Marvel Studios has released a teaser trailer for Thor: Love and Thunder. Directed again by Taika Waititi, the feel of the 1980s era is thick in this fourth Thor film. Moreover, the song “Sweet Child ‘O Mine” from Guns ‘N Roses accompanied the teaser from the beginning.
- Synopsis After a grueling battle against Thanos in Avengers: Endgame, Thor intends to retire. He also feels that he has nothing left because he lost Asgard and Loki.
However, Thor’s rest period was disturbed by the presence of Gorr the God Butcher, who will be played by Christian Bale. Gorr is looking for the existence of the Gods and wants to defeat them, including Thor. The appearance of Gorr is what makes Thor have to rise from his rest period.
- The appearance of the Mighty Thor On his journey to defeat Gorr, Thor is accompanied by Valkyrie and Korg. Not only that, he also finally reunited with Jane (Natalie Portman). Jane’s figure has now turned into Mighty Thor, which in fact brings back Mjolnir.
- Appearance of Zeus The teaser trailer for Thor: Love and Thunder also features the figure of Zeus, played by Russell Crowe. In a snippet of the scene, Zeus is seen standing with his gun. However, Taika Waititi has not revealed further about the new characters in the film.
- Thor: Love and Thunder will be released in UK to theaters on July 8, 2022. This film fills the Marvel Cinematic Universe story slot after Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Who Cast the movie Thor: Love and Thunder?
Chris Hemsworth as Thor:
An Avenger and the former king of Asgard, based on the Norse mythological deity of the same name.[2] Director Taika Waititi said that Thor is going through a midlife crisis in the film, as he is “just trying to figure out his purpose, trying to figure out exactly who he is and why he’s a hero or whether he should be a hero”.[3]
Christian Bale as Gorr the God Butcher: A scarred galactic killer who seeks the extinction of the gods and wields a “strange and terrifying” sword.[1][4] Waititi described Gorr as being “very formidable” and layered.[5]
Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie:
The king of New Asgard, based on the mythological being Brynhildr.[1][2][6] Thompson and producer Kevin Feige said the character’s bisexuality would be addressed in the film.[7] Waititi said Valkyrie had to adjust to the bureaucratic aspects of ruling, away from the battlefield, such as dealing with the infrastructure and economy of New Asgard and hosting delegates from other countries.[5]
Jaimie Alexander as Sif: An Asgardian warrior and Thor’s childhood friend, based on the Norse mythological deity of the same name.[8]
Taika Waititi as Korg: A Kronan gladiator who befriended Thor.[9]
Russell Crowe as Zeus: The king of the Olympians, based on the Greek mythological deity of the same name.[10]
Natalie Portman as Jane Foster / Mighty Thor:
An astrophysicist and Thor’s ex-girlfriend who is undergoing cancer treatment while becoming the superhero the Mighty Thor, gaining a costume and powers similar to Thor’s due to wielding a reconstructed version of his hammer Mjolnir.[1][2][6][11] Portman, who did not appear in the previous film Thor: Ragnarok (2017), agreed to return after a meeting with Waititi,[12] who said Foster’s return to Thor’s life after eight years would be a big adjustment for him since she has had another life without him. Waititi added that Foster showing up dressed like Thor would be a “real mindfuck” for him.[13]
Additionally, the Guardians of the Galaxy are featured in the film,[14] with Chris Pratt, Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Vin Diesel, and Bradley Cooper reprising their respective MCU roles as Peter Quill / Star-Lord,[15] Mantis,[16] Drax the Destroyer, Nebula,[17] Groot,[18] and Rocket,[1] alongside Sean Gunn as Kraglin Obfonteri.[19]
Jeff Goldblum reprises his role as the Grandmaster from Thor: Ragnarok,[20] alongside Matt Damon, Sam Neill, and Luke Hemsworth as Asgardian actors respectively playing Loki, Odin, and Thor, with Melissa McCarthy joining them as an actress playing Hela.[21] Akosia Sabet appears as the goddess Bast.[22] McCarthy’s husband Ben Falcone,[21] singer Jenny Morris,[23] and Simon Russell Beale have been cast in undisclosed roles.[24]
When is Thor: Love and Thunder Produced?
Development
Chris Hemsworth indicated in January 2018 that he was interested in continuing to play Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), despite his contract with Marvel Studios being set to end with his role in Avengers: Endgame (2019).[25] By then, Hemsworth and Taika Waititi—director of the third Thor film, Thor: Ragnarok (2017)—had discussed what they would want in a potential fourth Thor film,[26] and Hemsworth said a month later that he would consider returning if there was “another great script”.[27] Tessa Thompson, who plays Valkyrie in the MCU films, believed in April 2019 that a pitch had been made for a Ragnarok sequel that involved Waititi returning.[28] Hemsworth said 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.[29]
In July 2019, Waititi officially signed on to write and direct a fourth Thor film, with Hemsworth expected to reprise his role.[30] Waititi was not interested in repeating what they did with Ragnarok, instead wanting to do “something more interesting for myself to keep the whole thing ignited and to make sure that I’m feeling creatively stimulated”.[5] Later that month, at San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige 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, reprising her role of Jane Foster from Thor (2011) and Thor: The Dark World (2013).[2] Portman agreed to return to the franchise, after her character was not included in Ragnarok, following a single meeting with Waititi in which he offered to reprise the character in a different, fresh way.[12][31] Thompson and Feige added that Valkyrie’s bisexuality would be addressed in the sequel, retroactively making her Marvel Studios’ first LGBTQ superhero.[7][32] Marvel Studios executive Brad Winderbaum was producing the film alongside Feige.[1] Hemsworth, who also serves as an executive producer on Love and Thunder,[33] was paid $20 million to star in the film,[34] an increase from the $15 million salary he earned for each of his appearances in Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Endgame.[35]
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$17 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$127 million) for the local economy. He added that the studio would work with “local educational institutions in creating internship opportunities”.[36] Jeff Goldblum said in August 2019 that there was a chance he could reprise his Ragnarok role of the Grandmaster in the sequel,[37] and Waititi confirmed in October that he would be reprising his own role of Korg from Ragnarok and Endgame.[9]
Christian Bale entered talks to join the cast in January 2020,[38] with pre-production expected to begin in April.[39] Jennifer Kaytin Robinson was hired to work on the film’s screenplay with Waititi in February;[40] Waititi was ultimately credited for the screenplay and shared a story credit with Robinson.[41] Thompson confirmed a month later that Bale would star as the villain in the film,[42] 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.[14] In early April, Disney shifted much of their Phase Four slate of films due to the COVID-19 pandemic, moving Thor: Love and Thunder’s release date to February 18, 2022.[43] Pre-production on the film was delayed due to the pandemic, with Waititi unsure when production would continue.[44] At the end of the month, Disney moved the release date up to February 11, 2022.[45] By July, filming was set to start in early 2021.
Pre-production
Pre-production began in Australia by October 2020.[11] A month later, Chris Pratt was revealed to be reprising his role as Guardians of the Galaxy leader Peter Quill / Star-Lord.[15] Given the ensemble nature of the cast, industry insiders described the film as feeling like “Avengers 5”.[69] In December, Feige revealed that the film’s release was delayed again, this time to May 6, 2022, and he announced that Bale would portray Gorr the God Butcher in the film.[70] Jaimie Alexander was also revealed to be reprising her MCU role, returning as Sif from the first two Thor films,[8] alongside other members and allies of the Guardians of the Galaxy: Pom Klementieff as Mantis,[16] Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, Karen Gillan as Nebula,[17] and Sean Gunn as Kraglin Obfonteri; Gunn also provides on set reference for Guardians member Rocket.[17][19] Matt Damon was set to appear, after making a cameo appearance in Ragnarok as an Asgardian actor playing Loki.[17][71] 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.[72] This prompted criticism as it was perceived that Damon, who traveled with his family, received preferential treatment to enter when many Australian nationals abroad were unable to return to the country.[71] 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.[73]
Filming
Principal photography began on January 26, 2021,[74] at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney,[36] under the working title The Big Salad.[75] Barry “Baz” Idoine serves as the cinematographer, after previously working with Waititi on The Mandalorian.[76][needs update] Filming was delayed from an initial August 2020 start date due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[36][46] 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. It featured more LED panels and offered a higher resolution than the original volume created for The Mandalorian.[77] Waititi also used Satellite Lab’s PlateLight technology (after previously using their Dynamiclight technology on Ragnarok), which is a special rig designed to capture multiple lighting set-ups simultaneously within a single shot at a high frame rate, allowing Waititi to select which lighting set up he would like in post-production.[78] Waititi believed he was able to shoot Love and Thunder more efficiently than Ragnarok due to already having experience working on a Marvel Studios film.[5]
Filming occurred at Centennial Park in Sydney in early February,[79] with Klementieff, Gillan, Bautista, and Pratt completing their scenes shortly afterward.[80][81][82] 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 be portraying 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.[21] Damon filmed his part over two days.[72] Alexander completed filming her scenes by the end of the month,[83] while Goldblum was confirmed to appear as the Grandmaster,[20] and Russell Crowe was revealed to be portraying Zeus in what was described as a “fun cameo”.[84][10] Crowe finished filming his scenes in April.[10] At the beginning of May, Waititi said there were four weeks left of shooting,[85] while Idoine said he would continue work on the film through the end of 2021.[76] Filming wrapped on June 1, 2021,[86] by which point Neill had revealed that singer Jenny Morris would appear in the film.
Post-production
Waititi said in early June 2021 that post-production would be completed by February 2022.Later in June, Diesel was confirmed to be reprising his voice role as Groot.[18] In October 2021, the film’s release date was delayed to July 8, 2022,[88] while Simon Russell Beale was revealed to be appearing.[24] Additional photography for the film took place in early 2022.[89] At the start of March, further reshoots were revealed to be happening “in the coming weeks”,[90] and were said to have begun with Bale by the week of March 18.[89][91] With the release of the teaser trailer in April, Bradley Cooper was confirmed to be reprising his voice role as Rocket,[1] and the following month, Akosia Sabet was revealed to be appearing as the goddess Bast
Visual effects for the film were created by Wētā FX, Rising Sun Pictures, Framestore, Industrial Light & Magic, Method Studios, Luma Pictures, Raynault VFX, Base FX, EDI Effetti Digitali Italiani, Mammal Studios, Fin Design + Effects, and Cinesite.[92] Matthew Schmidt, Peter S. Elliot, Tim Roche, and Jennifer Vecchiarello serve as the film’s editors.
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