Natalie Portman and Chris Hemsworth star in “Thor: Love and Thunder,” which is far from the best Marvel has to offer. (photo courtesy of Marvel Studios)

Early Marvel films followed an upsetting pattern: strong origin story followed by a dreary sequel. The sophomore slump came for the likes of Iron Man, the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Avengers and, lately, Doctor Strange. Thor too, but his maiden voyage hardly took flight from the outset.

Then “Thor: Ragnarok” arrived, redeeming the character’s solo prospects. I mean, what film series gets better that late in the game? So when the same director, Taika Waititi (“JoJo Rabbit,” “Hunt for the Wilderpeople”), signed on to adapt the Jane Foster Thor storyline, hopefully giving Natalie Portman’s bland love interest a more interesting foray, the outcome seemed certain to succeed.

But that sophomore slump can pounce from anywhere, even a fourth film. Is this really a sophomore slump? In the case of Waititi’s contributions, it sure is. Like James Gunn, who directed both “Guardians” films, Waititi seems to enjoy the same kind of carte blanche with the Thor storyline. He certainly took advantage of that in the threequel film, killing off four primary characters in the first act and completely omitting another four from the story altogether.

All four surviving absentees actually return here, albeit the major contributor is Portman’s Jane, now wielding Thor’s hammer Mjølnir. That seems improbable for a few reasons. First, the God of Thunder’s older sister shattered it effortlessly. Second, that magical Norse weapon can only be wielded by the worthy (previously including Vision and Cap).

Regardless, Jane is now “the Mighty Thor,” as she deems herself, helping the remaining Asgardians residing on Earth while Thor road trips across the universe with his new besties the Guardians. Somewhere in the background, a new foe arrives: Gorr (Christian Bale) the God Butcher. He’s got beef with all those allegedly benevolent immortals more concerned with their own pleasure than the plight of common folk.

He’s right. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) learns this first hand as he travels with a new crew to an isolated city packed with vain cosmic beings quite content to do nothing. It’s all very Greek mythology, which works out well considering their leader, Zeus (Russell Crowe).

As you might tell, there’s a lot of moving parts. Too many. The Guardians intro ends abruptly, a canonical obligation based on what occurs at the end of “Avengers: Endgame.” Waititi, who also wrote the screenplay, doesn’t seemed interested in that bit at all.

For that matter, Waititi doesn’t give his villain much to do either. Well, that might be Marvel’s fault. Per many interviews with Bale, several scenes never made the final cut. That’s confounding considering Bale’s star power versus how little he appears in the film (maybe a handful of scenes total). But those few scenes ignite with acting flair largely absent amongst the others.

Why does Marvel seem so uninterested in its supervillains? I’ve never known. Too many sequels set their eyes on the next installment, willing to sacrifice an obscure nemesis for the sake of the larger arch.

At least this one cares about some elements of the story at hand, including finality for some characters (unsatisfying as it might be) and even a rather sweet moment right before the credits. But “Love and Thunder” feels too much like a psychedelic road trip through pretty visuals unwilling to dwell on anything for too long.

To his credit, Hemsworth’s Thor is less of an oaf than in “Ragnarok” and previous “Avengers” outings, but he doesn’t grow much. Jane finally enjoys a more pressing story, but Portman’s performance never landed, and she continues that drab delivery here.

Even Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), easily one of the best inclusions in all these films, remains more of a background presence, benched in the third act. But that’s what happens when you try to stuff too many things into a single film.

Like another lackluster sequel, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” “Love and Thunder” suffers from overkill. Any one theme is worth exploring in greater detail, but this one functions like a CliffsNotes guide to a whole lot: Thor and Jane’s romantic past, petty gods throughout the galaxy, a tragic villain, children of Asgard held captive, Thor’s post-Infinity War identity crisis, Jane’s mysterious connection to the hammer and so it goes.

Frankly, I’m shocked Marvel didn’t try to break this one into two parts, premiering a few months apart, perhaps including another “Loki” season in the middle to provide more exposition leading up an explosive second part (which is really part five). That would’ve made more sense than this nonsense. I can’t declare it the worst Marvel film, but it sure gives “Thor 2” and a couple “Iron Man” sequels a run for their rankings.