In the buildup to Thor: Love and Thunder, the various trailers and TV spots promised a dad rock heavy ode to the 1980s that would take Chris Hemsworth’s title hero on another irreverent intergalactic adventure packed with rapid fire gags, unexpected asides, surprise cameos, and an all-round sense of infectious energy that never took itself too seriously.
In the end, that’s exactly what we ended up getting to the letter, but plenty of people weren’t happy about it. While there’s no denying that Taika Waititi’s return to the director’s chair was a step down from the phenomenal Ragnarok, the Academy Award-winning filmmaker did at least deliver precisely what he said he would.
Let’s not forget that he warned us Love and Thunder wouldn’t make a great deal of sense, it would be twice as weird as its predecessor, and he wasn’t interested in the slightest as to what the fans would think. All of that (and more) is true, which has led to Redditors questioning why audiences are so annoyed that Waititi lived up to his promise.
Thor: Love and Thunder has managed to earn one of the lowest Rotten Tomatoes ratings in Marvel Cinematic Universe history, as well as one of the franchise’s weakest CinemaScores ever, so it’s evidently splitting opinion. A lot of the comments in the original post find the fandom celebrating the oddball intergalactic romp for what it is, but given that the movie has only been in release for a week and a half, we can expect this discussion to carry on for the foreseeable future.