Marvel Studios’ Thor: Love and Thunder Mighty FX Mjolnir Electronic Hammer Roleplay Toy for Kids Ages 5 and Up

Product Information

We're finally getting Thor: Love and Thunder this week, featuring Natalie Portman's Jane Foster wielding Mjolnir as the Mighty Thor. But how can Jane be the new Thor, you mask ask? The answer lies in the film's Marvel Comics inspirations.

Thor Explained: How Jane Foster Became Worthy To Wield Mighty Thor Explained: How Jane Foster Became Worthy To Wield

In the new movie Thor: Love and Thunder, based on recent comic books about the superhero, cancer complicates what it means to be Thor. Chris Hemsworth in role as Thor Odinson does not have to consider the same complicated ethical decisions as his girlfriend, Jane Foster. (AP Photo/Mark Baker) In Love and Thunder, Foster takes on new enemies: cancer and the cosmic villain Gorr (Christian Bale). While Foster and Odinson vanquish Gorr, they are not able to defeat her cancer. The movie runs up against idealizing narratives of cancer. Cultural critic Barbara Ehrenreich has criticized depictions of cancer as “ the source of [one’s] happiness.”Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Tessa Thompson, Taika Waititi, Russell Crowe, Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pon Klementieff, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel

Thor 4: Hasbro Reveals Live-Size Replica of Love and Thunder Thor 4: Hasbro Reveals Live-Size Replica of Love and Thunder

The film’s focus, however, is not on the gender of Thor, but on Odinson’s moral journey. Foster’s spreading cancer is the catalyst for Thor Odinson’s moral growth. Facing enemies Executive producers: Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Brain Chapek, Todd Hallowell, Chris HemsworthThe costs for Foster, however, are much higher. Foster’s superhuman power, ironically, prevents her cancer treatments from working. Being The Mighty Thor risks killing her. Despite the likelihood of her death, Foster chooses to live, and die, on her own terms. She joins Odinson in the final battle against Gorr, dying as a result of the wounds she sustains and her cancer.

Thor: Love and Thunder’s cracked Mjolnir may be hiding

In Thor: Love and Thunder, Foster’s cancer journey enables Odinson learn a lesson on meaning and risk. While she is in hospital, Odinson begs her to give up Mjolnir so that he won’t lose her. The movie is effectively ruled by one cameo, the figure of Zeus, which it would be unsporting to reveal here: our A-list guest star unveils one of his strangest accents yet, but also gets serious laughs, as the upstart Thor deprives him of his lightning bolt. And yet it has to be said that, however adroitly Waititi plays it, Marvel’s comedy mode has become a bit of a reflex, a specific mode which could almost be enabled in the settings menu of Marvel software: a highly contained form of restricted self-satire or auto-undercutting that is always offset by the huge CGI intergalactic action scenes. This is becoming a bit of a cul de sac – but that isn’t to say it isn’t still funny, and Thor still delivers a mighty hammer-blow, or rather axe-blow, of fun. Early in the movie, fellow superhero Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) talks to Odinson about the loss of own his love. He advises: “ I hope one day you can feel this shitty,” a variation on the adage that it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. How meaning is foundNot all of Mighty Thor's abilities were positive. Before Thor becomes unworthy, Jane is diagnosed with breast cancer. She refused to participate in any kind of magical treatment and instead took a chance with chemotherapy. Unfortunately for Jane, each time she transformed into Mighty Thor, there were adverse effects on her health. The hammer purged all toxins from her body during the transformation process, including the radiation treatment for her cancer. The helpful drugs were subsequently emitted, so Jane's condition worsened as cancer spread throughout her body. She eventually sought help from Doctor Strange, one of the few people who knew her true identity. He advised her to stop transforming into Mighty Thor as the next time could kill her. The Exorcist: Believer’ Review: Early Intrigue Devolves Into Unoriginal Excess in David Gordon Green’s Sequel This is a film full of choppy shifts, both in the narrative and the visuals. The CG environments are so expansive, and so garishly colorful, that it almost looks animated, and the jumps to the green fields of Asgard or the sterile rooms of the hospital where Jane is being treated give the impression of being dropped into a different movie.