Entertainment
Chris Hemsworth Finally Understands Why Everyone Hates His Worst Movie
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Recently, Marvel icon Chris Hemsworth appeared on Smartless, a podcast hosted by Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett. They talked about many topics, and the conversation inevitably shifted to Marvel movies. At this point, I honestly expected the Thor actor to do some shameless advertising about how good these films are, essentially turning his appearance into a PR stunt for the MCU.
To my surprise, though, he got very frank about his absolute worst Marvel movie: Thor: Love and Thunder. In looking back on this disappointing film, Hemsworth admitted that it was “kind of like a Monty Python sketch” and “we sort of took the piss probably a little too much.” Thor was once one of the most serious heroes in the MCU, and the actor admitted that Love and Thunder left the fandom asking a very blunt question about his godly warrior: “Why is he a goofball?”
A Fumbling Franchise Pivots
It would be one thing if Thor: Love and Thunder were the first Thor film to be very silly. However, that happened earlier in Thor: Ragnarok, an openly comedic film that was a very deliberate tonal shift for the entire franchise. Such a picot was considered necessary because the previous film, Thor: The Dark World, was a critical stinker that many fans consider the worst entry in the entire MCU.
Director Taika Waititi turned Thor: Ragnarok into a kind of cosmic road-trip buddy comedy, and the film became a critical and commercial hit. Chris Hemsworth noted that the movie offered “quite a twist” on what audiences were expecting, thanks in large part to “Taika’s tone.” He noted that the fandom found the movie “fun” specifically because of the pivot to comedy: “there was a huge…appreciation for the shift.”
Too Much Of A Good Thing
In retrospect, Hemsworth believes that Thor: Love and Thunder failed because it leaned too far into comedy, making it feel more “like a Monty Python sketch” than a traditional superhero film. He pointed out that there was “backlash” to returning director Taika Waititi’s humor, with audiences wondering why Thor had become such a “goofball.” This is quite fair, honestly: Ragnarok allowed Hemsworth to show off his considerable comedic chops, but in Love and Thunder, he went from cracking jokes to being a joke.
On paper, Waititi was just giving fans more of the zany humor that they appreciated so much in Ragnarok. But it’s genuinely hard to make a follow-up to a good comedy, which is why so many sequels (like Caddyshack II and Blues Brothers 2000) to hilarious movies are downright terrible. This sequel’s humor was far inferior to Ragnarok, and even when the comedy in Thor: Love and Thunder did work, it felt bizarrely out of place given the dark storylines driving the film.
Were We Supposed To Laugh Or Cry?
Thor: Love and Thunder had some broad comedy beats that fell flat, including those stupid screaming goats. But if you rewatch the movie, more of the jokes land than you likely remember. The essential problem with this movie was that the tonal shifts between comedic and dramatic moments were so severe that they gave you whiplash!
The Big Bad of the movie is motivated to kill all deities in the universe after his daughter starves to death, and he discovers the god he so fervently worships just doesn’t care. Meanwhile, Jane Foster is dying of cancer, and every time she transforms into Thor, it makes her cancer worse. But she is willing to court death itself to save the universe from Gorr, a self-proclaimed God Butcher seeking justice for the little girl he loved more than anything else.
These are intense plots, and they are that much more impactful because Christian Bale and Natalie Portman give such astounding performances. In another director’s hands, this would have been a recipe for a heartbreaking, dramatic film that takes more cues from the Jason Aaron Thor comics they are based on. But Taika Waititi tried to tug on our heartstrings and make us laugh all at once, resulting in a movie that was disjointed at its best and unhinged at its worst.
To Be Or Not To Be (Funny)
The first two Thor movies were downright Shakespearean, with Thor taking himself very seriously. The second two were comedic, with audiences generally preferring Ragnarok and hating Love and Thunder. In retrospect, these movies have a clear pattern: every other Thor film has been a stinker, but the odd-numbered ones are good.
Now, Marvel is at a crossroads and must decide whether to continue making Thor the class clown of the Avengers or return him to his more grounded roots. We’ll know what they’ve decided when Avengers: Doomsday finally hits theaters later this year. Here’s hoping that the MCU stops “taking the piss” (to borrow Hemsworth’s blunt Aussie slang) and helps fans start believing in this god once again.
Entertainment
Moon phase today: What the Moon will look like on March 1
It’s a new month, and while the Moon may appear totally full, we’re still a couple of days away from this yet. But in the meantime, there’s still lots to spot on its surface.
What is today’s Moon phase?
As of Sunday, March 1, the Moon phase is Waxing Gibbous. According to NASA’s Daily Moon Guide, 94% of the Moon will be lit up tonight.
With just your naked eye, tonight you’ll be able to see the Mares Imbrium and Crisium, as well as the Tycho Crater. If you have binoculars hanging about, dust them off and pull them out to catch a glimpse of the Mares Nectaris and Frigoris, and the Endymion Crater. And proud telescope owners will see all this and more, including the Apollo 15 and 17 landing spots, and the Schiller Crater.
When is the next Full Moon?
The next Full Moon will be on March 3. The last Full Moon was on Feb. 1.
What are Moon phases?
According to NASA, the Moon takes about 29.5 days to orbit the Earth. Over the course of this period, it moves through eight recognisable phases, what we call the lunar cycle. While the same side of the Moon always faces us, the amount of its surface lit by the Sun changes as it continues along its path. The shifts in sunlight create the different appearances we see from Earth, ranging from a fully illuminated Moon to a thin sliver or near darkness. The eight phases are:
New Moon – The Moon is between Earth and the sun, so the side we see is dark (in other words, it’s invisible to the eye).
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Waxing Crescent – A small sliver of light appears on the right side (Northern Hemisphere).
First Quarter – Half of the Moon is lit on the right side. It looks like a half-Moon.
Waxing Gibbous – More than half is lit up, but it’s not quite full yet.
Full Moon – The whole face of the Moon is illuminated and fully visible.
Waning Gibbous – The Moon starts losing light on the right side. (Northern Hemisphere)
Third Quarter (or Last Quarter) – Another half-Moon, but now the left side is lit.
Waning Crescent – A thin sliver of light remains on the left side before going dark again.
Entertainment
Men are paying to have negative posts removed from Tea app
As reported by 404 Media, online service Tea App Green Flags will scrub negative posts from anonymous gossip app Tea and similar online forums where women post about negative experiences they’ve had with men they’ve dated.
According to 404 Media’s interview with Tea App Green Flags’ founder, simply identified as Jay, the company launched two years ago to tackle posts on the many Are We Dating the Same Guy Facebook groups. His focus has turned to Tea in the past year.
“We just want to take down posts about people who are being defamed,” Jay told 404 Media. “And when I say defamed, it means like, ‘this guy has a small penis,’ or ‘this guy smells.’ That doesn’t fit the mission statement of what the Tea app was for, which is to warn women against people who are harmful, who are abusive, who are cheaters.”
Tea App Green Flags’ site claims to have removed over 2,500 posts from the Tea App for over 759 clients. Most of the service’s clients are men, although Jay noted that occasionally the wives and girlfriends of men posted on the app will reach out.
Prospective Tea App Green Flags clients must provide their name, age, location, and photo to the service, as well links to specific posts targeting them. According to Tea App Green Flags’ FAQs, they can only remove posts with direct references to a client. On average, the site says, a Tea App “takedown campaign” will take 21 – 30 days. The lengths of other takedowns depend on the platform.
Price-wise, it costs $1.99 to report one Tea account and up to $79.99 to report 25 of them. The company also offers “24/7 Reputation Monitoring,” which costs $19.99 per month and alerts clients when they appear on Tea or Facebook.
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Jay would not share the details of the takedown process with 404 Media. Tea does have a free form for takedown requests on its website, and says that it will “only reply to takedown requests submitted via the takedown portal.”
Jay emphasized to 404 Media that Tea App Green Flags does not extend its services to people who have been accused of sexual assault multiple times on Tea, or who have been accused by one person using their real name and photo in a Facebook group.
“Sometimes we find along the process that there are pedophiles or people who actually did what they did, and they’re very bad,” Jay told 404 Media. “So we say, ‘we’re not doing this.’ We can’t take a rap for that. We’re ethical. We just want to take down people who are being defamed.”
Tea markets itself as presenting “dating safety tools that protect women.” In July 2025, it was the target of a large-scale cyberattack that exposed thousands of user images including drivers’ licenses, leaving users vulnerable to doxxing and harassment. These images were provided as verification for accounts, although the app itself is otherwise anonymous.
Jay claimed to 404 Media that Tea’s anonymity “causes a cesspool of defamation,” and that he would prefer if women shared their faces, even if they are speaking out against dangerous men who have done them harm.
While Tea is meant to be a women-only app, Tea App Green Flags is proof of men’s infiltration of these online dating spaces. (Tea itself was founded by a man: Sean Cook.)
“I have a Tea app account. I’m a dude,” Jay told 404 Media. “All my reps have Tea app accounts. They’re men.”
Mashable has reached out to Tea for further comment.
Entertainment
NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for February 28, 2026
Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is for people who love golf.
As we’ve shared in previous hints stories, this is a version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.
Like the original Connections, the game is all about finding the “common threads between words.” And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier — so we’ve served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.
If you just want to be told today’s puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for the latest Connections solution. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
What is Connections: Sports Edition?
The NYT‘s latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication’s sports coverage. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.
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Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there’s only one correct answer.
If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake — players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.
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Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.
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Here’s a hint for today’s Connections: Sports Edition categories
Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:
Here are today’s Connections: Sports Edition categories
Need a little extra help? Today’s connections fall into the following categories:
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Yellow: Golf Equipment
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Green: Materials in a Baseball
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Blue: SEC School Locations
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Purple: First Names of Chicago Bears
Looking for Wordle today? Here’s the answer to today’s Wordle.
Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today’s puzzle before we reveal the solutions.
Drumroll, please!
The solution to today’s Connections: Sports Edition #523 is…
What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?
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Golf Equipment – CLUB, GLOVE, RANGEFINDER, TEE
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Materials in a Baseball – CORK, LEATHER, RUBBER, YARN
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SEC School Locations – ATHENS, AUBURN, LEXINGTON, OXFORD
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First Names of Chicago Bears – CAIRO, CALEB, LUTHER, ROME
Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be new sports Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.
Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today’s Strands.
If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to today’s Connections.
Chicago Fire score twice in stoppage time, blank CF Montreal
Layne Riggs holds on to claim first NASCAR Trucks street race
