Empire Magazine has shared another new still from Thor: Love and Thunder, this time featuring Chris Hemsworth's Odinson alongside the returning Jane Foster (Natalie Portman).
We caught a glimpse of Foster in her Asgardian duds right at the end of the trailer, of course, but aside from a few blurry set photos, this marks our first time seeing The Mighty Thor without her helmet.
“It’s been about eight years,” director Taika Waititi tells Empire. “She’s had a whole other life, and then the love of your life comes back on the scene, and is now dressed like you. It’s a real mindf*ck for Thor.”
We still don't know exactly how Jane will be reintroduced, but a recent toy packaging description did suggest that the movie will follow the comics to at least some extent, with Foster seeking a cure for her cancer.
“I didn’t know we were going to use the storyline of the Mighty Thor character until we started working out the actual story,” adds Waititi. “I was writing and it was like, ‘Wouldn’t it be kind of cool to bring Jane back into the storyline?’ [But] you don’t want Natalie coming back and playing that same character who’s walking around with science equipment. You know, while Thor’s flying around, she’s left on Earth, tapping her foot going, ‘When’s he going to be back?’ That’s boring. You want her to be part of the adventure.”
Thor: Love and Thunder finds Thor (Chris Hemsworth) on a journey unlike anything he’s ever faced – a quest for inner peace. But his retirement is interrupted by a galactic killer known as Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale), who seeks the extinction of the gods. To combat the threat, Thor enlists the help of King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Korg (Taika Waititi) and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who – to Thor’s surprise – inexplicably wields his magical hammer, Mjolnir, as the Mighty Thor.
Together, they embark upon a harrowing cosmic adventure to uncover the mystery of the God Butcher’s vengeance and stop him before it’s too late.
Directed by Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok, Jojo Rabbit) and produced by Kevin Feige and Brad Winderbaum, Thor: Love and Thunder opens in theaters July 8, 2022.