about Prince Namor the Submariner, nobody is talking. It begs the question: Does Disney have too much to handle now?
As a beginning Disney’s Marvel side seems to be taking a lead from its Star Wars division, with its offerings targeting a mix of fans old, new, and in-between. For the fans of the MCU so far you have plenty, a Black Widow (presumably prequel) and Thor movie as bookends for Phase IV, and TV series to keep alive Falcon, Winter Soldier, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Loki, Doctor Strange, and Hawkeye. For new audiences (and possibly much older comic book readers) there is Shang-Chi and the Eternals to get to know, along with the announcement that Luke Cage’s Mahershala Ali will be playing Blade in a reboot movie at the beginning of Phase V, the vampire hunter who, like Spider-Man, has already seen an entire series of movies outside of the MCU.
The details are an eclectic mix of things you might want, things you didn’t know you want, and things you won’t know what to make of:
