Thor: Love and Thunder Comic Inspiration: More Than Just a Pretty Face (and a Goat!)
Hey fellow comic book nerds! Let's talk about Thor: Love and Thunder, the movie, and how much it borrows from the source material, namely the thor love and thunder comic. While some films are loose adaptations, this one draws quite heavily on specific comic book arcs; which honestly made it way more exciting to me than simply reading just the movies storyline, and it really highlights how fun comic adaptations can really get when based on quality material!
Most articles focus on the big plot points and some character relations – but that isn’t really the best way to do this.
Let's not focus on whether this or that plot point is precisely duplicated—because there are variations in both storylines—Instead, let's focus on the major source of inspiration. Which also really improves the general viewer's appreciation for this film, but really improves one's appreciation even of the comic storylines involved.
If you're only watching the film, it may not be clear why there are so many similarities or subtle similarities between various plot points of both storylines; The references and inspiration aren’t explicitly labelled after all, therefore you have to dig quite deep into the inspiration itself; the main focus, at least within my perspective, appears to fall upon the work of Jason Aaron who started creating some of the content used as inspiration – and to a lesser degree, various storylines developed after some prior iterations of Thor comics storylines had existed.
Delving into the Thor Love and Thunder Comic Arcs
The most apparent source material used for creating this film revolves around various storylines focused in the work of Jason Aaron in particular.
This writer focuses on Thor's emotional journey which forms some key plots. Key themes relating to the loss and trauma that this superhero must eventually reconcile, makes its appearances multiple times. There are some key moments of reconciliation.
One thing to keep in mind, and to properly understand both adaptations – movie versus comic is that the movie adaptation will inevitably be different. Some adaptations that initially started very strongly diverge so drastically that they only continue to share the major ideas (namely that of emotional growth and personal challenges) or major overarching storyline ideas.
Thor’s emotional journey isn’t exclusive to the stories involving Jane Foster – It plays through several moments which could or could not be easily labelled. Some of them involve minor or supporting characters (like his own goat, who isn’t just a mere comedic prop!). But it makes use of elements to really emphasize several of Thor’s internal states across multiple storylines. Even within some shorter ones. It isn’t merely plot-based: this storytelling is quite clearly character driven, instead of solely driven by plot or overarching storyline points alone.
Beyond the Big Picture: Subtleties and Inspirations in the Love and Thunder Comic
Let’s be honest, some key points have been improved or simply altered between the movie and its comic adaptation – But these key alterations might feel quite jarring to someone that expects a more directly duplicated plot, whereas for others these simply make it so much more unique and refreshing than its comic storyline, depending entirely on personal preference. Some feel very excited to compare and contrast the differences, even if those may appear frustrating and frustrating to find initially, others find themselves having trouble reconciling them.
- Character Dynamics: How these characters interact varies – some plotpoints involving the dynamics and emotional growth among these different characters, have actually made use of different kinds of emotional exchanges; both in style and method which has significantly improved viewers’ expectations and impressions upon what was provided by the original love and thunder comic story line and adaptations
- Visuals and Tone: Even beyond plotpoints: specific moments are directly used. Think specific scene composition and style; but these have been largely recontextualized – there isn’t merely a direct duplication or exact copy – but rather a reimagination.
- Symbolic Elements: Several important symbolic elements remain completely unchanged, or changed subtly so as not to alter their overall significance. You’ll notice those if you look close enough. Several other symbolic elements however, have not even been changed!
If you're thinking about checking out the Thor Love and Thunder comic after the movie, or perhaps you might do it otherwise. I suggest a simple reading: you’ll notice a surprising number of very specific allusions.
Overall, understanding the inspirations involved will seriously improve and broaden your appreciation of Thor: Love and Thunder; the movie will make way more sense with the understanding provided by that key source material, the original love and thunder comic storyline! Both will enhance the way you feel when experiencing each individual content, despite their differences. But do not expect an exact, or direct adaptation: Expect more a loose inspiration instead; both will improve upon the other
