Fans Rate How 'Thor: Love and Thunder' Ranks Against 'Thor: Ragnarok'

On Friday, “Thor: Love and Thunder” finally hit theaters.

Directed by Taika Waititi, the latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Tessa Thompson, Luke Hemsworth, and even Taika Waititi himself as Kong.

The synopsis for the film reads:

“Thor embarks on a journey unlike anything he's ever faced -- a quest for inner peace. However, his retirement gets interrupted by Gorr the God Butcher, a galactic killer who seeks the extinction of the gods.”

But is the movie everything that fans and critics expected it to be?

On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film currently has a critic rating of 68% and an audience score of 85%.

Although some critics said they thought that “Ragnarok” was a superior movie, many fans felt that “Love and Thunder” was better. Sarah S wrote, “I adored Thor 4!!! It worked for me so much better than Ragnarok. The tone shifting in Ragnarok felt so jarring. Here it just flows so well. I look forward to revisiting it! Easily my favorite Thor movie.”

“Movie was great! I don’t know how critics are able to see the movie and think it was bad,” wrote Damian V. “Ragnarok has a better story but this one was way more fun! You won’t be disappointed.”

“I loved Ragnarok and I think I may like this one more,” another fan shared. “I was delighted.”

“Simply put, Love & Thunder was great. It takes a handful of creative liberties from the comics-- but stays true in other ways-- but overall has a more positive outlook compared to Jason Aaron's run of Thor featuring Gorr the God Butcher,” Jonathan G wrote. “The film is funny, but too goofy for its own good at times, however, the tone of the film changes drastically about 3/4 in but it WORKS.”

Jonathan continued, “The film has dark, comedic moments but the imagery at times gives you this incredible sense of dread, but it's so beautiful. Taika Waititi has a way of slipping in comedic moments in dramatic moments-- he has a few misses-- but overall, I appreciated the tone and message of the film.”

Easton wrote, “I thought this was one of the most exciting and conclusive movie that I've seen in a while. I like being taken on an imaginative journey of self-discovery. This movie was so many things at once. I'm definitely going to see this again.”

However, not all fans felt it was worth the price of admission.

Shelton wrote, “Ragnarok follow-up was a bit lackluster but it was a decent movie overall. Definitely a great movie for kids but as an adult it lacked a bit of the typical Marvel charm.”

“It was a great movie I loved it the only complaint I have is they pushed the comedy way too much,” Jacob shared. “I love comedy but all of that wasn’t necessary.”

Cody felt there were “definite highs and lows in the movie,” saying it was “Not great, maybe good but it was the most enjoyable Marvel movie that has come out as of recently, at least for me.”

“I understand marvel is trying to rebuild and stuff but the lack of actual story and writing for each individual movie has been very, lacking,” Cody continued. “Maybe I'm just getting too old for this. Everything is coming off very corny and childish but with pg13 violence and even nudity like 80s horror movies. It did have some funny parts but that also comes with some very corny stuff. Chris himself did fantastic but the movie was just all over the place. Bale does a great job and gets very spooky in one scene. Overall it was...good I guess.”

It seems it wasn’t just the adults who didn’t enjoy it. Maryann M wrote, “My kids hated this movie. I think they feel that since end game everything is horrible and just out there to make cash. I feel badly for Stan Lee a legacy kind of going downhill.”

Ana wrote, “I've actually never been so close to walking out on a Marvel movie. It was ridiculous in the worst way, not in the sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek way that Ragnarok or Guardians is. The 'storyline' was just a series of middle school gags against a backdrop of political tick boxes.”

With so many conflicting reviews, it seems like fans will just have to head to theaters and decide for themselves!