Thor: Love and Thunder has just landed in most cinemas around the world and what an arrival it was. Directed by Taika Waititi and starring Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman, the fourth installment of the Odinson's franchise in the Marvel Cinematic Universe feels more like a home run than what Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness achieved months earlier. But along with all the fun and excitement this film brings, fans will wonder if the way it ended is one worthy of the God of Thunder or not. We take a deep dive down below into this Thor: Love and Thunder ending explained to shed light on what happened.
Thor: Love and Thunder ending explained
The fourth Thor film in the MCU starts with Gorr's daughter dying in the desert and the discovery of his god living in an oasis. After his faith has been set aside by the god Gorr served, the Necrosword chose him as its new wielder. Imbued with the sword's abilities, Gorr claims his first victim and vows that all gods must die.
Back in the present, it's revealed that Thor is still with the Guardians of the Galaxy, helping the team fulfill their missions. After their most recent adventure, they receive multiple distress calls about gods being killed from all over the universe, including one from an injured Sif. Thor decides to act on the threat of Gorr by returning to New Asgard while bidding Peter Quill and the Guardians farewell.
Back on Earth, Dr. Jane Foster has learned that she has cancer and is dying from it. She travels to New Asgard with the hopes that Mjolnir can somehow provide healing from her disease. As she comes closer to the shards of Thor's legendary hammer, they come to life and choose her as its new wielder.
Gorr attacks New Asgard just as Thor and Korg return. As the pair joins King Valkyrie's forces to fend off the God Butcher's shadow creatures, the Odinson sees a reforged Mjolnir being used by Jane, who now sports a version of his armor. Although they are successful in driving Gorr and his creatures away, it was later learned that he succeeded in his true goal – kidnapping the Asgardians' children.
Thor, Valkyrie, Korg, and Jane assure New Asgard that the children will be rescued from Gorr by coming up with a plan to raise an army of gods from Omnipotent City. They travel there and attend a council of the gods, led by Zeus. Thor pleads his case of stopping the God Butcher by asking the Greek god for help. In turn, Zeus refuses by saying that they are all safe and Gorr's goal of reaching Eternity will not happen. He then apprehends the God of Thunder, an act that draws Valkyrie, Jane, and Korg to fight off Zeus' guards. They steal Thunderbolt, Zeus' legendary weapon, and escape to confront Gorr in the Shadow Realm.
As the group travels to Gorr's location, Thor discovers that Jane has cancer and is dying from her use of Mjolnir. Even though he was distraught by the revelation, the strongest Avenger still leads his team in the fight against Gorr on a small planetoid in the Shadow Realm. For his part, Gorr only used the children as a ruse to draw Thor out and take Stormbreaker from him. Its Bifrost ability will help him reach Eternity and enact his plan to end all gods in one swoop.
With Valkyrie injured, Korg dismantled into countless bits of rocks, and Jane weakened from the fight, Thor decides to go after Gorr alone. Using Thunderbolt, he reaches the children and imbues them with his power to help fight against the God Butcher's horde of shadow creatures.
Even with his forces preoccupied, Thor is still no match for Gorr. When all seemed lost, Jane arrives and is wielding Mjolnir, even if the act itself will surely kill her. They succeed in destroying the Necrosword, just as the doorway to Eternity breaks open. Gorr races inside and reaches his goal first. Thor pleads with Gorr not to kill all the gods as the latter says what kind of father will he be if he stopped trying. Now in her human form and dying from cancer, Jane says that his daughter won't be alone anymore. At that point, Love, his daughter comes back to life and dies moments after.
Before that happens, Thor promises Gorr to take care of her. Meanwhile, Jane spends his final moments with Thor and says goodbye to him. Much like with Odin in Ragnarok, she turns to gold dust and disintegrates right before the God of Thunder.
The children return safely to New Asgard as Valkryie and Sif train them. Korg starts a new family while Thor is off across the galaxy with Love at her side. Mjolnir is back with him while she wields Stormbreaker as the pair go to battle.
In the mid-credits scene, an injured Zeus asks Hercules to end Thor after the humiliation he suffered from his hands. In the post-credits scene, Jane arrives at Valhalla as Heimdall welcomes her to the heavenly realm for warriors.
What just happened? A Thor: Love and Thunder recap
After burning Asgard down, Taika Waititi goes in the opposite direction by building a new status quo for Thor. In his fourth film in the MCU, the Odinson resolves all the lingering issues he had with Jane and Mjolnir by defeating Gorr. For his part, the God Butcher's arc was successfully closed as he died seeing Love come back to life.
This is where Thor's new place in the Marvel Universe is solidified as he now takes on an adopted daughter while continuing his adventures across the galaxy. This leaves a happy, yet open ending for the God of Thunder as the MCU grows larger. With this ending, there is still a way for the strongest Avenger and his friends to come back when the need arises in Phase Four and beyond.
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