Natalie Portman Reveals Thor: Love and Thunder Shooting Start Date

July 27, 2020

With productions starting to resume overseas for a number of major film and TV titles, it looks like Thor: Love and Thunder, the highly-anticipated fourth installment in the MCU franchise, will begin shooting soon as Natalie Portman has revealed an estimated start date for production. (Via Slash Film)

Featured on tennis superstar Serena Williams’ Instagram account, the Oscar winner revealed that the plan is to begin shooting in Australia, star Chris Hemsworth’s home country, in “the beginning of next year,” which would keep the film on track to make its March 2022 release. In addition to Portman’s revelation, co-writer/director Taika Waititi revealed in an interview to BBC News that the writing for the film is “going really good” and that he and co-writer Jennifer Kaytin Robinson are “doing another pass on it” this week, describing the script as “so insane” and “also very romantic.”

“I’m into romances now,” Waititi said. “I would like to make something that I’ve never done or never cared for. I would like to attack something like that.”

Thor: Love and Thunder will be directed by Waititi (Jojo Rabbit) on a script co-written by him and Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (Someone Great), which will be the followup to Waititi’s wildly successful 2017 sequel Thor: Ragnarok. Oscar-winner Natalie Portman is set to return as Jane and will now be wielding the mighty Mjolnir. Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson will also return as Thor and Valkyrie, respectively. Academy Award winner Christian Bale (The Dark Knight trilogy) will portray the main antagonist in the film. The female Thor storyline is based on Jason Aaron’s run on “The Mighty Thor” in which a cancer-stricken Jane Foster takes up the mantle and powers of Thor.

Thor and Valkyrie were last seen in this year’s highest-grossing film of all time Avengers: Endgame, with the god of thunder entrusting his responsibilities as the King of Asgard to Valkyrie as he joins the Guardians of the Galaxy on their next mission. According to Vin Diesel, the Guardians might also make an appearance in the fourth Thor film.

Originally set to debut on November 2021, Thor: Love and Thunder will now be arriving in theaters on March 25, 2022.

(Photo Credit: Getty Images)