Thor: Love & Thunder Made The MCU's Heimdall Crimes Even Worse
Warning: The following contains SPOILERS for Thor: Love and Thunder.
In Thor: Love and Thunder, the MCU introduces an exciting new character in Astrid «Axl» Heimdallson, Heimdall's son — but Axl actually highlights how Marvel made poor use of Heimdall throughout every movie. Axl's MCU debut sees the young Asgardian immediately becoming crucial to the plot, which can't ever be said of Axl's father, Heimdall, even though Heimdall was the gatekeeper of the Bifrost Bridge. Despite being technically more powerful than most Avengers, Heimdall is relegated to the sidelines throughout the Thor movies and Infinity War - basically the gist of the MCU's Heimdall problem.
In contrast, Axl's first MCU movie sees him getting kidnapped by the big bad, becoming Thor's only telepathic link to the missing Asgardian kids, and being granted - for a limited time only - the power of Thor. Thor: Love and Thunder even lays the foundations for Astrid «Axl» Heimdallson to return as an Asgardian warrior, trained by Lady Sif and armed with Heimdall's overpowered abilities. Moreover, without Axl's assistance, then Thor, Mighty Thor, and Valkyrie might not have saved as much children as they did. Inspired by the Guns N' Roses vocalist, Axl even gets to choose his own name. As Axl isn't a Marvel Comics character and was created just for Thor 4, the name is clearly a nod to the thematic links between Thor, '80s metal, and Norse mythology. Axl is also one of two potential Young Avengers that appear in Thor 4, the other being Gorr's daughter Love.
Related: Thor: Love & Thunder Trailer Reveals Christian Bale's Villain Gorr
Astrid «Axl» Heimdallson — in just one Thor movie — shows much more promise and character development than his father Heimdall ever
Read more on screenrant.com
