Love & Thunder Reveals Thor Still Hasn’t Learned His Infinity War Lesson

The events of Thor: Love and Thunder demonstrate that unfortunately, Chris Hemsworth's Thor didn't learn his lesson in Avengers: Infinity War.

Caution: Major Spoilers Ahead for Thor: Love and Thunder

The events of Thor: Love and Thunder show that Thor didn’t learn his most important lesson in Avengers: Infinity War. Chris Hemsworth reunites with director Taika Waititi in the MCU to continue the God of Thunder’s arc after the Infinity Saga. Unfortunately, Thor’s fight against Christian Bale’s Gorr the God Butcher in Thor: Love and Thunder demonstrates that he didn’t gain an important fighting skill from his initial fight against Thanos (Josh Brolin).

Infinity Saga’s final stretch was particularly difficult for Thor. It was defined by a series of losses starting with the death of Odin (Anthony Hopkins) and the destruction of Asgard in Thor: Ragnarok. Fueled by his need for revenge against Thanos after he ruthlessly killed Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and half of his people, the God of Thunder went on a side mission for most of Infinity War to acquire Stormbreaker—a Thanos-killing kind of weapon from Eitri, King of the Dwarves (Peter Dinklage). While Stormbreaker proved capable of taking down the Mad Titan, Thor was ultimately unable to finish the job on his own.

More than letting his emotions get the better of him during his fight against Thanos in Wakanda, Thor’s biggest Avengers: Infinity War mistake was thinking that he could defeat the villain on his own as long as he had the proper weapon. He repeats this mistake in Thor: Love and Thunder after he equates the god army they needed to fight Gorr the God Butcher to acquiring Zeus’ (Russell Crowe) lightning. He believes this will be enough for them to win, much like he favored Stormbreaker over a proper team-up with the Avengers in Infinity War. Luckily for Thor, he was able to eke out a victory against Gorr the God Butcher, appealing to his humanity to stop his crusade against the gods. Still, his win came at a price as to be able to defeat the villain, Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster had to die.

Thor 5 Set Up Means He Needs To Finally Learn His Infinity War Lesson

Thor: Love and Thunder effectively sets up Thor’s fight against Hercules in Thor 5. Played by Ted Lasso‘s Brett Goldstein, Hercules is sent out by Zeus to hunt down Thor after the God of Thunder, Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Mighty Thor, and Korg (Waititi) wreaked havoc in Omnipotence City, which almost led to his death. With Hercules—one of the strongest beings in Marvel Comics—personally coming after him, Thor needs to finally learn the lesson that he should have learned in Infinity War; it’s so much better to assemble an army of allies to fight a common adversary rather than solely relying on his own skills and a piece of weaponry.

Luckily, it doesn’t seem like Marvel Studios is rushing to end Thor’s arc in the MCU. The tag at the end of Thor: Love and Thunder promises that the God of Thunder will return, whether that’s in Thor 5 or other future projects in the franchise. What’s important is that he has enough time to finally learn his big Avengers: Infinity War lesson.