The arrival of Thor: Love and Thunder in theaters is stirring up hype around the MCU’s latest release.
The fourth Thor film is already dazzling audiences, despite mixed early reviews. The story doesn’t have quite the same sparkle as its direct predecessor, Thor: Ragnarok, but it’s certainly one of the best Thor films to date. And, while Thor predictably remains the titular hero at the core of the story, Love and Thunder takes time to center in on a few of its side characters. Valkyrie is criminally underused, but Korg — our favorite hunk of perishable rock — got just enough screen time to make us love him even more.
Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Thor: Love and Thunder
Love and Thunder fleshed out Korg’s background a bit more, digging into his species and origins with a few minor details. Korg notes, mid-way through the film, that he was born in a stream of lava after his dads linked arms and, over time, produced a baby. This tells us two things about Korg: one; that he has two dads, and two; that it seems Kronan babies are born of a very unique kind of mating. When, at the conclusion of the film, Korg is also seen partaking in this practice — with a mustachioed hunk who goes by Dwayne — it spurs a few questions as well. Namely, if all Kronans are canonically men, or if Korg (like this author) simply comes from a big gay family.
Are all Kronans men?
The only Kronan that audiences had come into contact with — prior to Love and Thunder — was Korg. Korg appears to present as male, and on the official Marvel website he is described with male pronouns. In the latest Thor flick, viewers were introduced to several other Kronan characters — like the Kronan god Ninny of the Nonny, and Dwayne — and both likewise appeared to be male. This, combined with Korg’s story about his dads and his later mating with Dwayne, is sparking suspicions that no female Kronans exist.
These suspicions are entirely accurate. No evidence of female Kronans exist, and all of the Kronan characters — in both Marvel comics and the MCU — are male. The only bit of gender-related Kronan trivia on the web cites Korg from Love and Thunder, when he explains how Kronans reproduce.
Hilariously, Taika Waititi, despite directing Thor: Ragnarok and Thor: Love and Thunder and actually playing the character in question, seems to have forgotten that Korg’s parents already came up in conversation. When he and Thor first meet, he explains that he ended up imprisoned after attempting a revolution but failing to print off enough pamphlets. He notes that few people showed up, except for his mother and her boyfriend – who Korg hates.
This detail could mean several things. The most likely reason behind this little contradiction is that Ragnarok was released in 2017. Unlike the rest of us, who’ve enjoyed frequently rewatching the hilarious Marvel movie over the last five years, Taika Waititi has probably only seen the film once. Half a decade later, with a pandemic mixed into the middling years, it’s really no surprise he may have forgotten this one-off line.
There’s also the possibility that Korg calls one of his father’s mom. It’s not uncommon in gay relationships for one parent to adopt the “mom” moniker while the other adopts “dad.” It provides a differentiation between the parents, and some gay couples identify more with one title or the other. Thus, it’s not unreasonable to assume that Korg was, in fact, speaking about the “mom” half of his parents, though it does indicate his dads broke up at some point. What a shame.
Either way, Love and Thunder revealed several interesting details to fans. The Kronan race is comprised entirely of men, and these men reproduce by lovingly linking arms while positioned in a river of lava. That’s a pretty hardcore way to make babies.