Thor: Love And Thunder's 'Bombastic' Aesthetic Is Inspired By Taika Waititi's Love For '80s Rock Culture

Taika Waititi's "Thor: Love and Thunder" is extremely hard rock in its tone, style, and treatment, and there's a very good reason for that. The film's aesthetic is directed inspired by 1980s rock culture, as confirmed by Waititi during a press conference for the film that /Film attended.

The marketing for "Thor: Love and Thunder" hasn't been shy about using the Guns N' Roses track "Sweet Child O' Mine" to set the tone for Thor's latest adventure, and Waititi said it was a dream come true to be able to incorporate his love for one of his "all-time favorite bands" from that time period

"The whole aesthetic around the film was always we wanted it to be this bombastic, loud, colorful palette, which kind of reflected spray-painted panel vans in the '80s and rock album covers. And even the title treatment for the film is the kind of thing I would have drawn on my school book in class when I wasn't listening, and you know, that sort of thing. I remember spending months and months perfecting the Metallica logo at school.

To just tap into all that stuff and Guns N' Roses, my all-time favorite bands, and to be able to use that stuff to reflect the crazy adventure that we're presenting visually, was another one of my dreams that came true."

As a metalhead, I cannot tell you how happy it makes me that the "Thor: Love and Thunder" logo design was partially inspired by hard rock/metal band logos of the '80s, such as Metallica and Van Halen. 

"Thor: Love and Thunder" seems to be an amalgamation of many genres. While Waititi previously dubbed it a "mid-life crisis" film, it also has elements of a colorful road-trip comedy, the trope of lovers united, and an epic showdown between good and evil. Whether conscious or not, this sense of genre-hybridity and tonal ambiguity was reflected in the sound and artistic design of '80s hard rock albums, which often meshed with various kinds of rock, such as thrash metal and speed metal.

Take Guns N' Roses' debut album, "Appetite for Destruction," for instance, which featured "Sweet Child O' Mine." While the song is a heartfelt exploration of romantic relationships, the album as a whole dives into themes of environmental pollution and a critique of the industrial system, which was reflected in the design of the album art. This established the dichotomy essential to the band, as the album's "Guns" side covered serious themes about systemic rebellion, while the "Roses" side dealt with love and relationships.

"Love and Thunder" appears to be a vibrant film that attempts to capture the aesthetic of "spray-painted panel vans" as mentioned by Waititi and his comment about colorful '80s rock album covers. But there's also clearly a love story brewing under all those metal vibes. Waititi's influences seem to truly elevate the look and feel of the film, making it distinctly different from previous entries in the MCU.

"Thor: Love and Thunder" hits theaters on July 8, 2022.