Chris Hemsworth Announces Marvel’s ‘Thor: Love & Thunder’ Has Officially Started Filming In Australia

Thor: Love & Thunder has officially started filming in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia according to franchise star Chris Hemsworth after a new post on his Instagram account revealing the production has begin today during a Welcome to Country ceremony that Chris and director Taika Waititi attended.

HEMSWORTH: “A beautiful start to our shoot today with a Welcome to Country ceremony from the Gamay dancers of the Gadigal and Bidiagal Nation and performance and karakia by Maori dancers from Te Aranganui. Indigenous Australians may be just as proud of this country, but many see January 26th as a date signifying the beginning of dispossession, disease epidemics, frontier violence, destruction of culture, exploitation, abuse, separation of families and subjection to policies of extreme social control. Let’s begin the healing and stand together in unity and support with our First Nations people with solidarity and compassion. Let’s find a date where all Australians can celebrate this beautiful country together”

Production will be taking place at Fox Studios Australia the same facility recently used for Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings.

A full casting roster has yet to be announced by Marvel Studios but it looks like it will include Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Natalie Portman as Lady Thor aka Jane Foster, Tessa Thompson as King Valkyrie, Chris Pratt as Star-Lord aka Peter Quill, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Christian Bale as Gorr The God Butcher, Dave Bautista as Drax The Destroyer, Jaimie Alexander as Lady Sif, Sean Gunn as Rocket/Kraglin, and Taika Waititi as Korg.

At the end of Avengers: Endgame, we saw Thor join the ranks of Guardians of The Galaxy which explains why a bunch of those actors are in Sydney.

Matt Damon is also there to shoot scenes but it’s unknown if he’ll be reprising the role of the Asgardian actor or will take another role entirely. There seem to be more actors yet to be announced or revealed by the Australian press.

Thor: Love & Thunder is currently set to be released on May 6th, 2022 but I wouldn’t get too attached to that date as there might be more shifts from Disney adjusting their 2021-2022 theatrical schedules.

SOURCE: CHRIS HEMSWORTH

Karen Gillan Confirms Nebula’s Return In ‘Thor: Love & Thunder’ Alongside Claims Matt Damon Has Joined The Cast

Another high-profile may have joined a large Marvel Studios film.

Local Australian outlets (spotted by The Direct) are claiming that actor Matt Damon has arrived to the country with his family and will begin quarantine, so that he can shoot scenes for Marvel’s Thor: Love & Thunder.

UPDATE: The Daily Telegraph reports that Matt Damon is skipping the state’s mandatory two-week quarantine at a set New South Wales hotel.

Damon, you might remember had a brief cameo in Thor: Ragnarok as an Asgardian actor in the role of Loki for the play about his life. He also wore extensive make-up for his other Marvel cameo in Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool 2 along with Rogue One’s Alan Tudyk.

Matt doesn’t seem to have anything else on his schedule at the moment but recently wrapped on the Steven Soderbergh film No Sudden Move and Ridley Scott’s period drama The Last Duel. He had reportedly signed on to star in James Mangold’s The Force before the director agreed to direct Indiana Jones 5 for Lucasfilm.

Christian Bale is confirmed to be playing Gorr The God Butcher, the film’s villain. Bale and Damon previously co-starred in the racing drama Ford v Ferrari.

If Matt Damon indeed has a substantial role in Thor: Love & Thunder, it wouldn’t be the first time an actor has been given a smaller part only to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a completely different role.

Personally, I’d love to see him play Balder The Brave (another son of Odin) or Cul Borson aka The Serpent (Thor’s uncle).

There has been some fan speculation with Nebula actress Karen Gillan (quarantining in Australia as well) that she had been expected to appear in the sequel as well. Since we already know that that multiple characters from Guardians of The Galaxy are showing up alongside Chris Pratt’s confirmed return as Star-Lord.

Karen has now confirmed Nebula’s return on her Instagram stories (spotted by The Ronin) talking about getting her haircut to be more comfortable for Nebula’s bald-cap.

GILLAN: “This is my hair, I cut it the other day in preparation for Nebula, so we don’t have to get so much hair into the bald-cap because I have so much hair, it’s unbelievable.”

Drax actor Dave Bautista is also quarantining in Sydney getting ready for the shoot.

Taika Waititi returns to direct with a cast that includes Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Natalie Portman as Lady Thor aka Jane Foster, Tessa Thompson as King Valkyrie, Taika back as Korg, and as previously mentioned Bale is playing the film’s baddie Gorr.

Filming was said to begin this month at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney, under the working title The Big Salad. The Australian stages had been previously used for Marvel’s Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings back in 2020.

Marvel Studios has set the sequel’s release date for May 6th, 2022.