We last saw Chris Hemsworth’s Thor at the end of Avengers: Endgame. Having played a key role in vanquishing Thanos, the God of Thunder entrusted the Asgardian throne to Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie and set off into space with the Guardians of the Galaxy, dubbing their team-up the Asgardians of the Galaxy. Given what we know about Thor: Love and Thunder, however, their partnership may be short-lived, as the story will be about Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster gaining Thor’s powers and how that impacts the titular hero.
The shoot has just begun in Australia and it seems that the Guardians will indeed feature in the movie to some extent. Right now, we can’t be sure if the full lineup will make it into the film, but Chris Pratt has been pictured on set, Karen Gillan has said that she’s returning as Nebula and, judging by a new photo posted on Instagram, Dave Bautista is back as Drax. Apparently taken in his bathroom, the actor showed off his new look, describing himself as a “#HairlessGorilla” and explaining that it’s for a good cause.
My thinking is that Thor: Love and Thunder will pick up where Endgame left off, and show Thor losing his powers while with the Guardians. During Infinity War and Endgame, he clearly considered himself superior to this ragtag group of space weirdos, so it’d be fun to see him suddenly more vulnerable in their company. And with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 still a long way off, it’ll be nice to have Drax and the gang back on screen. Still, I don’t expect the team to play a major role in the movie.
That’s partly because getting the whole crew involved in the story would give Taika Waititi a lot of characters to juggle and also, it’d be extremely expensive to pay for full appearances from all those A-listers at once. Then again, if Marvel Studios think it’s worth flying everyone to Australia and putting them through two weeks of quarantine, maybe they will have a substantial part in Thor: Love and Thunder after all?
