'Thor: Love and Thunder' -- A Quick Guide on What to Remember Before Watching

'Thor: Love and Thunder' -- A Quick Guide on What to Remember Before Watching

Heading to Thor: Love and Thunder, aka Thor 4, tonight at the movies? According to Thor actor Chris Hemsworth, it's a "wacky romantic comedy set in space." For the less well-versed in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it sounds like you don't really need to know many specifics before going in.

Except maybe you should be primed with a different kind of knowledge. Let's run through the basics -- particularly where Thor is in the journey of life -- before addressing the best way to approach watching Love and Thunder.

What happened to Thor before Love and Thunder?

Let's go through the key takeaways from Marvel movies Thor has made appearances in.

Marvel Studios

Thor (2011)

The movie that kicked off the adventures of Thor, the god of thunder.

Key takeaways:

Astrophysicist Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), her assistant Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings) and mentor Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård) find Thor when he's exiled on Earth
Thor leaves his new love Jane to defeat Loki on Asgard
Loki apparently dies after being rejected by his father and intentionally falling into an abyss
But psych! Loki appears in a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility, where he's interested in the Tesseract, aka a containment vessel for the Space Stone

JAY MAIDMENT; Jay Maidment

Thor: The Dark World (2013)

In Thor 2, Jane travels to Asgard and meets the parents.

Key takeaways:

Thor's mother Frigga is fatally stabbed while protecting Jane from the ruler of the Dark Elves
Loki is killed while helping Thor fight the Dark Elves
But psych again! Loki is alive and impersonating his adoptive father Odin, the king of Asgard
Thor remains on Earth with Jane until the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Marvel

Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

The first Thor movie directed by Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit, Hunt for the Wilderpeople).

Key takeaways:

It's revealed that Jane and Thor have broken up
Odin dies of old age
Hela (Cate Blanchett), the god of death and Thor's sister, is killed in the destruction of Asgard
Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) was one of the warriors sent by Odin to kill Hela, but all her warrior companions died. Valkyrie is now dealing with PTSD

Marvel Studios

Avengers: Infinity War (2019)

Thor briefly teams up with the Guardians of the Galaxy and commits his greatest mistake.

Key takeaways:

Loki is killed by Thanos (Josh Brolin)
The Asgardians, including Heimdall (Idris Elba), on Thor's ship are killed
Thor is rescued by the Guardians of the Galaxy
Thor creates battle-axe Stormbreaker using a blazing neutron star
Thor severely wounds Thanos, but not enough to prevent him from using the Infinity Stones and deleting half the population of the universe

Video screenshot by Bonnie Burton/CNET

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

The movie that introduces us to "Dad Bod" Thor.

Key takeaways:

Thor finally takes his revenge on Thanos, decapitating him when the Avengers locate him on an uninhabited planet
Five years pass and Thor is an alcoholic, drinking and playing video games in New Asgard on Earth
After helping to restore the population of the universe, Thor appoints Valkyrie as the new king of Asgard (she'd already been doing those duties)
Suffering a midlife crisis, Thor joins the Guardians. "It's time for me to be who I am, rather than who I'm supposed to be."

And this is where we find Thor at the beginning of Thor: Love and Thunder. His parents, brother and sister dead, he embarks on a journey of self-discovery, the first time in a thousand years he has no path.

Some advice on watching Thor: Love and Thunder

According to director Taika Waititi, Thor 4 is as if "10-year-olds told us what should be in a movie and we said yes to every single thing." He also said that, "If you wrote down all the elements of this film, it shouldn't make sense."

Basically, what's happening here, is that this section is an extra primer for what to expect from Thor: Love and Thunder as a Film (capital "F").

The advice: Don't watch Thor: Ragnarok, the popular third Thor movie, before the latest. Allow your expectations to be free from the influence of great Films that came before.

Here's one more Waititi quote (via Empire) to prepare you:

"It's almost like it shouldn't be made. If you walked into a room and said, 'I want this and this and this.' Who's in it? These people. What are you going to call it? Love And Thunder. I mean, you'd never work again. Maybe I won't after this."

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Streaming Services to Cancel or Keep in September 2022

Streaming Services to Cancel or Keep in September 2022

September ushers in fall premiere season for traditional and cable networks, bringing new episodes of primetime TV shows and sports back to the screen. Whether you're a cord-cutter or not, it's likely your streaming plate will get a little fuller. Between The Rings of Power on Prime Video, House of the Dragon on HBO Max and Hulu's lineup of network premieres it's a busy time, making the "keep" section of this month's list heftier.

Starting Sept. 19, Peacock will have new episodes of NBC and Bravo shows exclusively on its platform the day after their network debuts. Series such as Law & Order will no longer stream on Hulu, but Hulu has new content arriving from Fox, ABC and other networks. With that in mind, both services may be keepers for you in September -- or not.

Each month I give advice on which streaming services to cancel and which ones to keep, based on their new releases and current lineup. You may be thinking about canceling a few streaming subscriptions to cut costs, and I'd like to offer my strategy: Churn like ice cream.

This means you subscribe for a period, cancel, choose a different service and later resubscribe, putting your favorites in a rotation. Feel free to pick one or two must-haves for the year and treat other streaming platforms like seasonal add-ons. The upside is that you can save money when Netflix, Disney Plus, HBO Max and others don't have the content you want to watch at a given time. Just remember to shut off auto-renewal for your monthly subscriptions. Rotating may not be an option if you're sharing your accounts with people outside your household, but if you can work out a system with your streaming clique, go for it.

Here are my recommendations for which streamers to keep or drop for September, primarily based on new TV shows and movies arriving on each platform. This time, there's a little bit of live sports thrown in the mix because it's football season. Of course your tastes may be different, but if nothing else, I urge you to at least consider the concept of rotating for savings. It's easier than you might think.

Streaming Service Rotation for September 2022

	Keep	Cancel
Prime Video	X
Hulu	X
Netflix	X
Apple TV Plus		X
Disney Plus	X
Paramount Plus		X
HBO Max	X
Peacock	X
Starz	X

You should probably keep these subscriptions in September

Prime Video: Don't miss The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power on Sept. 1 and its two-episode premiere. Season 1 has eight episodes total that will air into October. Sports fans can catch the NFL's Thursday Night Football beginning Sept. 15.

Netflix: The biggest drops this month are Cobra Kai season 5 on Sept. 9, anime Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (Sept. 13) and Blonde, the fictionalized story based on Marilyn Monroe's life. Debuting on Sept. 28, Blonde is Netflix's first NC-17 original movie. Other releases include the Ivy + Bean movie trilogy (Sept. 2), a K-Drama version of Little Women (Sept. 3), The Anthrax Attacks: In The Shadow of 9/11 (Sept. 8), Queen Latifah's End of the Road movie (Sept. 9), Do Revenge starring Maya Hawke and Camila Mendes (Sept. 16) and Fate: The Winx Saga season 2 (Sept. 16).

Hulu: The Handmaid's Tale returns with season 5 on Sept. 14 and The Kardashians are back on Sept. 22. If you watch Hulu for its network shows that air the next day, look out for new seasons of Atlanta (Sept. 16), 9-1-1 (Sept. 20), The Cleaning Lady (Sept. 20) and The Resident (Sept. 21). On Sept. 22, Hulu drops premieres for Abbott Elementary season 2, The Conners season 5, The Goldbergs season 10 and The Masked Singer season 8. You can also stream new episodes of The Simpsons, Bob's Burgers, Shark Tank and Bachelor in Paradise later this month.

Elisabeth Moss as June gazing upward in The Handmaid's Tale — Is June worth your Hulu subscription when The Handmaid's Tale drops season 5?
Hulu

HBO Max: House of the Dragon and Harley Quinn are still going strong. Additionally, The Nevers season 1 part 2 (Sept. 16) and the Elvis movie (Sept. 2) arrive in September. Wondering where The Vampire Diaries landed after leaving Netflix? Find the Salvatores here starting on Sept. 4. And if you're a fan of Chip and Joanna Gaines' Magnolia content from Discovery, 25 titles touch down on HBO Max this month.

Disney Plus: I only recommend keeping this service this month if you're a Marvel or Star Wars fan, or a parent with young kids. Disney Plus moved its new Andor show from Aug. 31 to Sept. 21 with a three-episode premiere. The show has 12 episodes that air into November, so if you want to wait a few months and binge, go for it. She-Hulk is still spinning, but new Disney Plus Day releases include Pinocchio (with Tom Hanks), Thor: Love and Thunder and the new Cars on the Road series, which all drop on Sept. 8. Dancing With the Stars season 31 debuts on Sept. 19 and Hocus Pocus 2 starts streaming on Sept. 30.

Peacock: Sunday Night Football starts with a kickoff game on Sept. 8 then switches to Sundays beginning Sept. 11. With NBC shows rolling in this month with next-day streaming, you can upgrade to a Premium account to see full episodes and seasons on Peacock. New subscribers can sign up in September for only $2. You can also catch the Vampire Academy TV series (from Julie Plec, showrunner behind Vampire Diaries and The Originals), Bravo's Real Girlfriends of Paris (debuts Sept. 6 with weekly releases), Days of Our Lives (Sept. 20) and NBC's lineup. Of course, you can also hold off on a Peacock subscription and binge what you want in October or November.

Starz: Stream the debut of The Serpent Queen on Sept. 11, which features Samantha Morton as French monarch Catherine de Medici. Raising Kanan will continue to air through September. You can either keep Starz or binge everything at the end of October, but there's a deal for $5 per month for three months available right now.

Read more: Best Streaming Service of 2022: Netflix, HBO Max, Disney Plus and More

Cancel at least two services in September

Apple TV Plus: While the service produces high-quality content and a nice lineup for kids, there isn't much must-see content here for September. Releases include Hillary Clinton's Gutsy (Sept. 9) which features guests like the Little Rock Nine, Megan Thee Stallion and Jane Goodall, Central Park season 3 (Sept. 9) and The Greatest Beer Run Ever with Zac Efron Russell Crowe (Sept. 30).

Paramount Plus: Nothing hot on Paramount Plus this month. But you can stream new episodes of reality shows like Big Brother or Ink Master, or catch the season 6 premiere of The Good Wife.

Honestly, Disney Plus and Peacock could have dual membership in the keep and cancel columns this month, especially if you're not a football fan or don't mind waiting to binge-watch certain series. And there's nothing wrong with watching Hocus Pocus 2 in October. It's your choice.

William Zabka as Johnny, Ralph Macchio as Daniel and Yuji Okumoto as Chozen in Cobra Kai. — Sorry, there's still no reason to cancel Netflix when releases like Cobra Kai are arriving this month.
Netflix

Save money by holding off a few weeks

If you're not someone who routinely gets FOMO, then a smart method is to wait until the bulk or all episodes of your favorite series land on a platform. That way, rather than pay for a service for several months to cover the 6- to 10-week run of a show, you can catch up on everything by subscribing for one month. And then repeat the cycle again.

As an example, there are 12 episodes of Andor coming to Disney Plus. The finale airs in November, so all episodes will be available to stream at that time. Though it premieres on Sept. 21 and continues through the fall, why pay for three months of Disney Plus when you can wait to watch it in full anytime in November? If this is the only series you want to watch during this period, it makes sense to be patient to save money.

Cassian Andor looks intense in Andor — Cassian Andor broods in upcoming Star Wars series Andor, which airs on Disney Plus into November.
Lucasfilm

How much do you pay each month for your streaming services? Netflix is $10 to $20, Disney Plus is anywhere from $3 to $8 depending on bundles, HBO Max costs $10-$15, Hulu starts at $7 and Starz runs $9. The others have a base rate of $5 per month. Should you decide to churn, set a calendar reminder to ping you when it's time to re-subscribe or cancel. We'll see you in October for another streaming breakdown.

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Thor Love And Thunder 2022