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Lunduke's Review of "Thor: Love and Thunder"
September 09, 2022

I'll try to keep this spoiler-free, but I finally got around to watching the latest Thor movie and had some thoughts I wanted to share.

Background: I'm a big fan of the Thor comics.  Enjoyed them for years.  I absolutely love some of the various eras of Marvel comics -- though I've found much of the newer stuff to be almost unreadably bad.  But the old-school stuff?  Amazing.  Some of the 1990s and early 2000's stuff (including some of the "Events" like Planet Hulk, Secret Invasion, Civil War, etc.) are also a ton of fun.

When I watch an MCU movie, there are three criteria that I tend to judge it on: "Faithfulness to the Comics", is it "Good for the MCU?", and "Enjoyability".

Faithfulness to the Comics

Was Love and Thunder faithful to the comics?  Well.  In parts... yes.  Sort of.

In fact, some of the more "controversial" parts of the movie were actually (somewhat) based on the comics.

The character of Korg, for example, has been around for decades -- but only got a real important role in the "Planet Hulk" series of comics (which was a fun series).  Within those comics there is a very (VERY) minor part -- almost a throwaway sidenote -- that deals with Korgs personal life.  That is extrapolated on within this movie in a way that proved to be (mildly) controversial.  However... it was semi-canon.  Even if it was done (in the movie) in a way that didn't make all that much sense for the character from the comic.

On the the other hand: Several other parts of Korg are distinctly contradictory to the comics and the established character.  Portions felt shoehorned in to make a point (or to provide a joke) that cheapened the character.

That same criticism applies to... the whole movie.  It is, in many parts, clearly based on various stories from the comics.

Jane's illness being another example.  While it was based (loosely) on the comics... it deviated from the comics in such a significant way that it took the actual story of "Mighty Thor" -- condensed it -- and all but obliterated the portions (in the comic) that were both the most enjoyable and the most emotional.

In many ways, it felt like the writer purchased a small stack of roughly 15 different comic issues (from over 40 years of Marvel).  Then read one page from each (chosen at random)... and based the script on that.  Failing to grasp the awesomeness of the source material.

Multiple times I found myself excited as something would happen in the film -- a line, a character introduction, etc. -- totally psyched that it appeared they were going ot tackle a part of Marvel canon that only the hardcore fans would know about.  Those moment were, as the film progressed, dashed.  Rather severely.  The writer seemed to almost have no idea what actually happened with those characters or plots.

Score: 3 / 10.

Good for the MCU?

Putting the faithfulness to the comics aside for a moment... was this movie good for the overall Marvel Cinematic Universe?

Did it help the characters or larger plot arcs?  Was it good for the vibe and style of the films?  Did it stick to MCU canon established in the other films... or hurt it?

In short: Is the MCU better or worse off for this film existing?

This is an easy one to answer... the overall MCU was damaged by this film.  In several ways.

It significantly cheapened Tønsberg (the MCU version of New Asgard).  It did strange things with the Guardians of the Galaxy that made them feel like throwaway characters.  Thor, himself, feels significantly more shallow (and inconsistent) as a character.

It took (yet another) "mass murder across the Universe" event and made it feel... flat and dull.  A trend that has continued to harm the storytelling of the MCU and this film accelerated that problem.

It introduced some new characters in a way that was... in short... significantly less cool or interesting than it should have been.  And set those characters up very, very poorly.

I can think of no way that Love and Thunder helped the MCU... and multiple ways in which the MCU is weaker, less interesting, and has more plot / canon issues because of it.

Score: 1 / 10

Enjoyability

That's not to say this film is all bad.

The truth is, there are multiple parts of the movie that were pretty enjoyable.  Even quite funny on occasion.

While the jokes tended to fall flat more often than land -- and there were a lot of them... this was more of a comedy movie than anything else -- there were some gems in there.  Enough good laughs that I did not regret watching it.

In fact... the number of jokes was a bit too much.  The whole film felt like a montage of unrelated jokes.  Almost like a clip-show of "Marvel inspired gags", stitched together by a villain recently introduced in the comics (Gorr) who had -- in the end -- almost no impact on the MCU.

Most of the battle sequences were dull and uninteresting.  One of them was a lot of fun.  Goofy.  Silly.  And caused some serious plot problems (both for this film and every other MCU film that Thor is a part of)... but still... fun. 

And the heavy emphasis on "relationships" and "love" was a bit off-putting.  Not because there shouldn't be love or relationships in an MCU film... but because they were both so flat that you really didn't care about the relationships (even though the film clearly wanted us to)... and so prominent that they distracted from the other portions of the plot.  The movie dealt with relationships (and love) of a good half dozen characters.  Which meant that a good portion of the movie was spent on relationships... without investing enough time into any one of them (at least not in any way where the audience could develop an investment into them).

Score 7 / 10

Overall Verdict

Would I watch this movie again?  Well.  Maybe.  But probably not.  Honeslty, if I were doing a marathon of MCU movies... I would probably skip this one entirely (along with Eternals).  Other than introducing a few side characters (poorly)... the events of this film will likely have no (postive) lasting impact on the MCU that won't be easily replaced by a quick throwaway line in a future movie.

Do I recommend others watch it?

Only if you've already invested the time to watch all other MCU films.  Then, honestly, might as well.  At least it's better than Eternals!

Not a glowing endorsement, I know.  But, hey, could be worse.

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Looking for the Podcast RSS feed or other links?
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"Andreas Kling creator of Serenity OS & Ladybird Web Browser" - Lunduke’s Big Tech Show - September 13th, 2023 - Ep 044

This episode is free for all to enjoy and share.

Be sure to subscribe here at Lunduke.Locals.com to get all shows & articles (including interviews with other amazing nerds).

"Andreas Kling creator of Serenity OS & Ladybird Web Browser" - Lunduke’s Big Tech Show - September 13th, 2023 - Ep 044

[Poll] Have You "Blacklisted" TPM Hardware? (Windows_11)
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As a way of saying “Welcome!” to all of you new people, here’s a little (well… big) discount on full subscriptions.

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How to get a Lifetime Subscription with Bitcoin:

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October 15, 2025
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The Unpublished Anti-Lunduke Hit-Piece
A Tech Journalist interviewed me for a hit-piece article. But the questions made them look bad, and they shelved the story. So I'm publishing their hit-piece for them.

Back in September, shortly after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, I was contacted by a Tech Journalist writing for FossForce.com (a smaller, Open Source focused publication) who was working on an article around Open Source, Antifa, and the Lunduke Journal’s coverage of those topics.

This particular outlet had, several months prior, run an “anti-Lunduke” hit piece without first reaching out for comment — which resulted in their most popular article (at least on social media) in quite some time.

With that in mind, it seemed reasonable that they’d want to repeat that success with another “anti-Lunduke” story.

This time they were doing the responsible thing. They reached out to the subject of the hit-piece article with questions. I like encouraging Tech Journalists when they do actual journalism, so I answered each and every query with easy-to-quote responses.

But, it would appear that the answers they received were not conducive to creating the hit-piece they were hoping for — my guess is they realized their questions made them look like the villain in the story. The villain they, clearly, hoped to portray me as.

They opted to not publish the piece.

So I’m publishing their hit-piece for them.

Below is every question — and every answer (with no edits) — which I was asked, on September 19th, by a Tech Journalist by the name of Christine Hall, writing for FossForce.

Fair warning: This is very, very politically charged.

Enjoy.


September 19th

Hall:

The last time I mentioned you in an article, you castigated me for not reaching out to you beforehand. Well, I’m reaching out now. We’ll see what comes of this.

You do recognize that the vast majority of organizations using the term antifa as a descriptor are not in the least bit terrorist and pose no threat to society -- and indeed, the only threats they might pose to fascist groups are not physical or life-harming?

Lunduke:

Hello Christine! Nice to hear from you!

Many, if not most, of those proclaiming support for Antifa (within Open Source) have also made statements encouraging or supporting violence and discrimination.

Regardless of that fact -- which I have documented extensively in Lunduke Journal coverage -- when violent acts are committed (such as murder, riots, and lynchings) in the name of “Antifa”, to turn around and immediately declare yourself to be “Antifa” is a clear declaration of support of that violence.

Hall:

And why did you feel it necessary to call out Danielle Foré’s [the founder of the elementary OS Linux Distribution] trans status in such an ugly manner?

Lunduke:

There is a noteworthy overlap between “Trans activism” and support for political violence -- including in the recent murder of Charlie Kirk (the murderer’s boyfriend was “Trans”).

In the case of Daniel Fore, he, a leader of an Open Source project, regularly calls for discrimination (and violence) against people he disagrees with -- often in conjunction with his self-declaration as “Trans”.

Thus, his declaration of being “Trans” becomes a part of the overall story.

It is worth noting here that The Lunduke Journal has never -- and would never -- call for discrimination or violence against someone because of how they identify or who they may (or may not) vote for.

This is in stark contrast those, such as Mr. Fore, who consider themselves “Trans” or “Antifa” -- who actively advocate for both discrimination and violence.

Hall:

Mentioning a person’s trans status in ways that are pertinent to your argument necessates rudeness such as calling her a “dude who likes to wear dresses”?

Lunduke:

Dan Fore is, in fact, a dude who likes to wear dresses.

The only reason to view that as a negative is if you view dudes wearing dresses as a negative.

Hall:

I’ll quote you on that, which I’m pretty sure won’t bother you in the least.

Lunduke:

Absolutely! Quote anything I say here. In fact, I suggest quoting absolutely everything I’ve written to you here, today.

Hall:

You also understand, don’t you, that voicing disagreement with an assessment made by POTUS is not only legal but a healthy part of the national dialog.

Lunduke:

Absolutely! Did I say somewhere that it was illegal to disagree with a politician? It seems unlikely that I have ever said that.

Hall:

Also, how would you reply to this:

There have been very few murders linked to individuals associated with Antifa, some incidents of rioting attributed to Antifa supporters, and no credible evidence of lynchings conducted in the name of Antifa. Compared to far-right groups, violence attributed to Antifa is much less frequent and lethal, with only one suspected kill—Aaron Danielson in Portland, by an anti-fascist activist—officially confirmed in recent U.S. history.

Lunduke:

Murder is bad. I am opposed to all murder.

In the context of these discussions, bearing in mind the Kirk murder is important (as many statements were made in response to it). The murderer of Kirk appears to have been pro-Trans and pro-Antifa (based on all available information).

Hall:

Is there any evidence that the suspect was part of an antifa group? I haven’t seen any.

Lunduke:

I have seen some reporting to this effect (including statements from family and messages he wrote).

But, far more important to this story, is the response to the murder among Antifa supporters (including those within Open Source). A large portion of Antifa supporters have celebrated the murder as justified because it killed someone they considered to be a “fascist”.

Hall:

Also, no group should be held responsible for what some deranged person who identifies with the group has done.

Lunduke:

I agree that a broader group should not be held responsible for the actions of a small number of individuals.

However, and this is critically important, it is entirely appropriate to hold people responsible for their own statements and actions.

With that in mind: The overall messaging of Antifa (and Antifa supporters) tends heavily towards violence. Punching, killing, molotov cocktails, etc. are all common messaging used by Antifa (including by those I quote within the Open Source world -- many of whom have advocated violence against myself).

Advocating for violence, then celebrating when violence is committed, are not good things.

Yet we see a great deal of that among Open Source supporters of Antifa.

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October 13, 2025
Sale ends in a few hours, Lifetime Subs set up.

Holy moly, you guys are amazing.

A few days ago I published a “50% off” sale for Lunduke Journal subscriptions… and all of you showed up. In a big way.

To everyone who grabbed a Lifetime Subscription over the last few days: All of you are set to full Lifetime access. You should have a confirmation email in your inbox. If not, email me and I’ll make sure you’re setup properly.

That “50% off” sale ends tonight at midnight. So you have a few hours to snag a discounted subscription, if you haven’t already.

A huge thank you to everyone who supports this work. Couldn’t do it without you.

-Lunduke

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