Spoiler Warning: Thor: Love and Thunder

At times, Thor: Love and Thunder, the most recent installment in the God of Thunder’s solo films, was downright hilarious. Alternatively, there were moments in the film that were absolutely heartbreaking. The emotional journey that Thor (Chris Hemsworth) takes in the movie represents the character’s most difficult to date. The spiritual rollercoaster that Thor experienced even prompted director Taika Waititi to say that Love and Thunder was more difficult to make than its immediate predecessor, the action-packed, visually stunning Thor: Ragnarok.

Perhaps the most intensely emotional moment of Thor: Love and Thunder came at the film’s climax. Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster, Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, and Christian Bale’s Gorr the God Butcher were all transported to the realm of Eternity, a cosmic being with near infinite power. After spending the entire film vowing to use Eternity’s power to rid the universe of gods, Gorr has a change of heart. He instead opts to bring his daughter, Love, back to life. When both Jane Foster and Gorr perish in the realm of Eternity, the task of raising young Love is now Thor’s responsibility.

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The character Love is actually an important and mighty cosmic being in Marvel Comics. Though the MCU’s incarnation of the character is different from what we’ve seen in Marvel’s literature, Love still has a significant player on the multiversal stage. If the MCU intends to explore the world of beings like Eternity and the Living Tribunal, then entities such as Love, Death, and Order will play a role. So there is, theoretically, a space for Love in future MCU movies.

Here are some of the ways in which Love could be utilized in future MCU projects.

Updated October 2022 by Ted Bajer: If you’re excited about the upcoming Marvel projects, you’ll be happy to know we’ve updated this article with more details!

Love in Marvel Comics

     Marvel Comics

Mistress Love is one of the Marvel Universe’s most powerful beings. Though she can’t shoot lasers out of her eyes, as we saw in the movie, she can control emotions related to love in any being, even on a universal scale. She can also change her appearance at will. She once confronted Thanos while he had the Infinity Gauntlet, and he ranked her as one of the most powerful abstract entities, more powerful than those others (Sire Hate, Master Order, Lord Chaos) that were meant to be her peers.

So if Gorr’s child is indeed the incarnation of Mistress Love, she doesn’t need to be a child forever, but it seems the MCU might be taking the character in a different direction.

If Love is just Thor’s daughter, then it won’t quite be the same character we get in the comics. But still, she has superpowers and can wield Stormbreaker, so she might have a role to play regardless of how well she matches up with the comic book canon. Though if the MCU uses this opportunity to introduce the abstract entity Mistress Love through Thor’s adopted child, then the possibilities would be endless.

Gorr’s Daughter Love is Chris Hemsworth’s Real-Life Daughter

     Marvel Studios

In the film, Love is Gorr’s daughter, who dies in vain on a barren desert planet in the midst of an environmental catastrophe. When Gorr finds his god living in luxury while he suffers, he vows to kill all gods by using a wish from Eternity. But when he reaches that cosmic being, he chooses to use his wish to resurrect his daughter right before he dies. Jane Foster promises Gorr with her own dying breath that Thor will take care of the child, and Thor, now heartbroken and alone, chooses to adopt the child. But in real life, the actor that plays Love is actually Chris Hemsworth’s real daughter.

The implications of this in future Marvel projects are twofold. For starters, Hemsworth has played Thor for longer than any other actor who has portrayed an Avenger and likely has a lot of clout around the Marvel Studios office. As such, Hemsworth’s daughter undoubtedly has a fair bit of job security. Additionally, their real-life father-daughter relationship would make for excellent on-screen chemistry. The future adventures of Thor and Love would be both legendary and heartwarming.

Love Could Join the MCU’s Young Avengers Team

Thor: Love and Thunder had several moments that showcased the power of youth. Near the film’s climax, a gaggle of Asgardian children kidnapped by Gorr earlier in the movie is temporarily granted superpowers by Thor using the power of Zeus’ (Russell Crowe) thunderbolt.

Additionally, several super-powered youths have recently been added to the already overwhelming list of Marvel Cinematic Universe superheroes. Recently released on Disney+, Ms. Marvel stars Iman Vellani as the titular 16-year-old character, who will next star in MCU’s The Marvels alongside Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel and Teyonah Parris’ Monica Rambeau. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness introduced audiences to Xochitl Gomez’s America Chavez, a multiverse-traversing teen. And MCU fans were introduced to Hailee Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop, the sharpshooting protégé of Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton in the Disney+ series Hawkeye.

In future MCU projects, it’s possible that Love could team up with any or all of the aforementioned young superheroes to bring Marvel Comics’ Young Avengers to the big (or small) screen.

Would Love Let Gorr’s Hate Consume Her?

Unfortunately, even an excellent upbringing can be insufficient in keeping a character on the straight and narrow. Gorr the God Butcher becomes a supervillain following Love’s death when he realizes the gods are indifferent to the pain and suffering of mere mortals. Though Love was brought back to life by her father’s dramatic change of heart, and the character will grow up in a loving home raised by Thor, it is still possible that Love’s storyline could take a villainous turn in future projects.

At the end of Thor: Love and Thunder, it is revealed that Love is already quite powerful. As she develops her powers and learns more about her tragic backstory, the potential for Love to turn into an antagonist for future MCU projects will continue to grow.

There are many reasons to think that Love would be an excellent addition to future Marvel films. Given the fact that she is the real-life daughter of Chris Hemsworth, the on-screen chemistry between Love and Thor is always going to be compelling. Additionally, her strange and potentially alienating origin story guarantees that potential storylines featuring the character will be rife with drama.

Audiences have already fallen in love with Love, and it will be fascinating to see if and how the character develops in future MCU projects.