Natalie Portman appeared in a video on Tennis superstar Serena Williams’ Instagram account where she revealed the potential new production start date for the upcoming Thor installment.
PORTMAN: “We’re shooting at the beginning of next year in Australia.”
As announced at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019, Natalie is set to return as Jane Foster but will be taking on the alter ego of Lady Thor in Thor: Love & Thunder allowing her to potentially take on the mantle in future films.
It’ll be interesting to see if Lady Thor has a connection to The Multiverse via the Loki series or if there is another route they’ll be going to explain how Jane was able to receive the power of Thor. In the comics, Thor has a human alter ego named Dr. Donald Blake (who transforms into Thor taking cues from Shazam!) which has never really been touched upon and could be easily handed over for Jane/Lady Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Other characters expected to return alongside Chris Hemsworth’s Thor and Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie include Taika Waititi’s Korg (I previously reported last summer of an increased role for his character in the sequel) and Korg’s pal Miek.
Oscar-winner Christian Bale (The Dark Knight, American Psycho, Ford v Ferarri) is said to be playing the film’s villain and is the first of the new additions to the franchise.
We should be hearing more casting news before the end of the year.
Filming on Love & Thunder had originally been slated to begin shooting next month at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. That wasn’t able to happen because Shang-Chi had to pause production after the COVID-19 outbreak in Australia led to director Destin Daniel Cretton cautiously quarantine himself during production and the film paused for multiple months until it was safe to resume.
Production dates, in general, should be taken with a grain of salt for upcoming new projects even when it is coming from actors because they’re extremely fluid in the age of COVID-19. However, there is a really good chance this one sticks because Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings (hasn’t officially resumed filming) could be completed by then and Australia is certainly in better shape than other countries where Marvel films are expected to shoot.
Fingers crossed there aren’t any further delays on Shang-Chi that could lead to more headaches for the Thor sequel.
Marvel Studios and Disney recently updated Thor: Love & Thunder‘s release date to February 11th, 2022, but this could easily change in the coming months if the Black Widow release has to be bumped to February 12th, 2021 from November 6th.
SOURCE: SERENA WILLIAMS
THE RONIN 