‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ Could Be Banned In Thousands of Theaters – Inside the Magic
As the world readies itself for the fourth installment in the Thor franchise, The Walt Disney Company and Marvel Studios may have another movie theater crisis on their hands.
This week marks the release of Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) from director Taika Waititi. Bringing Chris Hemsworth back to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Thor Odinson, the new movie sees the loveable God of Thunder team up with the fan-favorite team, the Guardians of the Galaxy, his ex-love, Jane Foster AKA Mighty Thor (Natalie Portman), and King of New Asgard, Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson).
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With the plethora of MCU television shows, as well as Black Widow (2021), Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021), Eternals (2021), Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), it’s hard to believe it has been over three years since fans last saw Hemsworth’s Thor on the big screen.
Avengers: Endgame (2019) saw the Asgardian God team up with Peter Quill/Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Drax (Dave Bautista), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Kraglin Obfonteri (Sean Gunn), Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), and Groot (Vin Diesel), and it seems that Thor: Love and Thunder will continue the narrative, while also introducing a new villain into the live-action Marvel Universe, Gorr the God Butcher, played by Batman icon, Christian Bale.
Supporting cast includes Jaimie Alexander as Lady Sif, Russell Crowe as Zeus, Luke Hemsworth, Matt Damon, Sam Neill, and Melissa McCarthy as actor Thor, actor Loki, actor Odin, and actor Hela.
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Thor: Love and Thunder will likely deliver a large box office, especially as Thor: Ragnarok (2017) has become such a cult classic in the MCU. In an industry that is still recovering from the widespread closures caused by the pandemic, movies like Spider-Man: No Way Home, Top Gun: Maverick (2022), and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, have all delivered massive box offices, with the former two topping $1 billion worldwide.
However, Thor: Love and Thunder may suffer in the same way multiple other projects from The Walt Disney Company have in recent months.
Once upon a time, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige promised MCU fans that Valkyrie’s sexual orientation, would be explored in future sequels. Since then, the superhero studio has done more with their inclusivity agenda; last year, Tom Hiddleston’s Loki was confirmed in MCU canon as bisexual, while Chloe Zhao’s Eternals featured the franchise’s first male/male kiss, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness depicted America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) with two mothers.
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For most of these, Marvel Studios was banned from releasing their movies in certain markets namely Saudi Arabia where both Eternals and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness were shunned for their LGBTQ+ content. Now, while questions surrounding Thor: Love and Thunder‘s focus on LGBTQ+ characters like King Valkyrie are still being asked, it seems that Thor 4 may go the way as the aforementioned movies as Waititi, Thompson, and Portman revealed that the MCU film is, in fact, “super gay.”
At the London premiere of Thor: Love and Thunder, one audience member asked the director and leading ladies how gay the new Thor movie was. The three chuckled between themselves before Portman said it was “so gay”, which was quickly echoed by Waititi, stating his second MCU film was “super gay!”
@Zachaniff on TikTok caught the question and it can be viewed here.
Fans will have to wait and see what direction Waititi takes his newest movie when it begins showing on July 7, ahead of its official release on July 8, 2022.
Thor: Love and Thunder is part of Marvel Phase Four and will be followed later this year by Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022).
Have you got your tickets for Thor: Love and Thunder? Let us know in the comments down below!