Thor: Love and Thunder is coming out on July 10th. And with all the trailers, speculative videos, and sneak peeks released, we can’t see the harm in adding one more speculation before the movie comes out. Taika Waititi has stated that while he likes the idea of the multiverse, there will be “nothing like that in this film.” Thor: Love and Thunder is already highly connected in the MCU as it exists post-Endgame, and Thor is traveling with The Guardians of the Galaxy. In the trailer, we have already seen him running into Valkyrie and Korg, and, of course, Jane Foster. But surprisingly, Thor will not be connected with the Multiverse from Doctor Strange.
Given that the Multiverse is a relatively new concept in the MCU, and Thor is rather far away from Earth (and the TVA) where all this is happening, it’s not surprising to find this next adventure a mostly self-contained story. And with all the obsession going on about the Multiverse, it’s probably a good thing. Even though it’s a mechanic that will definitely change the way the MCU operates going forward, it doesn’t have to do it all right now. Most important for Thor: Love and Thunder is that it focuses on Mighty Thor and the rest of the central characters. This is why Thor: Love and Thunder doesn’t need the Multiverse.
The Stakes Are Already High for Thor
Marvel Studios
Thor is already a story filled with gods. You don’t need any extra wizards in the mix to bring in demons or extradimensional beings. Gods already operate on a scale of power so high that we don’t need to raise the stakes. This is something special about Thor. He can interact with powerful forces and leave Earth whenever he wishes. He doesn’t need a pretext to add suspense to the summoning of a new enemy. With heroes like Hawkeye and Black Widow, valiant as they are, there’s only so much kicking they can do before they hit something that’s beyond their power level. With Thor, that isn’t an issue. If Thor can’t kill something, it’s probably because nobody can kill it.
Another thing about Thor’s stories taking place on such a vast scale is that location doesn’t become a concern necessarily. Thor can survive in space and travel between planets with ease. Now even his weapon, Stormbreaker, can summon the Bifrost, allowing him to travel freely through all realms bound by Yggdrasil. Granted, the Multiverse is not merely a tool for traveling but is an access point in many stories to worlds beyond their own. Though many great dangers lie beyond the breach of a multiversal portal, the list of its many mechanics includes travel.
Abstract Entities and the Living Tribunal
Marvel StudiosWalt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
The movie is going to contain a lot of god and god-like beings. Those who have paid close attention to the trailers have caught a glimpse of Bast, Earth’s first deity and the prime power source for the Black Panther. In that assemblage of gods (along with Russell Crowe as Zeus), there are many other beings just as powerful. This simple array of power brings a kind of diversity that is meant to be showcased in this canon. In Moon Knight, audiences got to see the Ennead of Egyptian mythology. Over the course of Thor, we have taken a good look at many Norse gods – and many Norse monsters as well. Now that Zeus is making an appearance, along with a few other special characters, we might see the complete pantheon of gods that have a life inside a Marvel comic book.
But it’s not just the gods that are there to amaze. Slowly, in Easter eggs that have barely been on-screen for more than a couple of frames, Marvel has been hinting at the existence of the Abstract Entities. They, along with the Living Tribunal, make up some of the most powerful things in the entire Multiverse. The Entities are sentient manifestations of concepts. Among their ranks are Eternity, Infinity, Death, Oblivion, Chaos, and Order. Some of them can be seen in the Thor: Love and Thunder trailer depicted as four statues lining a dark hall that both Thor and the Mighty Thor stand in.
These Entities are ruled over by The Living Tribunal, an ultra-powerful force that exists beyond the Multiverse. The Living Tribunal’s duty is to balance all of existence, although not quite like Thanos did. The Living Tribunal’s job is to ensure that one universe does not become more powerful than the others or that some type of mystical force does not threaten several universes within the Multiverse. It is this being’s voice that exists above all, and they are only called upon in matters that concern the vast majority of universes.
It has appeared before in the Loki series as a crumpled statue, in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as one of the universes Strange and America Chavez passed through, and in the Thor: Love and Thunder trailer. The statue is to Jane Foster’s left while standing in that hall. Fans can recognize the Living Tribunal by noticing its three faces – one fully covered, one partially covered, and one completely revealed.
