Thor: Love and Thunder is already out in select countries. However, for the rest of the world, Chris Hemsworth's fourth solo MCU outing isn't set to hit theaters until Friday, July 8.
Until then, you can either keep off the internet to avoid spoilers from people who've already watched it or check out what critics are saying.
If you want to do the latter, you've come to the right place.
Before everything else, let's do a primer. Love and Thunder is Taikaka Waititi's second MCU film. The Oscar-winning director previously revitalized the black sheep of the billion-dollar franchise with 2017's Thor: Ragnarok. As the name suggests, Hemsworth returns to portray Thor once again. Love and Thunder will pick up following 2019's Avengers: Endgame after Thor helped save the universe. Now, it appears that he's going through a bit of a crisis as he sets out on an adventure to find out more about himself.
Unfortunately, Thor's journey of self-discovery isn't straightforward. He might have the full backing of his newfound friends, Waititi's Korg and the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy. However, Thor will find that Thanos isn't the only one on a genocidal mission. Thor will face off against Christian Bale's Gorr the God Butcher and he'll need all the help he can get. For that, he'll have Natalie Portman's Jane Foster and Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie as his back-up.
And, oh, Russell Crowe has signed on to play the Greek god of thunder, Zeus, who's been living it up all this time.
Here's a round-up of all the notable critic reviews for Thor: Love and Thunder:
One thing that all the critics appear to agree on is that they love Hemsworth's performance. Now that he's been given full reigns to explore his comedic self, Hemsworth has embraced the humor. But, the less-enamored critics can see where the film falls flat. Love and Thunder tries to tell a cohesive tale but falls under the weight of its ambition. If you're heading in expecting that Thompson's King Valkyrie will take a more prominent role, then you're in for a disappointing ride. It also appears that Love and Thunder could have done more with its big baddie.
All in all, critics are just thankful that Waititi is here to do another thrilling sequel. Love and Thunder probably aren't going to wow audiences as Ragnarok did, but it's far from a return to Thor's earlier outings.
The bigger question now is, how will Love and Thunder do at the global box office? Marvel Studios probably isn't expecting every film to make a billion, but they sure would love for that to happen. After Spider-Man: No Way Home reached astronomical numbers, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was tamer with its box office haul. Thor never did do well commercially, with Thor: Ragnarok "only" making $854 million despite all the acclaim.
With Love and Thunder going up against the still-ongoing Top Gun: Maverick and the viral hit, Minions: Rise of Gru, Thor might have to wait for its fifth outing to ascend to rare air.
