Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Thor: Love and ThunderMany films based on comic books will often mix and match different elements of the comics they're based on. However, in recent years, more filmmakers have cited certain comics as their major inspiration. Matt Reeves' The Batman pulled lot points and characterizations from Batman: The Long Halloween, Batman: Ego and Batman: Year One. The same holds true for Thor: Love and Thunder, as director/co-writer Taika Waititi drew inspiration from Jason Aaron's tenure on the Thor comics while crafting the film, paticularly his story, The Mighty Thor.
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One of the major elements that Love and Thunder pulls from Aaron's run is giving Thor's ex-girlfriend, Dr. Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), the reforged Mjolnir, which transforms her into the Mighty Thor. It also introduces Christian Bale's interstellar serial killer Gorr the God Butcher, who served as the first major antagonist of the Thor: God of Thunder comic that Aaron wrote and Esad Ribic illustrated. In the comics, Jane picks up Thor's hammer once he becomes unworthy of it; however, in the film, the hammer is connected to her via a request Thor made to "look after her." But they share a common, and very tragic, thread. Though Mjlonir grants Jane the power of Thor, it also saps her strength - and she needs every bit of strength she can get to fight off her Stage 4 cancer.
Jane does eventually wind up succumbing to her cancer after helping defeat Gorr in battle. After a tearful farewell with Thor, she appears to disintegrate into golden dust...but the Mighty Thor isn't down for the count yet. A post-credits scene reveals that Jane has been sent to Valhalla, which is the resting place of all warriors in Norse mythology. She's even greeted by the former guardian of the Bifrost, Heimdall (Idris Elba), who welcomes her with open arms. In Aaron's run, Jane does perish battling the ferocious Mangog but gets resurrected by Thor and his father, Odin. Later, during the War of the Realms storyline, she becomes Thor one more time to help defeat the armies of the Dark Elf Malekith. The words "Thor Will Return" close out the movie - but it isn't clear which Thor will return.
Another element from Aaron's run that ends up in Love and Thunder is Omnipotence City. True to its name, Ominpotence City is home to various pantheons across the universe. Thor travels to Omnipotence City with Jane, Korg (Taika Waititi), and Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) in an attempt to gather the help of other gods in order to battle Gorr and rescue the Asgardian children he's kidnapped. Omnipotence City is depicted as a glowing golden city with a collection of various gods led by the Greek God of Lightning Zeus (Russell Crowe). Zeus turns out to be just as arrogant as he's described in myth, and eventually has a fight with Thor that sees the Asgardian triumphing over his Grecian counterpart.
This does not sit well with Zeus, and in Love and Thunder's mid-credits scene, he charges his son, Hercules (Brett Goldstein), to track down and defeat Thor in order to regain the glory of the Grecian gods. In Marvel Comics canon, Hercules is a hero in his own right - having joined the Avengers as well as the Guardians of the Galaxy. Ironically, the latest Guardians of the Galaxy ongoing series found the intergalactic heroes battling the Greek gods as they seek dominion over all life. The interesting part about the mid-credits scene is that Hercules has fought alongside Thor on several occassions, so for Love and Thunder to paint him as a rival to Thor is an interesting take.
Speaking of the Guardians, there's precedent for Thor to join their ranks. In fact, a short-lived comic series titled Asgardians of the Galaxy from Cullen Bunn and Matteo Lolli features plenty of characters from the Thor mythos. That team includes the Destroyer armor, Skurge the Executioner, Valkyrie, Kevin Masterson/Thunderstrike, and Thor's long-lost sister, Angela. In Love and Thunder, Thor joins the Guardians on various adventures following the events of Avengers: Endgame, and eventually parts ways with them once he learns of Gorr's murder spree. Ironically, Thor even refers to the team as "Asgardians of the Galaxy" during Endgame's finale.
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