In a little more than a week, audiences will get the opportunity to revisit Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love and Thunder and reevaluate the movie from the comfort of their couch and the amenity of their pajamas. Something tells us the eccentric Kiwi director actually intended his Ragnarok sequel to be watched that way, as odd as it sounds.
Love and Thunder managed to earn a whopping $746 million at the box office, though most critics were of the opinion that its predecessor was a much better movie. Over on the fan side, the reception wasn’t eulogizing either, with most adding Love and Thunder‘s name to the ever increasing line-up of MCU projects in Phase Four that have failed to stack up to their past, let alone impress on any particular grounds.
Most criticisms seem to be aimed toward the movie’s rushed storyline, Christian Bale’s unrealized villain, and just too many jokes at the expense of any and all attempt at a half-formed narrative. Granted, that might be a little harsh of Waititi’s creative trial with Love and Thunder, but considering just how many high notes Ragnarok hit when it originally came out in 2017, its follow-up is but a pale imitation, oftentimes trying too hard to be funny and relatable, ending up being neither.
Maybe this opportunity to re-examine Love and Thunder will reveal hidden depths and nuances in Waititi’s fourth installment when it releases on Sep. 8 for Disney Plus. Perhaps we might come to love it as we do some of the other panned movies that went on to be cult classics.
But even if that ends up being the case, it still leaves something to be said about the overall trend of MCU projects over the past couple of years. Let’s hope Kevin Feige and co. somehow manage to get their thunder back, lest they lose the love of the fandom even more.
