New Delhi: Marvel Studios recently released the trailer for Thor: Love and Thunder, the fourth instalment in the ‘Thor’ franchise. The most interesting characters depicted in the trailer for Thor: Love and Thunder are Christian Bale’s Gorr The God Butcher and Russell Crowe’s Zeus.
In the teaser trailer for the movie, only Zeus’ back was shown. Zeus is a very popular character who has been mentioned in superhero movies such as Wonder Woman (2017), which is a part of the Detective Comics Extended Universe (DCEU).
The character of Zeus in both Marvel and DC Comics is based on the Greek god of the same name. In Greek mythology, Zeus is described as the god of the sky, and is considered the ruler, protector, and father of all gods and humans.
Zeus lives in Olympia, a giant land of the gods, and is the patriarch of the Greek domain. He is the ruler of Mount Olympus, and is hence, an Olympian.
In the 2017 movie Wonder Woman, Diana Prince has been shown as the daughter of the Greek God Zeus, and Hippolyta, the queen of the Amazonians of Themyscira.
Zeus’ Entry Into The Marvel Cinematic Universe
Thor: Love and Thunder marks Zeus’ official entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the Marvel Comics, the powers of Zeus and Thor have been shown to be at par with each other. Zeus’ durability and physical power surpass any mortal by a huge margin, and he can also control the sky and weather. He can even fight someone as powerful as Galactus.
Once, Zeus and Thor battled each other for eight months without a break. Though Zeus emerged victorious, the feat does not determine that he is more powerful than Thor because at that time, the God of Thunder was not as strong as the current version of Thor seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
Based on strength and power, Asgardians are ranked above humans in the Marvel comics. The cosmic entities, who are a part of the cosmic tier, are the strongest. Also, Olympians are ranked above Asgardians in the comics.
However, in the MCU, Zeus may not be more powerful than Thor. Zeus, who is the Skyfather and the father of multiple deities, could even be less powerful than Odin, the Allfather.
Olympus could even be one of the realms Odin and Hela had conquered. Though Zeus may be on Odin’s level in terms of power, the trailer does not make the Greek God appear too strong. Rather, Zeus looks like a glutton who is enjoying worldly pleasures.
However, Russell Crowe’s Zeus successfully restrained Thor in chains, which is a remarkable feat, and could prove that the Skyfather is stronger than the God of Thunder in the MCU.
Gorr The God Butcher
Another interesting element in the trailer is Christian Bale’s terrifying look as Gorr The God Butcher. Gorr will be the villain in Thor: Love and Thunder, and will set out on a spree to ‘butcher’ gods. Throughout the trailer, Gorr is shown in black and white, the only exception being his eyes. In a sinister tone, Gorr says, “The only things gods care about is themselves”. He then vows to kill all gods.
The main comic on which ‘Thor: Love and Thunder” is based was written by Jason Aaron. In the comic book issue, Thor was in Norway, partying with humans. The main villain of the storyline is Gorr, who was very religious as a child, and prayed to the gods to save his family. However, his wife and children died, and this made him seek vengeance.
Gorr acquired a powerful sword called All-Black the Necrosword or All-Black. It is a malevolent dark deity that has existed for billions of years, and is said to be the first symbiote made.
All-Black was wielded by an ancient malevolent deity called Knull.
Gorr uses the Necrosword to travel through the cosmos and butcher gods.
The trailer even shows Gorr holding the Necrosword. In one of the scenes, Gorr is surrounded by inky tentacles, which could be extensions of the Necrosword, or different symbiotes.
In one of the scenes from the teaser, Thor and Korg are looking at the corpse of a god called Falligar the Behemoth, who is murdered by Gorr. The scene is straight from the comics.
Falligar was the Patron god of the Galactic Frontier and an acquaintance of Thor. Falligar’s corpse now lies rotting on the shores of his homeworld.
Thor may have gone to Falligar’s homeworld to warn him about Gorr, but he was killed before his friend could come.
In the first scene of the official trailer, Thor is seen meditating on a planet with two suns and two moons. Some blue-skinned creatures are seen, suggesting that the planet could be Centauri IV, Yondu’s home world. The planet is a part of the Alpha Centauri star system, and one of its neighbouring planets is Alpha Centauri VI, which was referenced in Eternals (2021). Centauri VI was destroyed to allow the birth of a Celestial, and could have been Gorr’s planet.
The climax of the movie is probably set in Olympus, where Gorr will be seen attacking Zeus and Thor.
Valkyrie and Thor are seen fighting Gorr in a world which has turned black and white, probably because Gorr drained the planet of all colours. He even plunged the Necrosword into the planet’s crust in one of the scenes, probably to kill a Celestial who was gestating there.
Valkyrie fights Gorr using a lighting bolt, similar to the one Zeus was seen holding in the teaser trailer. This suggests that Zeus will probably be killed by Gorr, an indication towards how powerful a villain Gorr is.