Thor: Love and Thunder
Thor: Love and Thunder is an upcoming American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Thor, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is intended to be the direct sequel to "" (2017) and the 29th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film is directed by Taika Waititi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, and stars Chris Hemsworth as Thor, alongside Tessa Thompson, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Chris Pratt, Jaimie Alexander, Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Sean Gunn, Jeff Goldblum, Vin Diesel, and Bradley  Cooper. In the film, Thor recruits Valkyrie (Thompson), Korg (Waititi), and Jane Foster (Portman)—who is now the Mighty Thor—to stop Gorr the God Butcher (Bale) from eliminating all gods. By January 2018, Hemsworth and Waititi had discussed plans for a sequel to "Ragnarok". "Love and Thunder" was officially announced in July 2019, with Hemsworth, Waititi, and Thompson, alongside Portman—who did not appear in "Ragnarok"—all attached to return to the franchise. Waititi said the film would adapt elements from Jason Aaron's run on the "Mighty Thor" comic book, which sees Foster take on the mantle and powers of  Thor whilst suffering from cancer. Robinson joined the film in February 2020, with Waititi later describing it as a romance film. Filming began in January 2021 in Sydney, Australia, and concluded at the beginning of June. "Thor: Love and Thunder" is scheduled to be released in the United States on July 8, 2022, as part of of the MCU. Premise. Following the events of "" (2019), Thor attempts to find inner peace, but must return to action and recruit Valkyrie, Korg, and Jane Foster—who has become the Mighty Thor—to stop Gorr the God Butcher from eliminating all gods. Additionally , Waititi reprises his role as Korg, a Kronan gladiator who befriended Thor. Matt Damon, Sam Neill, and Luke Hemsworth also reprise their roles as Asgardian actors playing Loki, Odin, and Thor, respectively, from "Thor: Ragnarok", alongside Melissa McCarthy as an actress playing Hela and her husband Ben Falcone in an undisclosed role. Russell Crowe also has a cameo appearance as Zeus, the king of the Olympians, based on the Greek mythological deity of the same name. Singer Jenny Morris and actor Simon Russell Beale have been cast in undisclosed roles. Also featured in the film are Falligar the Behemoth, one  of the gods slain by Gorr, and Thor's magical goats Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder, based on the Norse mythological animals Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr. Production. Development. Chris Hemsworth indicated in January 2018 that he was interested in continuing to play Thor, despite his contract with Marvel Studios being set to end with his role in "" (2019). By then, Hemsworth and "" (2017) director Taika Waititi had discussed what they would want in a potential fourth film, and the next month Hemsworth said he would consider playing the character again if there was "another great script". In April 2019, Tessa Thompson, who plays  Valkyrie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films, said that she believed a pitch had been made for a sequel to "Ragnarok" that involved Waititi returning. Hemsworth stated then that he would continue to play Thor for as long as possible, crediting Waititi with revitalizing his interest in the role after he became exhausted and underwhelmed with it prior to making "Ragnarok". In July 2019, Waititi officially signed on to write and direct a fourth "Thor" film, with Hemsworth expected to reprise his role. Later that month at San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige officially announced the  film as "Thor: Love and Thunder", with a release date of November 5, 2021. Hemsworth and Thompson were confirmed to be returning along with Natalie Portman, who portrayed Jane Foster in "Thor" (2011) and "" (2013). Thompson and Feige said Valkyrie's bisexuality would be addressed in the sequel, retroactively making her Marvel Studios' first LGBTQ superhero. Waititi said the film would adapt elements from Jason Aaron's "Mighty Thor" comic books by having Foster become her own version of Thor called the Mighty Thor. Feige explained that Marvel considered the "Mighty Thor" run to be one of the best recent  comic books and Waititi had been reading it while working on "Ragnarok". When Waititi agreed to direct another "Thor" film, he wanted to include Foster as the Mighty Thor. Portman agreed to return to the franchise after a single meeting with the director, in which he interested her by offering to reprise the character in a different, fresh way. Marvel Studios' Brad Winderbaum serves as a producer alongside Feige. Hemsworth was paid $20million to star in "Love and Thunder", an increase from the $15million salary he earned for each of his appearances in "Ragnarok", "" (2018), and "Endgame". Don  Harwin, the Minister for the Arts for the Australian state of New South Wales, announced at the end of July that "Thor: Love and Thunder" would be filmed at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney back-to-back with Marvel Studios' "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" (2021), with work set to begin on "Love and Thunder" there in March 2020 ahead of an August 2020 filming start. The production was set to receive over AU$24 million (US$ million) of subsidies from the Australian and New South Wales governments. Marvel Studios vice president David Grant said shooting the  two films back-to-back would provide continuous employment for local crews, with "Love and Thunder" expected to generate over AU$178 million (US$ million) for the local economy. Grant added that the studio would work with "local educational institutions in creating internship opportunities". In August 2019, Jeff Goldblum said there was a chance he could reprise his "Ragnarok" role of the Grandmaster in the sequel and he wanted to work with Waititi again. Waititi confirmed in October that he would be reprising his role of Korg from "Ragnarok" and "Endgame" in "Love and Thunder". He also acknowledged fans "shipping" Valkyrie  with Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel but said he did not intend to include a romantic relationship between the pair in the film because he would rather surprise fans than do something by popular demand. Christian Bale entered talks to join the cast in January 2020, with pre-production expected to begin in April. Jennifer Kaytin Robinson was hired to work on the film's screenplay with Waititi in February. Thompson confirmed a month later that Bale would star as the villain in the film, while Vin Diesel, who voices Groot in the MCU films, said he had discussed the film  with Waititi and had been told the Guardians of the Galaxy would be appearing in it. In early April, Disney shifted much of their slate of films due to the COVID-19 pandemic, moving "Thor: Love and Thunder" release date to February 18, 2022. Pre-production on the film was delayed due to the pandemic, with Waititi unsure when production would continue. At the end of the month, Disney moved the release date up to February 11, 2022. By July, filming was set to start in early 2021. Writing. When announcing the film in July 2019, Feige said it would include  a lot of elements from the "Mighty Thor" comic book and the storyline of Foster becoming the Mighty Thor would be an important part of that. A. C. Bradley, the head writer of the animated series "What If...?", had pitched the concept of Foster becoming Thor for that series, but the idea was rejected because of "Love and Thunder". In August, Waititi was reported to have completed a script for the film, but he denied this later that month. While promoting his film "Jojo Rabbit" in October, Waititi said he had completed the first draft of the screenplay, but the  story would change throughout filming and editing. He was unsure at that point if the film would include a storyline in which Foster suffers from breast cancer as she does in the "Mighty Thor" comic book, noting that it was a powerful part of the books. Portman later said Foster's treatment from cancer would be explored in the film. Waititi added that Marvel was still discussing how much time would pass between "Endgame" and "Love and Thunder", and that this would affect whether Thor is still carrying the extra weight he is depicted with in "Endgame", which earned him  the nicknames "Fat Thor" and "Bro Thor". Waititi did note that he wanted to "keep changing it up with Thor. He's so interesting when he's changing all the time." Four or five drafts of the screenplay had been completed by mid-April 2020, when Waititi said the sequel was "so over the top now in the very best way" and would make "Ragnarok" look like a "run of the mill, very safe film" by doubling down on the crazier aspects of that film. He wanted to up the ante and make the film as if "10-year-olds  told us what should be in a movie and we said yes to every single thing." Waititi added that the film would explore more of Korg's Kronan culture and indicated that it would include the Space Sharks alien race from the comics. He also expressed interest in featuring the character Beta Ray Bill in the film, but was unsure at that point if he would. At the end of July, Waititi said they had been writing the script off and on for over a year at that point, and he was taking another pass on it that week. He  said the script was very romantic, and explained that he wanted to make a romance film because he wanted to make something that he had not done before. That October, Hemsworth said Waititi was still writing the script and expressed his excitement for doing something drastically different with his character as he did in his previous three MCU films. Waititi later described "Love and Thunder" as the "craziest film [he had] ever done" and explained that each element of the film was intended to not make sense. He said it would be very different from "Ragnarok" with its own "distinct  flavour", and that there would be more emotion in the film. James Gunn, the writer and director of the three "Guardians of the Galaxy" films, consulted on how the Guardians characters were used in "Love and Thunder", with Gunn and Waititi discussing where the characters were going before Waititi began writing, and Waititi reading Gunn's script for "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" (2023). Gunn then read Waititi's "Love and Thunder" script and shared his thoughts, asking for some adjustments to be made. In January 2021, Gunn said the Guardians were "in great hands" with Waititi, and later  praised his work on the script. Pre-production. Pre-production on the film began in Australia by October 2020. A month later, Chris Pratt was revealed to be reprising his role as Guardians of the Galaxy leader Peter Quill / Star-Lord in the film. Given the ensemble nature of the cast, industry insiders had described the film as feeling like ""Avengers 5"". In December, Feige revealed that the film's release was delayed again to May 6, 2022, and announced that Bale would portray Gorr the God Butcher in the film. Ahead of the start of filming, Jaimie Alexander was  also revealed to be reprising her role as Sif from the first two "Thor" films, alongside other members and allies of the Guardians of the Galaxy: Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, Karen Gillan as Nebula, and Sean Gunn as Kraglin Obfonteri; Gunn also previously provided on set reference for Guardians member Rocket. Matt Damon was also set to appear, after making a cameo appearance in "Ragnarok" as an Asgardian actor playing Loki. He received special permission to enter Australia, despite the country's strict travel restrictions during the pandemic, since "Love and Thunder" was providing  jobs for Australians. This prompted criticism as it was perceived Damon, who traveled with his family, received preferential treatment to enter when many Australian nationals abroad were unable to return to the country. Sam Neill—who appeared alongside Damon in "Ragnarok" as an actor playing Odin—said there was a good chance he would be in the film as well, as long as he could travel from New Zealand to Australia during the pandemic. Filming. Principal photography began on January 26, 2021, at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney, under the working title "The Big Salad". Filming was delayed from an  initial August 2020 start date due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Industrial Light & Magic provided the same StageCraft virtual production technology used on the Disney+ "Star Wars" series "The Mandalorian", which Waititi directed an episode of, creating a custom volume space at Fox Studios Australia. The space features more LED panels and offers a higher resolution than the original one created for "The Mandalorian". Waititi also used Satellite Lab's PlateLight technology (after previously using their Dynamiclight technology on "Ragnarok"), which is a special rig to capture multiple lighting set-ups simultaneously within a single shot at a high frame rate , allowing him to select which lighting set up he would like in post-production. Filming occurred at Centennial Park in Sydney in early February, with Klementieff, Gillan, Bautista, and Pratt completing their scenes shortly afterward. In early March, set photos revealed Damon and Neill were reprising their roles as the Asgardian actors playing Loki and Odin, along with Luke Hemsworth in his "Ragnarok" role as the actor playing Thor. Melissa McCarthy was also revealed to portray an actress playing Hela alongside her husband Ben Falcone in an undisclosed role; these cameos were for a sequence where actors reenact scenes from  Ragnarok. Damon filmed his part over two days. Alexander completed filming her scenes by the end of the month, while Goldblum was confirmed to appear as the Grandmaster, and Russell Crowe was revealed to be portraying Zeus in a "fun cameo". Crowe finished filming his scenes in April. At the beginning of May, Waititi said there were four weeks left of shooting. As well, Barry "Baz" Idoine, who worked with Waititi as the cinematographer on "The Mandalorian", stated he was working on the film, and would continue to do so through the end of 2021. Filming wrapped on June 1 , 2021, by which point Neill had revealed that singer Jenny Morris would appear in the film. Post-production. Maryann Brandon serves as the editor of the film. In early June 2021, Waititi stated that post-production for the film would be completed by February 2022. Later in June, Diesel was confirmed to be reprising his role as Groot for the film. In October 2021, the film's release date was delayed to July 8, 2022, while Simon Russell Beale was revealed to be appearing in the film. Additional photography for the film took place in early 2022. At the start  of March, further reshoots were revealed to be happening "in the coming weeks", and were said to have begun with Bale by the week of March 18. With the release of the teaser trailer, Bradley Cooper was confirmed to reprise his role as Rocket for the film. Music. The film will feature the song "Rainbow in the Dark" by Dio, according to Wendy Dio, widow of band member Ronnie James Dio. In December 2021, Michael Giacchino revealed he would be scoring the film; he previously scored "Doctor Strange" (2016) and the MCU "Spider-Man" trilogy, as well as Waititi's  previous film "Jojo Rabbit" (2019). Marketing. Lego sets and Hasbro figures based on the film were revealed in February 2022, with additional Lego sets and Funko Pops revealed that April. The teaser trailer for the film was released on April 18, 2022. Commentators discussed the end of the teaser, which debuted Portman's Foster in the Mighty Thor costume wielding a restored version of Thor's hammer Mjolnir. Marco Vito Oddo of "Collider" highlighted the use of the song "Sweet Child o' Mine" by Guns N' Roses, which he felt indicated "Waititi would keep the hard rock aesthetics that helped  Thor: Ragnarok become a huge success". Justin Harp of "Digital Spy" felt the humor from "Thor: Ragnarok" was "clearly back in this film too". Tom Power of "TechRadar" felt the trailer was "superhero, intergalactic glam rock feast for the senses" and contained intriguing footage that did a good job teasing the film. The trailer had 209 million global views in its first 24 hours, becoming the seventh most viewed trailer in that time period. Release. "Thor: Love and Thunder" is scheduled to be released in the United States on July 8, 2022. It was previously set for release on November  5, 2021, but was delayed to February 18, 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, before being moved up a week to February 11 once "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" was rescheduled from November 2021 to March 2022. It was delayed once again to May 6, 2022 in December 2020, before shifting to the July 2022 date in October 2021. It will be part of Phase Four of the MCU.