The landscape of the MCU is constantly evolving, with regular series streaming on Disney+ alongside a steady flow of theater releases. It can be hard to keep track of where characters are and what their current situation is, and the addition of the multiverse only complicates things further. The upcoming release of Thor: Love and Thunder will be the hero's ninth appearance on the big screen, and it's fair to say, he's been through a lot! Ahead of his latest exploits, it'd be useful to remember some key points about his situation.
9. Asgard Was Destroyed
Asgard has been a prolific setting for Thor (Chris Hemsworth) during his time in the MCU and is where deities such as himself and Odin hail from. It was the home to the majority of Thor's family and friends, so the events of Thor: Ragnarok must have been pretty devastating for the God of Thunder. After an uphill battle against Thor's mightily powerful sister, Hela (Cate Blanchett), Thor and Loki (Tom Hiddleston) had no choice but to release the fire demon Surtur. In an epic final stand, Asgard was completely destroyed and Thor could only look on and watch as the place he and so many called home burn down.
In Avengers Endgame it was revealed that all the surviving Asgardians had relocated to New Asgard, based in Norway. This came after Odin (Anthony Hopkins) stood with Thor in Norway and poetically said, "Asgard is not a place. It never was. This could be Asgard. Asgard is where our people stand."
8. Valkyrie is the Ruler of New Asgard
In the conclusion of Avengers: Endgame, Thor told Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) that she was now the ruler of Asgard. After firstly mistakenly taking the comment as a joke, Valkyrie realized that Thor meant every word. Thor didn't want to live the life he was expected to live, he wanted to forge his own way through life, and so the mantle of King of Asgard was not one he was willing to hold. Before Thor left, Valkyrie explained to him that she would be making many changes to New Asgard, something that will be interesting to see in Love and Thunder.
7. Mjolnir was Destroyed
Thor: Ragnarok was a brutally destructive installment to the Thor franchise, with the aforementioned Asgard being completely destroyed. But that wasn't the only thing that Thor lost. Mjolnir, his infamous hammer, was shattered by Hela. This showed off her true strength as she was able to smash the "hammer like a piece of glass," as Loki so sympathetically put it.
Whilst on the topic of Mjolnir, it's interesting to note that Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) is seen wielding the mythical weapon in the Love and Thunder trailer. This is significant for two reasons. The first being the fact that it was shattered as discussed, and the second significance being that not many people have been worthy of holding it. In fact, other than Thor himself, only Vision and Captain America have been seen to be able to wield it. This hints at the significant power held by Jane's Mighty Thor, and the backstory to this worthiness is intriguing to see.
6. Thor Now Wields Stormbreaker
After losing his signature weapon, Thor needed something new. Enter Stormbreaker. The mythical ax was designed by the dwarves of Nidavellir to be the greatest weapon ever created, but was only finally made when Thor came looking. With the help of the Guardians in Avengers: Infinity War, Thor and Eitri were able to create the mythical ax.
As well as being able to channel all of Thor's powers and exert monstrous blasts of energy, Stormbreaker can be used to access the Bifrost, which allows Thor to teleport across the Nine Realms.
5. Loki is Dead
Loki and Thor have long had a love/hate relationship, which has spanned almost a decade on the big screen, but the events of Infinity War seem to have put an end to that for now. Loki was killed by Thanos in a heroic final stand. After trying to convince Thanos that he would help him, Loki tried to stab him in the throat. Unfortunately for the demigod, Thanos saw this coming and prevented it before grabbing Loki by the throat. In his typical manner, Loki remained defiant as Thanos crushed his neck and dropped his lifeless body at Thor's feet.
Due to the nature of the time stone, Loki was seen in Endgame as the Avengers traveled back in time. It was here where he ran off with the Tesseract. As seen in his own spin-off Disney+ series, this variant of Loki is now out in the multiverse, although it's not expected that we'll see him in Love and Thunder.
4. Thor is Currently with the Guardians of the Galaxy
We last saw Thor at the conclusion of Endgame. After passing over the title of King of Asgard to Valkyrie, Thor boarded the Guardians' ship and set off into space with the crew. It's unknown at this point what they have been doing in the time between Endgame and Love and Thunder, but the presence of the Guardians in the upcoming release should enable us to get some answers. One thing we know the Guardians, or more specifically Starlord, wanted to do is find Gamora. It'll be interesting to discover whether this has any bearing to the story in the fourth Thor film, but we should be guaranteed some entertaining exchanges regardless.
3. Thor's 'Dad Bod'
After all the trials and tribulations faced by Thor, he went into a depression and became almost unrecognizable. The internet jumped on this and memed it for all its worth, but as funny as he became, it was quite a shock to see Thor so out of shape. The God of Thunder was renowned for his impeccable physique prior to this. When Endgame finished, Thor was still in this dad bod phase, but the trailer for Love and Thunder has shown us how he has transformed back into a more recognizable version of himself. This will allow him to be taken more seriously, although his humorous quips don't seem to have gone anywhere!
2. Korg
Thor has seen a lot of people he loved and respected die at the hands of the multiple villains he's faced over the years, but one of his acquaintances who hasn't suffered the same fate is Korg. The two first met in Ragnarok in the gladiator's quarters. Since then, the pair have had a close friendship, with Korg often helping out Thor in times of need. Korg, a Kronan, was seen in Endgame playing video games with Thor in New Asgard, so they clearly stayed close during the "blip." The last we saw of him was back in New Asgard, but recent trailers have featured him, and so we can definitely look forward to some more comical scenes between the mismatched pair.
1. Thor and Jane Foster Broke Up
After the first Thor movie, Thor and Jane's relationship seemed to be rocky at best. This was highlighted in Avengers: Age of Ultron, where Thor didn't even know where Jane was, confirming the two were estranged. The relationship was confirmed to be over in Ragnarok, and it's unclear on what sort of terms the two were on as Thor explained to Loki it was a mutual break up. Endgame also brought to light the fact that Jane had been blipped by Thanos, and so there's another five years at least that the pair were estranged. Given the title of the upcoming release and Jane's prominent role in the film, it wouldn't be too presumptive to say their relationship might not be dead in the water just yet.