Marvel Studios finally released the long-anticipated ’Thor: Love and Thunder’ trailer, which revealed a shot lifted straight from the comics.
The film is largely based on Jason Aaron’s time writing Thor’s comic book adventures, beginning by teaming with artist Esad Ribić on ’Thor: God of Thunder ’in 2012. In ’Thor: God of Thunder #3’, Thor follows a trail of god corpses left behind by Gorr the God-Butcher (played by Christina Bale in ’Thor: Love and Thunder’).
At one point, he gazes upon the massive corpse of Falligar the Behemoth, as rendered by Ribić and colourist Ive Svorcina.
Exacting detail
The shot is recreated in exacting detail in the film trailer, almost to the point that it appears that they inserted the panel into the film and then recoloured it to match ’Love and Thunder’s’ colour grading.
As fans of Ribić’s work, it’s exciting to see it show up in a major blockbuster. However, it is hard to see this and not wonder if Ribić received appropriate compensation in light of the recent conversation around how Marvel Studios credits and pays its comic book creators.
Ed Brubaker, who wrote the comics that reimagined Bucky Barnes as The Winter Soldier, reignited this conversation with comments around the time of ’The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’s’ release. ’Hawkeye artist David Aja also spoke up when the Hawkeye series debuted on Disney+.
America Chavez co-creator Joe Casey recently said that he’s never been paid for any of the character’s multimedia appearances, including turning down a check for her role in ’Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ that he found to be “insulting.”
For those who’d like to read the Thor epic that serves as ’Thor: Love and Thunder’s’ basis, it begins in ’Thor: God of Thunder’ and continues into Thor (2014) and ’Mighty Thor’, all of which are available on Marvel Unlimited. For those looking to read it in print, the run is collected in the appropriate reading order in the ’Thor by Jason Aaron Omnibus’ and the ’Thor by Jason Aaron: The Complete Collection’ series of paperbacks.
‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ is an upcoming American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Thor, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is intended to be the direct sequel to ’Thor: Ragnarok’ (2017) and the 29th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
The film is written and directed by Taika Waititi, and stars Chris Hemsworth as Thor alongside Christian Bale, Tessa Thompson, Jaimie Alexander, Waititi, Russell Crowe, and Natalie Portman. In the film, Thor attempts to find inner peace, but must return to action and recruit Valkyrie (Thompson), Korg (Waititi), and Jane Foster (Portman) — who is now the Mighty Thor — to stop Gorr the God Butcher (Bale) from eliminating all gods.
Sequel
Hemsworth and Waititi had discussed plans for a sequel to Ragnarok by January 2018. Love and Thunder was announced in July 2019, with Hemsworth, Waititi, and Thompson all set to return, as well as Portman who did not appear in Ragnarok.
Waititi wanted to differentiate Love and Thunder from Ragnarok, seeking to make a romance film and 1980s-inspired adventure. He adapted elements from Jason Aaron’s run on the Mighty Thor comic book, which sees Foster take on the mantle and powers of Thor whilst suffering from cancer.
Jennifer Kaytin Robinson joined to contribute to the script in February 2020, and further casting was revealed later that year including the appearance of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Production was expected to begin in late 2020 but was delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Filming ultimately began in January 2021 in Sydney, Australia, and concluded at the beginning of June.
‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ is scheduled to be released in the United States on July 8 as part of phase four of the MCU.