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Monday, July 11, 2022

Marvel's religious pluralism in Thor: Love and Thunder

We went to see the latest Thor film on the weekend. It was highly enjoyable, and is the latest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that has theological implications that piqued my interest. There are some spoilers below the film poster - read on at your own risk of spoilerisation. There are also some spoilers for some of the Marvel TV shows, especially Ms.Marvel.


There was a lot to like in this film, from the opening few scenes that showed Thor trying the patience of the Guardians of the Galaxy until they went their separate ways, through to the reunion of Thor with Jane Foster in her guise as The Mighty Thor. I felt it was Natalie Portman's best performance in a Thor movie as she was given some material to work with both as Jane and as her version of Thor. 

Mining the same vein as Thor Ragnarok, this film contained a lot of comedy. It was fast-paced, thanks to the direction of Taika Waititi, who also voices the character Korg. It does feel like the difference between the first two Thor movies, which were helmed by Kenneth Branagh and Alan Taylor, and the most recent two is linked to the choice of director. There is also a strong musical theme in the movie, with Guns 'n' Roses songs prominent during major set pieces.  

The plot is fairly basic. There is a being called Gorr who possesses - and is possessed by - the Necrosword, a black sword that can kill gods. He embarks on a revenge mission to wipe out all gods in the universe after his god fails to intervene and save him and his daughter who are the god's last faithful worshippers.

Thor gets involved when Gorr attacks the Asgardian colony on Earth. That's more than just an attempt to kill another god - Gorr wants something else, which will lead him to his ultimate goal. 

On returning to New Asgard, Thor discovers his lost love, Jane, now possesses Mjolnir, Thor's hammer that was destroyed in the previous Thor movie. This begins a very funny sequence where Thor tries to reconnect with Mjolnir, causing his new weapon, the axe Stormbreaker, to get jealous. That sounds ridiculous, but it works surprisingly well and provides some light relief. 

Thor also tries to reconnect with Jane as they go into battle together. This includes a detour to Omnipotence City, where all the gods live. And that's where the theology gets interesting.

Marvel has gradually been co-opting every mythology into the MCU. That includes Greek myths in Eternals, Egyptian gods in the series Moon-Knight, and most recently djinns from Arabian and Muslim stories in Ms.Marvel. Now it seems they have decided that all gods exist somewhere in the universe and they are all characters. 

But - and this is an important point - Marvel have also decided that gods are not worthy of the worship afforded to them. Zeus basically says this when Thor challenges him to intervene and do the right thing. Humans - and presumably other creatures - exist to suffer for their gods and there is no eternal reward. It's an incredibly bleak perspective from a mortal point of view. 

Back when Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 was released, I wrote about how the movie depicted deicide. This film goes a step further into active antitheism. The gods are depicted as powerful and capricious, only interested in their own affairs. 

Marvel are hedging their bets a bit with this stance, though. Nobody really cares about the Greek, Norse or Egyptian pantheons. Marvel can do what they like with those redundant religions because nobody will get upset about what's said about those gods. Things would change quickly if Marvel started turning the gods from the big current religions into movie characters. 

Marvel might be testing that water with having a Muslim superhero in Ms.Marvel, where her religion is an important aspect of her character. However the supernatural characters in that show are djinns, which are a bit like Christian beliefs in demons. They're supposed to be real, but not something that can be blasphemed against so it's reasonably safe to make them aliens from another dimension instead. 

There has been a definite trend in the MCU from a god-like character being evil in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 to the sheer narcissism of "actual" gods inviting the audience to question whether any gods are worthy of worship in Thor: Love and Thunder. Especially gods - or Gods - who let children die while the prayers of their followers go unanswered. It leaves me wondering where they might go next.

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