‘Thor: Love and Thunder‘ sees the Asgardian go up against Gorr the God Butcher, but apart from the battle to save all gods, Thor’s also nursing a broken heart. We understand that Jane Foster was his true love, but it’s clear things didn’t turn out right, leaving Thor feeling empty and keeping everyone at arm’s length, so he doesn’t get hurt – as Peter Quinn of the Guardians of the Galaxy points out. 

Then, as these things happen in the grand scheme of things, after eight years, seven months, and six days Thor and Jane meet again – this time on a battlefield, as they try to fend off Gorr’s shadow monsters from attacking New Asgard. “Who’s the new guy?”, Thor asks Valkyrie, to which Tessa Thompson’s character replies that the God of Thunder is going to “love the new guy”. 

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Thor soon becomes aware of Mjolnir and goes in search of his old battle companion. He summons the hammer and comes close to being reunited with his ex-weapon, as director Taika Waititi portrays it. Thor almost catches it, and it is a restless moment before Mjolnir is hurled away from him and into the hands of the new Mighty Thor. And it is a she. 

From thereon, it takes Thor some time to figure out that the new wielder of Mjolnir is his ex, Jane Foster. As it is rightly pointed out to the Asgardian god during the course of the movie – his ex has indeed ended up with his ex-weapon. 

In Thor and Jane’s relationship, they have a quality that is remarkably human. They have their ups and downs, which makes ‘Love and Thunder‘ as much about acceptance as it is about reconciliation. 

But before Thor and Jane’s story begins, Waititi makes the characters meet in front of a house on fire, almost falling apart. Thereon, Korg’s voice takes us through the story. 

So step one, you say you need to talk

Thor and Jane really settled into a life together, spending several close moments – the kind people say last a lifetime.

Then, Thor fearing the show of vulnerability, began to immerse himself in duties of the world-saving kind, and Foster soon began to mimic her partner’s behaviour, immersing herself in work of the civilization-saving kind. 

It creates a distance between them, and Foster leaves a note ending things with Thor. 

It was just that the time was wrong

Many awkward conversations later, Thor gets around to telling Foster that he feels aggrieved by the fact that she left with just a note. Thor previously used this as an example to justify why he keeps people at arm’s length. 

Foster counters that she left with a note because he wasn’t there to see her leave. Thor realizes that his time away is being referred to but goes on to admit that he is trying to change, quoting Quinn’s advice. He somewhat confesses his feelings for his ex, and Foster then tells Thor she has cancer.  

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The two do reconcile, and later confess their feelings to each other too, but by the time it becomes clear that wielding Mjolnir has drained Foster’s human body of the energy needed for it to fight the cancer. She can either stay and try to heal or accompany Thor to fight Gorr. Thor convinces her to stay, which is when their feelings come out. He promises to return to her, but while Thor was taking a beating from Gorr, Foster sensed he needed help. Mjolnir, standing ready by her, meant only one thing. 

She sacrificed her life to become the Mighty Thor one last time, to save the man she loves. Before the two take on Gorr, Thor and Foster share a look, a moment of understanding and acceptance of their choices. Then they proceed to beat the villain and save the day, but Foster’s last stint at being a hero takes the last of her life force, but not before she leaves Thor with the message that he should let people in. 

Forget about your house of cards, and I’ll do mine 

Thor tried to get back with his hammer as much as he tried to get back with Foster almost. He tried to see if the hammer would come to him from Foster’s hand, only to be sternly reminded by Stormbreaker that they had a weapon-wielder relationship. 

There are numerous such instances, and Thor has to keep reassuring Stormbreaker that he’s just “talking” to Mjolnir. 

However, Thor’s bond with the hammer is undeniable. From when he was with Jane, Thor told Mjolnir to protect her, no matter what, which is why it called to her and reassembled itself to help Foster stave cancer. 

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He shares some moments with Stormbreaker too, who seems to misbehave like a growing child. The Marvel comics have already posited that Mjolnir is sentient, so Stormbreaker might be too. Thor shares a drink with his new weapon, and they have their moments. However, it’s back to his old weapon after Jane’s death. 

Thor wields Mjolnir, and Gorr’s daughter who Thor takes in, after her father’s death, has Stormbreaker. 

And thus Thor and Jane’s story becomes a tale of acceptance and reconciliation, accepting Jane’s death and moving on, and reconciling with his old weapon.