As it turns out, it’s an excellent time to be the Living Tribunal. For the third time in under a year, a Marvel Studio project has referenced the massive cosmic character. Not only did the first full trailer for Thor: Love and Thunder include yet another Living Tribunal Easter egg, the clip included nods to some of Marvel’s other cosmic entities as well.
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As the trailer begins to wind down, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) can be seen summoning a lightning bolt with Mjolnir in what looks to an extended hall of sorts. On the left side of the frame, statues seem to be dedicate to Death (foreground) and Infinity (background) with another statue between that may or may not be Thanos. Then on the right side of the frame, you have the Living Tribunal in the foreground and Uatu the Watch in the background. See a still from the trailer below.
After being considered for inclusion in the Infinity Saga, the character appeared as the severed statue head at the end of time in Loki. He then reappeared in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as the eponymous sorcerer tumbled through the multiverse.
“So the idea was that [Thanos is] sort of zipping through the universe being presented with all of his many, many crimes. So bodies are being thrown at him, he lands and things turn into bodies, hands are grasping at him, and it’s just really kind of grim,” Infinity War and Endgame writer Stephen McFeely once said of the character’s inclusion.
“And at the end he gets dumped in front of the Living Tribunal who judges him guilty. It was great, it was really… when you introduce the idea of the Living Tribunal, it does open up a whole new era. I don’t know if my grandmother would understand that.”
In the Marvel source material, the Living Tribunal — alongside Infinity, Eternity, Death, and Oblivion — make up a group of beings called the Abstract Entities. Within the grand scheme of things, they only answer to the One-Above-All and finally, they may finally be making the leap to live-action.
Taika Waititi, who directed Thor: Ragnarok, returns to direct Thor: Love and Thunder. He also co-wrote the film’s screenplay with Jennifer Kaytin Robinson. The film and stars Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Chris Pratt, Jaimie Alexander, Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Sean Gunn, Jeff Goldblum, and Vin Diesel.
Thor: Love and Thunder opens in theaters on July 8th.
What other surprises do you think are in store for Thor: Love and Thunder? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things MCU!
