Revisiting My Predictions For ‘Thor: Love & Thunder’
*SPOILER WARNING* - This article contains big spoilers for ‘Thor: Love & Thunder’, so if you haven’t seen the film yet proceed at your own risk.
Thor: Love & Thunder (2022) has been in cinemas for almost two weeks, so we’re at the point where spoilers are emerging online and a lot of the core audience have seen the film already. I won’t go into detail about my views on the film, because I think there’s been quite a lot of harsh criticism, some of which is unwarranted, and the debate has turned ugly. Suffice to say the film wasn’t perfect and I see the flaws, but I still had a good time. What I want to do instead is revisit the caffeine-fuelled mess of an article I wrote at 2:00am before the UK release. I wrote a list of ten predictions for the film, so it’s time to see how many of them were correct.
Before I go through each prediction individually, it’s worth noting as an overview, I was pretty damn accurate with my predictions. I’m a little scared of how accurately I read this film. Out of sheer curiosity I’ve kept score based on whether each prediction came true (one point if it happened, zero points if it didn’t happen, and some half marks for the grey areas). Out of the ten predictions, I was expecting to maybe get a third at best, but as you’ll see below I did way better than anyone was expecting. But let’s go through each of them and see what went down during Thor’s latest adventure.
Again, we’re heading deep into spoiler territory, so proceed with caution.
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Prediction 1: Guardians of the Galaxy are on screen for less than 30 minutes
Did it happen? - Yes (1 point)
This was quite a safe bet, based on all of the signs leading up to the film’s release, but I didn’t realise just how short their time on screen would be. I figured because they’ve gone to the hassle of wrangling all of the actors together and then spent time on costumes and visuals etc they’d use the actors as much as the story could cater to. I thought 30 minutes was a good guess because it’s only a quarter of the film. Turns out they probably got about half of that. Which makes sense, because at the end of the day, it’s not their film.
Prediction 2: This will be separate from other recent MCU projects
Did it happen? - Yes (1 point)
This was a stab in the dark, because I genuinely wasn’t sure. Marvel Studios have a funny habit of either linking everything together too closely so they trip over themselves, or having projects which feel too isolated, so this could have gone either way. It turns out this film falls into the latter camp. There were literally no mentions of any other recent projects, and no crossover with the awkward multiverse shenanigans. That’s not only another point, but as someone who isn’t totally sold on the MCU’s multiverse saga as of yet, it was a nice bit of respite.
Prediction 3: Loki won’t appear
Did it happen? - Yes (1 point)
I will say, this is a bittersweet victory, because I had to go too far and be a cocky little shit. I was correct by predicting Loki wouldn’t appear in this film at all, and that’s all I had to say. But I let my mouth run off, didn’t I? At the end of that prediction I added one extra sentence:
“Loki appearing in this film is just as unlikely as someone like Heimdall making an appearance.”
So that second post credits scene made me look like an absolute idiot. I almost removed my point for this one, just because of my own stupidity, but the overall prediction was still correct.
Prediction 4: Thor gets a new look by the end
Did it happen? - Not really (0 points)
Technically, I am right with this prediction. Thor does get a new fancy costume, but it turns out he gets this very early into the film. Thor did end the film starting a new chapter too, and he seems to be moving forwards with his new costume, so I was correct in that respect, but I couldn’t give myself the point. We all saw this new costume in the trailers, there was nothing new beyond that, so I’ll take the hit.
Prediction 5: There’s going to be two post credit scenes
Did it happen? - Kind of (0.5 points)
Again, I couldn’t give myself the full point. I was correct in guessing there would be two post credit scenes, however I listed specific scenes, none of which happened. This prediction wasn’t just about how many post credit scenes there were, it was also about the content of those scenes, which is where I fell down. I was quite surprised there wasn’t a set up for Guardians Vol 3 or a tenuous link to the upcoming Black Panther sequel, but I did really like the scenes we were given. Unexpected, and it’s a knock on my total score, but I liked both post credit scenes.
Prediction 6: Hercules will make his debut
Did it happen? - Yes (1 point)
I’ll admit I’m feeling smug about this. As the film was ending I had accepted this particular defeat, but was aware it could still happen in the future. And then the first post credit scene (technically mid credits) came along and made me very happy. I like the casting choice, I think the costume looks great, and I’m genuinely intrigued to see where they take the character from here.
Prediction 7: Jane Foster’s cancer
Did it happen? - Yes (1 point)
This actually turned out to be a very big part of the film’s story, so that was quite surprising. I think I held back with my prediction and thought this would be a smaller part of the film than it turned out to be. It was a deviation from the comic books and very much told it’s own spin on the Mighty Thor saga, but the character battling cancer was front and centre, and was handled in a sensitive way.
Prediction 8: Jane Foster doesn’t keep the hammer
Did it happen? - Yes (1 point)
This is a hollow victory, because I was correct, but I didn’t want to be. As I wrote in the original article, I really wanted Jane Foster’s Mighty Thor to stick around and be a main part of the MCU line-up moving forwards. Sadly it wasn’t meant to be, as the character passed away after the final battle against Gorr. I will say, I really liked the second post credits scene, where Jane meets Heimdall and is permitted entry to Valhalla. If Jane was never meant to survive the events of this film, there is at least some comfort to be found knowing the character is at peace.
Prediction 9: Gorr dies
Did it happen? - Yes (1 point)
Again, a hollow victory. I didn’t want this to be correct. Gorr was by far the best element of this film, and I feel like the character could have caused some serious damage if they had stuck around. This is the same feeling I had after seeing Black Panther. In the case of both Gorr and Killmonger it’s a great actor, playing an excellent and complicated villain, but who unfortunately doesn’t survive past the film’s runtime. I had a feeling this would be the case for a number of reasons:
- Christian Bale may not want to sign on for multiple projects and be caught in the same franchise.
- Villains don’t often stick around in the MCU (unfortunately).
- There’s a wider plan for Phase 4 and beyond, and it’s unlikely one specific villain like Gorr would become the next big bad. Fans are crying out for the next Thanos, along the lines of Doctor Doom, Galactus or Kang the Conqueror, so Gorr doesn’t quite fit the bill.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not bitter about this, because Christian Bale was the highlight of this film and has joined the top tier of MCU villains. I may not have got what I wanted with respect to long term plans, but nothing will ever take away the good times.
Prediction 10: Thor Odinson will still be our main Thor by the end
Did it happen? - Yes (1 point)
One last hollow victory I didn’t want. I’m annoyed to be writing about how there is only one Thor in the MCU moving forwards, not only because Jane Foster doesn’t have the hammer, but because she sadly passed away. I was hoping this film would be a broadening in terms of the MCU roster, but unfortunately what it gave us with one hand it took away with the other hand. Which honestly I think is a missed opportunity. Jane Foster’s story was seriously rushed in this film, and it came across as under cooked. The reason it worked so well in the comic books is because they let the story play out for a significant number of issues. We saw Jane Foster lean into the role, battling various villains, interacting with other heroes, and also grappling with her declining health condition. Her eventual death was more emotional because the audience had invested more time into the character. This film took the whole Mighty Thor saga, popped it in the microwave and served it up in one film, rather than playing the story out over multiple projects and making her sacrifice more impactful. This one is a shame, and is definitely an issue with the film people will talk about moving forwards.
Total score: 8.5/10 points
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It’s clear from this list I should really take up playing the lottery every week or scratch cards or something. I have abilities way beyond normal humans.
I’m joking of course. These predictions, I think, were accurate because of a combination of multiple factors:
- An interest in pop culture and storytelling, beyond the casual viewer.
- The film itself being fairly simple.
- Some of the predictions themselves being quite broad.
- My knowledge of comic books in general, but specifically the Jason Aaron comic books which were used as source material.
- A little bit of cynicism about how these big studio films work and how they tell their stories.
So as I sit back and smugly joke about having special powers, please know that I am being totally insincere. These predictions were a mixture of pop culture knowledge and luck.
As I mentioned in the original article, I had a similar experience in 2019 during the final season of Game of Thrones. Before each weekly episode was released, I would write down some predictions, just for fun. But it turns out I was damn good at writing those predictions, and I accurately predicted some of the show’s big moments. Again, that doesn’t come down to me being a wizard or a soothsayer or whatever you want to call it. My life is very much dominated by pop culture, and I love writing outside of my normal job, so I’m always tuned in to narrative structure and character arcs. It makes it easier to see how events will play out, or different directions writers can take stories and / or characters. In the case of Game of Thrones and Love & Thunder, I wasn’t trying to ruin my own experience or claim any form of superiority, I was just engaging with pop culture content and having a bit of a laugh.
I’m hoping to write some more predictions for upcoming projects, because at the end of the day it’s all just a bit of harmless fun. If I have time I may even write some predictions for Marvel’s panel at San Diego Comic Con this weekend, which promises to be “huge.” Until then, I hope everyone stays happy and healthy, and I hope people are having a good time watching Thor: Love & Thunder on the big screen.
‘Thor: Love & Thunder’ is currently screening in UK cinemas at the time of this article being written.
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