After years of waiting (yes, years), the patience of Marvel Comics and MCU fans has been rewarded with a brand-new trailer for the next upcoming Thor movie, Thor: Love and Thunder. While the trailer itself wisely says very little about what the movie's actual plot will be, it does show quite a bit about the direction the film, and by extension, the character, is going to take for his next upcoming adventure.

With this in mind, it is important to state that Thor occupies something of a unique position among the original Avengers (introduced in 2012's The Avengers), wherein he is one of the few members of that original team who has not died or retired, and is the only one who is getting a fourth movie about him. While Captain America 4 has been confirmed, the film will focus on the adventures of Sam Wilson's Captain America, not Steve Rogers. Thor is the only one whose adventures post-Avengers: Endgame that fans will actually get to see and experience.

While Thor has yet to officially retire from the Avengers, the trailer's opening narration makes it clear that that is exactly what he is planning to do. Retirement, however, does not come easy for those that risk their lives on a semi-regular basis, as Thor is almost certain to find out.

While the trailer shows Jane Foster's (played by Natalie Portman) Mighty Thor, it's evident that Love and Thunder is still just as much about Chris Hemsworth's Thor. The passing of the torch (or, in this case, hammer) between the two Thors will undoubtedly be seen in the movie. Even if Natalie Portman's Thor takes up the hammer and becomes Thor full-time, what will be left for Chris Hemsworth's Thor? What is a god to do when they retire, and can one ever really retire?

Setting Down His Hammer

Thor: Love and Thunder
Marvel Studios

A little-known fact about Thor (Chris Hemsworth's Thor, that is) that most people tend to forget is that he is actually well over 1,500 years old, meaning that he has been fighting longer than the amount of time that the oldest and most experienced Avengers have ever been alive. Fighting that long tends to leave most with many physical and mental scars, and Thor will likely be no different. Something that it also tends to leave one with, however, is enemies. Enemies that might not necessarily know that the person they want revenge against is retired.

Related: Moon Knight Writer Addresses Possible God Connection With Thor: Love and Thunder

Having been alive for over 1,500 years, and given his personality, Thor has likely been fighting for most of that time. He almost certainly has his fair share of enemies that would no doubt love to see his head separated from his body. Perhaps this is where Christian Bale's character, Gorr the God Butcher, comes into play. Regardless of whether he is an old enemy, given his title, he will probably still want Thor dead anyway and will likely not care about retirement. Setting one's weapon down and living a simple life is an incredibly noble and virtuous goal in and of itself, but sometimes the journey to get there can be just as difficult as not retiring at all. That is something that Thor will no doubt discover.

The Legacy of Odinson

Thor: Love and Thunder
Marvel Studios

In the original Marvel Comics, Thor (as in the son of Odin Thor) eventually passes on his hammer to Jane Foster following an incident wherein he became unworthy to weld it for a time and then discovers her swinging it around. While he does not know immediately that this new Mighty Thor is, in fact, his old flame, he allows Jane Foster to keep the hammer and continue to go along acting as Thor with his blessing. After that happens, Thor (the original Thor) does not necessarily retire.

Instead, he replaces his severed right arm (because that happened) with the right arm of The Destroyer's armor and forges a brand-new weapon for himself, the ax known as Jarnbjorn. With his new arm and ax in hand, Thor then sets out to keep doing what he has always been doing. Instead of going by his name, he instead chooses to go by the moniker of Odinson, likely as a way to differentiate the two Thors.

Related: Tom Hiddleston Addresses Appearing in Thor: Love and Thunder

The trailer does not indicate whether this is the same path that Hemsworth's Thor will take. However, it shows that the opportunity is available to him if Marvel Studios does not necessarily want to retire his character just yet. Chris Hemsworth has said that he is more than willing to play the character for as long as Marvel Studios will let him, as he genuinely loves portraying him. There could also conceivably be a way wherein Marvel Studios can have it both ways.

Hemsworth's Thor can officially retire and find a simple life worth living but gets called into action when the universe (or the multiverse) is threatened by the latest big bad. He could become the aged, grizzled veteran hero who gets pulled back into action just when he thought he was out. As one of the few original Avengers still kicking, he could very conceivably pull it off.