Thor: Love and Thunder Concept Art Revealed by Taika Waititi

We’re in a big dry spell when it comes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Considering last year gave us the big Phase 3 climax with Avengers: Endgame and the denouement Spider-Man: Far From Home, the plan was to rest the box office cash cow for almost a year. Then we’d get the Black Widow movie at the end of April, the Disney+ shows would start trickling in, and we’d be getting excited for Eternals soon after. After that, we’d have lots of Marvel stuff to look forward to.

Well…COVID-19 happened and now we’re playing the waiting game longer than before. Black Widow will now be released on November 6, pushing back all the other cinematic releases. With all these delays and the big chunk of movies planned for Phase 4, that puts Thor: Love and Thunder on the board for February 28, 2022.

Thor: Love and Thunder has already generated a lot of interest with the announcement that it will center around Natalie Portman returning to play a Mjolnir-wielding Jane Foster. It will also show us how Valkyrie handles being the ruler of New Asgard on Earth. which we get a look at in this concept art as well…

Now we have a new – and very much unexpected – piece of the puzzle. On Thursday, Thor: Love and Thunder director Taika Waititi hosted a rewatch of his previous movie Thor: Ragnarok on Instragram. Mixed into the glorified director’s commentary was a bit where he showed some Love and Thunder concept art, including another look at New Asgard…

But the more interesting reveal is that we got to see how Miek looks in Love and Thunder. Miek has a new exoskeleton and it’s on the feminine side.

For those scratching your heads, trying to remember who the hell Miek is, Miek showed up in Thor: Ragnarok as one of the fellow gladiators. The gross bug one, to be specific. Miek never actually said anything and has been little more than a prop for the more expressive Korg. Miek appeared in Endgame as one of Thor’s few confidants during his downward spiral and is shown playing Fortnite with Korg. Later in the movie, Miek appeared during the final battle in an exoskeleton with knife hands.

So now…er, in 2022, Miek has a new exoskeleton that suggests a more ladylike demeanor, especially with that slick business attire. Is Miek stuck having to move in that armor due to lack of options? Has the movie version of Miek always been female? Is Miek trans? Or perhaps Miek’s species doesn’t adhere to any traditional gender roles at all.

It does make you wonder why Miek is all dressed up to begin with. Some kind of assistant position working under Valkyrie’s rule, perhaps?

In the comics, where Miek turned out to be a villain and secretly caused a war between Hulk and Earth’s heroes, Miek never actually had a robot exoskeleton to begin with. They just mutated into having a bulkier body. Coincidentally, in the comics, Korg was the one who lived an LGBTQ lifestyle. Then again, he might in the movies, too and perhaps it just hasn’t come up yet.

If anything, the situation makes me think of the Marvel Zombies series. In it, Wasp was turned into a zombie and continued to live on as just a head. She ended up being cured of her hunger and was given a robot body. In the sequel, they discovered Zombie Hawkeye’s head and gave him one of Wasp’s obsolete bodies, meaning Clint Barton was walking around with metal breasts for the rest of the comic.

Anyway, I guess we’ll see what Miek’s deal is in 22 months. I hope.