CW: cancer, cancer storylines, and chemotherapy.
I went to see Thor Love & Thunder with a friend of mine a month ago. While Thor is the main character, I really was there to see Valkyrie and Jane Foster’s return to the Marvel franchise. After the movie was released, I was browsing the internet and I read an interesting article. The article was referring to Thor Love & Thunder and whether it should have included content warnings for viewers. If you couldn’t tell from the content warning I posted earlier, the content warning that viewers were asking for was regarding cancer, cancer diagnosis, and chemotherapy.
In Thor Love & Thunder, it’s revealed that Jane was diagnosed with cancer and her outcome was grim. She seeks out Mjölnir (Thor’s old Hammer) to see if this type of magic could help cure her. When Jane connects with Mjölnir, she’s given powers related to Thor, however, it’s at a cost. While Jane is Thor, her body is suppressed to fight cancer. For many viewers, they would have liked a heads up that this was a storyline happening in this movie.
I have never been diagnosed with cancer, so this isn’t a lived experience I’m able to speak to. However, I have had a loved one pass away from cancer, so I can at least relate to that aspect of this conversation. I personally didn’t have a problem watching this film. I’m sensing that there might be someone reading this who would think “people should stop being so sensitive”. I don’t see content warnings as being too sensitive. It’s simply saying that “this media contains x,y,z. If that’s something you want to avoid, don’t watch this film, TV show, etc.” The way that anyone handles trauma is so varied. I can see why others would have appreciated the heads up as Jane’s backstory includes her cancer diagnosis.
I will say that Jane’s cancer is a storyline in the comics, so it can be argued that this is comic book accurate. Some fans aren’t thrilled with the idea of bringing Jane back, giving her a cancer diagnosis, she gets powers and ultimately ends up dying in the end. I’m not sure how I feel about it as I go back and forth.
Anyway, I thought this was an interesting article and conversation to write about. I would be curious as to your thoughts. Should Thor Love & Thunder have included a content warning? or is cancer so common that it isn’t worth it to include it?
Bizarre Brunette 
I think there might have been a level of assumption with this one that many people who were going to see the film would already know what it contained, either because they had read the comics or had heard of the storyline from another source. Marvel films are the most anticipated films of the year so by the time they come around people know a lot of details.
That being said, assumptions like that should not be made especially with storylines like this. You never know how many people have been touched by cancer. I saw a statistic the other day that said 1 in 2 people are given a cancer diagnosis in their life. It’s inevitable that people are touched by cancer now. I’ve also never been diagnosed with it, but have had family members diagnosed and gone into remission, but I’ve also lost a friend and school classmate to cancer this year, and a third friend is terminal. I can put myself in the shoes of the people who went expecting a fun action comic book movie and had cancer thrown in their faces without a warning.
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^^ I completely agree with everything you said. Everyone is so different with how they perceive the world. I may not be impacted, but that doesn’t mean I can speak for anyone else on this matter as well.
Thank you for your well thought out comment, hope you’re well!
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I realize it was part of the comics, but it certainly was awkward sticking it into what otherwise was a movie designed to be Ragnarok 2. I think Marvel and Waititi didn’t get how one-off the success of Ragnarok was. It was the ultimate non-serious, joke a minute superhero movie that was so unique it could never, ever be duplicated…which is exactly what I think they tried to do…except for the cancer part. It is an interesting discussion as to whether or not they should have alerted the audience to that part of the movie. It certainly was not expected by anyone who had no familiarity with the comics. I don’t think that storyline belonged in this movie in the first as it was so out of touch with the rest of the proceedings. They could have gotten Jane to her “destination” another way than the comics (like in battle) and it probably would have gone over better. Then again, with all the bragging about Jane wielding her own hammer…many didn’t expect her to die in the movie in the first place.
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^ I agree with pretty much everything you said. It was in the comics, but it’s a shame to bring her back and then she dies. It feels cheap. Thanks for the comment!
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