Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Thor: Love and Thunder!
Although it’s bursting at the seams with lighthearted moments, Thor: Love and Thunder makes time for a few dispiriting scenes as well. In fact, one of the film’s more sobering bits comes at the very beginning, when a not-yet-vengeful Gorr (Christian Bale) is forced to bury his only child right before stumbling upon the flippant god he’d asked to save her life. Unfortunately, the encounter doesn’t go the way he hoped, effectively jumpstarting Gorr’s mission to rid the universe of all omnipotent beings. But according to Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, who co-wrote the sequel with director Taika Waititi, starting the movie like this wasn’t always the plan.
While speaking with Variety, Robinson shared that Love and Thunder’s prologue was originally being reserved for another heartbreaker. Namely, the revelation that Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) is undergoing chemotherapy for stage four cancer. In the final cut, fans didn’t learn this news until Chris Hemsworth’s Thor got his first big action scene out of the way. However, Waititi had a different arrangement in mind when he began writing the script.
“In the original draft, it was actually before the Marvel [Studios logo],” said Robinson. “It was even earlier in Taika’s original draft. That always was a moving piece — ultimately, it did become [the origins for] Gorr and I think it’s awesome. But [Jane’s cancer] was never going to be a gotcha moment. It was always, like, this is the story of this woman. This is her arc. And this is where it starts.”
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Robinson went on to explain how important it was for them to do right by Jane’s storyline. Not just in terms of being faithful to the source material, but also by showcasing the messier side of her sudden ascent to godhood.
“It was always there,” added Robinson. “Obviously, it’s in the comics, and it was in Taika’s first draft. And then it was just about, you know, what does this mean? We had a lot of conversations, especially with Natalie, about, you know, we have a responsibility here. What an amazing thing to be able to show a superhero with cancer and really not shy away from the ugliness of it and the things that are hard about it, but also really being able for this character to shine. A lot of the conversations were like, ‘How do we do this justice and how do we put something on screen that’s going to mean something and resonate with cancer survivors?’”
Thor: Love and Thunder is now playing in theaters everywhere.
Do you think the filmmakers picked the right scene to open the movie? Let us know in the comment section below!
Recommended Reading: Thor by Jason Aaron: The Complete Collection Vol. 1
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