Godly

5 gods in Thor: Love and Thunder with surprising Marvel comics origins

The Norse pantheon isn’t the only one to get a shoutout in Thor’s latest movie.

by Robin Bea
Marvel

Like the rest of Thor’s adventures, Thor: Love and Thunder delves into the messy family dynamics of the Norse gods. But it also brings in tons of other deities, some of which are pulled from mythology while others are Marvel originals.

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Here are 5 more gods from mythology in Thor: Love and Thunder

5. Zeus

The mightiest god of Olympia is revealed as a selfish hedonist in Thor: Love and Thunder. Only his lightning bolt ends up being useful in the fight against Gorr.

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In Marvel comics, Zeus is more like other fictional depictions: A proud ruler protecting his home in exchange for worship. He runs the Olympia Corporation, which lets him spy on mortals and fight both with and against Marvel heroes.

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The much-less-cool mythological Zeus spends most of his time his time tricking mortals into sex, or outright torturing them. Zeus overthrew his father Cronus the Titan to become chief among his godly family.

4. Hercules

We don’t see much of the demigod Hercules in Thor: Love and Thunder, but comic book fans know that he and Thor have a history.

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Introduced in the ‘60s as a rival of both Thor and fellow big boy the Hulk, Hercules quickly switched sides and often aided Marvel’s heroes against the gods.

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In mythology, Hercules (or Heracles) is one of Zeus’ many, many children. Tormented by Hera as a sign of her husband’s infidelity, Hercules was nonetheless a great hero with superhuman strength and wits.

3. Bastet

Seen for only a second in human form in Love and Thunder, Bastet (sometimes called Bast) may get a lot more screen time in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

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The patron god of Wakanda who grants Black Panther his powers was originally a male deity known only as the Panther-God. In the 2000s, Marvel retconned them as the goddess Bast.

The cat-headed Bastet is an Egyptian goddess of childbirth and protection. Associated with both the sun and Moon, she was originally depicted with a lion’s head until around the 8th Century B.C.

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2. Artemis

Only glimpsed in Omnipotence City in Love and Thunder, Artemis could return with Hercules in future films.

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Artemis is mostly an antagonistic figure in Marvel history, often siding with her father Zeus against the Avengers. Like all Olympians, she’s superhuman in every way, and she’s also a master archer.

The Greek goddess of wilderness and the hunt, Artemis is vengeful figure fond of turning mortals who cross her into animals. Having assisted her mother in the birth of her own twin, Apollo, Artemis is also a goddess of childbirth.

1. Dionysus

Like Artemis, Dionysus gets only the briefest appearance in Love and Thunder, but has a colorful history in Marvel comics.

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In one notable comic, a drunken Dionysus falls from Mount Olympus into the hands of the evil scientists of AIM. They use him to create a device that sends all superheroes into a drunken state, sparing only Deadpool and the Great Lakes Initiative.

As god of wine and ecstasy, Dionysus is Olympus’ party boy. His worship involved drinking to attain “divine madness” and the ultimate party foul of animal sacrifice.

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