Thor 4: A recap ahead of the release of 'Thor: Love and Thunder' on July 7

Chris Hemsworth in 'Thor: Love and Thunder'. (Screen grab)

Thor: Love and Thunder, directed by New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi, will release in India on July 7. This is the first time a movie featuring a Marvel superhero is seeing a fourth instalment, a testimonial to the popularity of the Thor franchise, which is increasingly heavy on humour and violence. This is the 29th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

The film starts off from where Avengers: Endgame left off. Going by the trailers, the movie starts with Thor (Chris Hemsworth) trying to lose weight and going on a quest to find inner peace. Thor must defeat Gorr, the God Butcher (Christian Bale), and must recruit for this mission Valkyrie, the King of New Asgard (Tessa Thompson), and the Mighty Thor (Natalie Portman), who is making a re-entry into the franchise.

Russell Crowe puts in a cameo as Zeus, the king of the Olympians. Apart from this, the Guardians of the Galaxy (played by Chris Pratt, Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper) also star in the movie. Jeff Goldblum reprises his role as the Grandmaster.

The first two films in the franchise, Thor (director: Kenneth Branagh) and Thor: The Dark World, were praised by the critics and were financial successes. But it was Thor: Ragnorak that is credited with reviving the franchise and making the movies an audience favourite. The Thor films have collectively earned more than $1.9 billion worldwide. The first part of the franchise, Thor, was made in 2011, the second part Thor: The Dark World in 2013 and Thor: Ragnorak in 2017.

The franchise kicks off with Thor Odinson, a powerful but arrogant god, who is banished to Midgard (Earth) from his home in Asgard even as he prepares to become its king. Thor is found guilty of trying to reignite a war against the Frost Giants of Jutunheim, thereby destroying a fragile truce struck by his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins).

Thor lands in New Mexico, where he meets and strikes up a romance with astrophysicist Jane Foster (Portman). Back in Asgard, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) finds out that he is the biological son of Laufey, the ruler of Jutunheim, and that Odin adopted him after the war against the Frost Giants. When Loki tries to take over power in Asgard, Thor’s friends come to Earth to persuade Thor to return.

However, Loki sends the Destroyer, an apparently indestructible automaton, to Earth to kill Thor’s friends. When Thor offers to die in the place of his friends, he is redeemed and his powers and the hammer,  Mjölnir, are returned to him. Thor returns to Asgard to defeat Loki.

The second part called Thor: The Dark World (director: Alan Taylor), begins with Bor, father of Odin, clashing against the Dark Elf Malekith in Svartalfheim many, many years ago. A weapon called Aether plays a huge role in this film. Aether is sought to be unleashed by Malekith, but he is defeated. Meanwhile, in present-day Asgard, Loki is sentenced to prison for his war crimes on Earth.

Thor makes a grand entry when he defeats the marauders in Vanaheim along with his friends. With this battle, peace is returned to the Nine Realms and Odin congratulates his son, Thor, for his role in it.

In London, astrophysicist Dr Jane Foster (Portman) travels to an abandoned factory where the laws of physics are acting funny. When she is separated from her group, she is teleported to another world, where she absorbs the dangerous Aether. When Thor finds her in this condition on Earth, he takes her to Asgard in hopes of curing her.

Malekith, awakened by Aether's release, attacks Asgard. Thor's mother Frigga is killed protecting Foster. Thor then strikes an uneasy deal with Loki, who can get them out of Asgard, as he knows a secret portal to Svartalfheim. In the battle with Malekith, Loki is impaled and is assumed dead by Thor, who promises to tell their father Odin of his sacrifice.

Afterwards, Thor and Foster discover another portal in a nearby cave in Svartalfheim and use it to travel to London. Foster is reunited with Dr Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard) and the two physicists find out that Malekith plans to restore the Dark Elves to dominance by unleashing the Aether during the convergence of the planets. Thor battles Malekith in Greenwich and travels across portals trying to kill him and eventually succeeds in doing so at Svartalfheim, where Malekith is crushed by his own ship. Thor returns to Asgard but turns down Odin’s offer to become king. It soon becomes apparent that Loki has survived and transformed himself into Odin.

The third part of the franchise, Thor: Ragnorak, was directed by Waititi. It was a fluffier and rockier movie, with a superb turn by Jeff Goldblum as Grandmaster, who runs his own planet called Sakaar. The Grandmaster inadvertently pits Thor against Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) in a battle unto death in a Gladiator-like pit, even as the people of Sakaar watch.

Other stars in Ragnorak include (apart from the usual cast) Cate Blanchett as Hela, the Goddess of death and Thor’s older sister; Tessa Thompson as Scrapper 142/ Valkyrie; and Idris Elba as the all-seeing Heimdall. Benedict Cumberbatch makes a cameo as Dr Stephen Strange.

When the movie begins, Thor has been imprisoned by Surtur, who reveals that when his crown is united with the eternal flame kept in the vaults of Asgard, the planet with be destroyed during the prophesied Ragnorak. Surtur also tells Thor that Odin is no longer on Asgard. Thor defeats Surtur in battle and retrieves the crown, believing that Ragnorak has been prevented.

Loki is posing as Odin on Asgard and with Strange’s help, the brothers trace the king to Norway, where he issues a dire warning that his imminent death will free Hela. Hela is Thor’s older sister and Odin’s firstborn, and she was kept imprisoned on a distant planet. Earlier, Hela had helped Odin conquer the Nine Realms.

Hela appears in Norway and destroys the hammer Mjölnir, without which Thor feels he has lost his powers. Arriving at Asgard, Hela kills the Warriors Three (Thor’s friends) and defeats the army. She appoints Skurge (Karl Urban) as her executioner. However, she loses the sword that controls the Bifrost and Heimdall begins hiding the people of Asgard.

Thor crash lands on Sakaar, where he is pitched in battle with the Hulk in the Contest of Champions. Thor meets Scrapper 142 and finds out that she was the Valkyrie who fought Hela on the behalf of Asgard and was defeated. With much persuasion, Valkyrie joins forces with Bruce Banner (the Hulk) and Thor, and they enter a wormhole that takes them to Asgard.

In a strategic move, Thor reasons that Asgard is not a place, but a people and lets Surtur destroy the planet in a move to defeat Hela. Thor, who is now king, reconciles with Loki and takes his people to Earth.

Kevin Feige is the producer for Marvel movies since 2007 and is its studio head right now. He is credited with bringing continuity and innovativeness to the MCU.

The Thor franchise might seem like mindless entertainment to some but has a devoted following among comic book fans. Thor: Love and Thunder is seen as one of the films that will revive interest in watching movies in the multiplex post the pandemic. We are yet to see if that will happen.