Marvel’s Thor: Love & Thunder (working title The Big Salad) has been filming at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia with director Taika Waititi returning to make the fourth installment. The film’s mysterious cinematographer has been officially revealed.
Speaking with New Zealand outlet Kea, Baz Idoine confirmed he is currently working on Thor: Love & Thunder. He is best known for his Emmy-winning work on The Mandalorian series and was the second unit cinematographer on American Sniper and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
IDOINE: “I can’t talk much about them, but I’m working in Australia at the moment on Thor: Love and Thunder which I’ll be working on until the end of 2021. Then, I’ll just see what happens. Personally, my wife and I are hoping to move back to New Zealand next year.”
Taika and Baz previously worked together on The Mandalorian. This could potentially explain why The Book of Boba Fett was placed into production in the fall instead of Season 3 of The Mandalorian as the show’s cinematographer has been busy working on a Marvel Studios movie. I’m curious if the two will reunite on Taika’s untitled Star Wars movie he is developing for Lucasfilm.
Love & Thunder will introduce the cosmic beings known as The Olympians and will feature cameos from many members of Guardians of The Galaxy, one of the final scenes of Avengers: Endgame saw Thor leaving Earth with the Guardians to go on an adventure in space.
The film’s cast consists of Natalie Portman as Jane Foster aka Lady Thor, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Christian Bale as Gorr The God Butcher, Tessa Thompson as King Valkyrie of New Asgard, Russell Crowe as Zeus, Matt Damon as fake Loki, Melissa McCarthy as fake Hela, Sam Neill as fake Odin, Luke Hemsworth as fake Thor, Jaimie Alexander as Lady Sif, Chris Pratt as Peter Quill aka Star-Lord, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Dave Bautista as Drax The Destroyer, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Taika as the lovable Korg, and Sean Gunn as Kraglin.
Thor: Love & Thunder will open in theaters on May 6, 2022.
As today is Star Wars day, May The 4th, I decided to rundown all the upcoming live-action projects in the works over at Lucasfilm and what we know about them.
THE BOOK OF BOBA FETT: Originally confused with the third season of The Mandalorian, the Boba Fett series will continue the adventures of Temuera Morrison’s Fett and Ming-Na Wen’s wonderful Fennec Shand. In a post-credit scene in Season 2 of The Mandalorian, the pair return to Tatooine and assassinate Bib Fortuna at Jabba’s Palace. It’s unknown officially if we’ll see Boba take a kingpin role within the criminal underworld or will be slightly more heroic.
A Boba Fett movie had been in the works with Simon Kinberg and Josh Trank, but the studio ultimately killed it and instead decided to make The Mandalorian allowing them to insert Boba Fett in the second season because of where the shows take place in the timeline.
At one time, Guillermo del Toro pitched a gangster project to Yahoo! during an interview featuring Jabba that was described as a Godfather saga in the Star Wars universe.
DEL TORO: “I would do the sort of Godfather saga that Jabba the Hutt had to go through to gain control. One, because it’s the character that looks the most like me, and I like him. I love the idea of a Hutt type of mafia, a very complex coup. I just love the character.”
It’s possible The Book of Boba Fett could end up being a revised version of that idea and we could see more of the criminal elements as The Mandalorian sort of abandoned low-level criminal threats when Grogu came into the picture and Imperial baddies became more the focus.
Producing will be Robert Rodriguez, Jon Favreau, and Dave Filoni. They secured Emmy-winning production designer Andrew Jones (The Mandalorian) with filming taking place in California giving them access to The Volume/StageCraft. We are hearing the producing team will also act as directors on the series as well with at least 7-episodes.
It’s seemingly set to debut on Disney+ in December.
ANDOR: A prequel to Rogue One: A Story Wars Story, the project will focus on Diego Luna’s Rebellion spy character Cassian Andor. Production had been taking place in the United Kingdom with Toby Haynes (Sherlock, Doctor Who, Utopia, Black Mirror) taking on directing duties from Tony Gilroy after the pandemic made things difficult, who was also working on scripts. Gilroy famously was brought-on to write and direct extensive reshoots on Rogue One.
Joining Diego Luna will be Adria Arjona (Morbius), Denise Gough, Genevieve O’Reilly as Mon Mothma, Stellan Skarsgard (Thor, Dune, Girl With The Dragon Tattoo), Fiona Shaw, and Kyle Soller. However, it sounds like K-2SO won’t be appearing in the first season according to actor Alan Tudyk giving the impression that we’ll be getting a Season 2 of Andor. This was a little puzzling as he was announced as being a cast member originally alongside Luna and would suggest that his role was scaled-back in rewrites.
It’s supposed to debut on Disney+ in 2022.
OBI-WAN KENOBI: Like Boba Fett, Lucasfilm had been trying to develop a Kenobi feature film that was abandoned for a 6-episode series on Disney+ instead. The Mandalorian’s Deborah Chow is directing with a crew such as cinematographer and production designer Todd Cherniawsky (Avatar, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Star Trek: Picard).
The story begins 10 years after the dramatic events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith where Kenobi faced his greatest defeat, the downfall and corruption of his best friend and Jedi apprentice, Anakin Skywalker turned evil Sith Lord Darth Vader.
We’ll see at least four prequel actors return with Ewan McGregor as Ben Kenobi, Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, Joel Edgerton as Uncle Owen, and Bonnie Piesse as Aunt Beru. The show’s new additions are Indira Varma (Game of Thrones), Kumail Nanjiani (Eternals), Sung Kang (F9, Tokyo Drift), O’Shea Jackson Jr. (Godzilla: King of The Monsters), Benny Safdie (Good Time), Rupert Friend, Moses Ingram, and Simone Kessell.
While Obi-Wan is known as spending most of the time between Star Wars: Revenge of The Sith and Star Wars: A New Hope wondering Tatooine as a hermit, it sounds like the series will be a little more exciting than that and we’ll see other locations. Ewan McGregor has teased extensive training for lightsaber battles which would expose himself as a Jedi Knight if he did this publicly on Tatooine and also hinted Kenobi could be going off-world.
MCGREGOR: “There’s a hunger for this character to come back. The fans have been waiting long enough, you know? We start on Tatooine, and we go on a rollicking adventure.”
We’re expecting that a young Luke Skywalker will appear in the show given the era and that his Uncle/Aunt are confirmed.
The return of Darth Vader could mean we’ll see more action sequences with the baddie or Kenobi having to tangle with Inquisitors as it could explain the training McGregor has been undergoing, unless we’ll see flashbacks to battles during the Clone Wars. In Rogue One, one of the big highlights was seeing Darth Vader unleashed against a group of Rebels and the series could give Lucasfilm an excuse to shoot another action sequences with the Sith villain.
It’s not confirmed if Liam Neeson’s Qui-Gon Jinn will show up in some capacity, but Liam has revealed he would be open to return for the Disney+ series. However, the rumor of Jar Jar Binks making a return was debunked by actor Ahmed Best on Twitter.
THE MANDALORIAN – SEASON 3: The finale of Season 2 ended with uncanny valley Luke Skywalker saving the group from the Dark Trooper droids and agreed to train Grogu. We also see Din Djarin beat Moff Gideon in a duel earning the Darksaber making him the new leader of Mandalore which should develop into some conflict with Bo-Katan.
Lead actor Pedro Pascal will be busy over the summer as he’ll be playing Joel in HBO’s series adaptation of the Naughty Dog video game The Last of Us, which will be filming in Calgary, Alberta, Canada making things a little complicated if he’ll be needed on set of The Mandalorian.
I wouldn’t be shocked if the show won’t return on Disney+ until late 2022 as The Book of Boba Fett seemingly took it’s production schedule last fall.
AHSOKA: A spinoff of The Mandalorian, as revealed in Ahsoka Tano’s episode the former Jedi is searching for Grand Admiral Thrawn. While there has been plenty of fan speculation that other characters from the animation side will appear in the show that has yet to be confirmed.
After making her long awaited live-action debut in The Mandalorian, Ahsoka Tano’s story, written by Dave Filoni, will continue in a limited series starring Rosario Dawson and executive produced by Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau.
RANGERS OF THE NEW REPUBLIC: Like Ahsoka, the project takes place within the same timeline of The Mandalorian and will likely feature a handful of characters we’ve already been introduced to. Cara Dune would have been shoe-in before Lucasfilm fired Gina Carano, but we don’t know if they’ll recast the role or pivot to a new character instead.
Set within the timeline of The Mandalorian, this new live-action series from executive producers Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni will intersect with future stories and culminate into a climactic story event.
I have to imagine that Bill Burr’s sharpshooter Migs Mayfeld and Paul Sun-Hyung Lee’s Captain Carson Teva could be part of the show’s lineup. Paul’s CBC comedy series Kim’s Convenience recently ended allowing him to commit to other shows like Rangers of The New Republic.
THE ACOLYTE: The Disney+ series from Russian Doll’s Leslye Headland is said to be taking place during The High Republic, the new era of Star Wars that will be explored heavily in new publications of both novels and comic books.
The Acolyte is a mystery-thriller that will take the audience into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark side powers in the final days of the High Republic era.
LANDO: Referred to as an “event series” suggesting it will be a one-off like Obi-Wan Kenobi, Lando will be developed and written by Dear White People’s Justin Simien. Justin had recently been hired to direct Disney’s new Haunted Mansion movie based on the theme park ride and it’s unclear if they’ve signed-on Donald Glover to reprise the role as he’s got a bunch of projects in the works thanks to his deal with Amazon, including a Mr. & Mrs. Smith series with Solo: A Star Wars Story co-star Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
ROGUE SQUADRON: In December, it was officially announced that the next big movie, Rogue Squadron, is set to be released on December 2023 and will be directed by Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman, Monster). Jenkins will be the first female director to helm a Star Wars film.
The next Star Wars feature film will be Rogue Squadron — directed by Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman franchise). The story will introduce a new generation of starfighter pilots as they earn their wings and risk their lives in a boundary-pushing, high-speed thrill-ride, and move the saga into the future era of the galaxy.
JENKINS: “[In the Star Wars: Rogue Squadron movie] we’re doing something original with great influence from the games and the books. There’s a lot of things being acknowledged and understood about the greatness of all of those things, but yes, it’s an original story and I’m so psyched to do it.”
Other feature films in the works include one from director Taika Watiti (Thor: Love & Thunder, Jojo Rabbit, Thor: Rangrok) that seemingly lost co-writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns (1917, Last Night In Soho) as her name was missing from Lucasfilm’s press release from December.
Rian Johnson continues to state in interviews that his original Star Wars trilogy is happening even though he recently signed-on to direct two Knives Out sequels for Netflix and is working with Natasha Lyonne on a new mystery series called Poker Face for Peacock.
Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige is also said to be producing his own feature with Michael Waldron (Rick & Morty, Loki, Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness) writing it.
In 2020, it was revelaed by The Hollywood Reporter that J.D. Dillard (Devotion, Sleight) and Matt Owens (Luke Cage, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) would be co-writing a movie, but we haven’t any real updates on the project. Dillard is currently shooting the Korean War pic Devotion starring Jonathan Majors and Glen Powell. He was also in talks to direct a remake of The Fly.
Lastly, an unconfirmed report from BuzzFeed claimed that the studio tasked screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis (Altered Carbon, Shutter Island, Avatar, Ghost In The Shell, Alita: Battle Angel) to pen an adaptation of Knights of The Old Republic (a potential “trilogy”) and studio head Kathleen Kennedy confirmed to MTV News it’s an era they’ve been talking about exploring internally. I’m curious with the talk of video game remake in the works if they’ll attempt to expand upon The Old Republic in a similar manner as they are with The High Republic.
Thor: Love & Thunder will see the return of the Loki play as seen in set photos and it’s expected that actor Sam Neill (Jurassic Park) will be back as Odin in that play, reprising a brief cameo from Thor: Ragnarok. That play will include Matt Damon as Loki, Luke Hemsworth as Thor, and Melissa McCarthy as Hela.
Interestingly enough, Sam Neill posted an image on Twitter of himself with Jurassic Park and Jurassic World: Dominion co-star Jeff Goldbum together in Sydney, where production is taking place on Thor: Love & Thunder at Fox Studios Australia. The pair also happened to have both appeared in Taika’s Thor: Ragnarok with Jeff playing cosmic villain The Grandmaster.
There seems to be a strong possibility Jeff might be in town to shoot something for the sequel, could we see a return of The Grandmaster?
Goldblum told BuzzFeed he was considering a return back in late 2019 and was already recording voice over for The Grandmaster in the Disney+ animated series What…If?
GOLDBLUM: “Hey, we’re talking about it, in fact. You know, I hope so. I love Taika Waititi, he’s a great director and a friend of mine, so I hope so…But I played the part again a couple of days ago. I went to the Disney studios and I recorded the Grandmaster’s voice for an episode of a show that’s gonna be on Disney+ called What If…?”
Last weekend, Russell Crowe was seen with Taika Waititi and Chris Hemsworth at a South Sydney Rabbitohs game, only for his role in Thor: Love & Thunder to be announced days later. While not a iron-shut case that Jeff is reprising the role of The Grandmaster, it’s been noted that most high-profile actors in the area have been connected to the sequel and seeing a former cast member of Thor: Ragnarok, who played it’s secondary villain could suggest he might be there to film something for the Marvel sequel.
Jeff also would have had to spend two weeks in a quarantine hotel before taking this photo with Sam.
Thor: Love & Thunder is set to be released on May 6, 2022, unless there is another Marvel Studios slate shift in the future.
After social media posts revealed that Russell Crowe, Chris Hemsworth, and director Taika Waititi hung out at a South Sydney Rabbitohs game in Sydney over the weekend. It looks like he’s secured himself a part in their upcoming MCU installment as Deadline is reporting that Crowe has landed an undisclosed role in Thor: Love & Thunder. However, it’s still unclear how much screen time Russell will actually get and even what the character is.
Production on the Thor sequel kicked-off back in January and has been mostly taking place at Fox Studios Australia located in Sydney, New South Wales Australia. The same facility used to film Riley Scott’s Alien: Covenant and Marvel’s Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings.
The Oscar-winner is no stranger to action flicks as he played Jor-El in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel and earned an Oscar for his role in Ridley Scott’s epic Gladiator. He also nabbed Oscar nominations for A Beautiful Mind and Michael Mann’s The Insider.
Crowe isn’t the only DC Comics alum in the cast as former Batman, Christian Bale, is playing the film’s main villain called Gorr The God Butcher. A pale skinned alien creature that likely will require motion-capture similar to Thanos and The Children of Thanos.
Taika is also said to have a role in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad. His role is most likely voicing the cosmic villain Starro after it was revealed in the latest trailer that Sly Stallone would be voicing King Shark in the DC sequel. This would make Waititi DC Comics alum as well just like Crowe and Bale.
The Aussie actor joins a rather large cast that also includes Hemsworth as Thor, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster aka Lady Thor, Tessa Thompson as King Valkyrie of New Asgard, Chris Pratt as Star-Lord, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Dave Bautista as Drax The Destroyer, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Sean Gunn as Kraglin, Jaimie Alexander as Sif, Taika Waititi as Korg, Matt Damon, Luke Hemsworth, and Melissa McCarthy.
Disney has given Thor: Love & Thunder a release date of May 6, 2022.
We recently saw set photos from Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love & Thunder that confirmed the return of the Loki play along with Matt Damon, Luke Hemsworth, and Melissa McCarthy being part of the scene. Also, we saw multiple members of the Guardians of The Galaxy shooting scenes as well but looks like those will be more brief any originally thought.
Some new photos from the Daily Mail reveal Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster aka Lady Thor with what looks like some Earthbound Asgard Warriors, potentially from New Asgard. They also include the first look at Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie, who is wearing a pinstripe suit in the photos. It certainly looks like the scenes are taking place in New Asgard and hint towards Jane’s transformation into Lady Thor.
The Asgardian guards/soldiers in the set photos have an interesting Earthbound military look to them but you can notice some are still using spears and shields.
I guess we’ll have to wait to see Christian Bale as Gorr The God Butcher as the character might end-up being motion-capture. We’ll likely know for sure if he’s spotted in a motion-capture suit.
It remains to be seen if we’re dealing with The Multiverse in Thor: Love & Thunder, given that it’s supposed to be a big part of Phase 4 and the Loki series will seemingly be the first project covering it in any real depth via Time Variance Agency.
Filming has been underway on Thor: Love & Thunder in Sydney, Australia and some new set photos posted by the Daily Mail released confirmed that the Loki play is coming back with Melissa McCarthy taking a new part.
You can see in the set photos that Melissa McCarthy is in Cate Blanchett’s Hela costume along with the return of Matt Damon’s Loki and Luke Hemsworth’s Thor. This would suggest that Damon’s return was indeed to reprise this Asgardian actor character from Thor: Ragnarok and could mean that McCarthy is also playing another Asgardian.
New Asgard is expected to be a tourist location on Earth as revealed in concept art shown last year by director Taika Waititi during an Instagram stream. Which could explain the return of the play despite the destruction of Asgard.
Multiple Guardians of The Galaxy actors were also spotted on set previously.
Actor Idris Elba is currently in Australia shooting the George Miller film Three Thousand Years of Longing and given the proximity to Marvel’s Thor: Love & Thunder production there is some speculation he could end up reprising the Heimdall role.
There is a potential hint that could end up happening.
A new Instagram photo posted by Chris Hemsworth over the weekend on from an 1980s birthday party features himself with Matt Damon and Elba.
You might be asking why would Heimdall be coming back? He was killed-off in Avengers: Infinity War. True, but there are teases from the Loki trailer Elba might have shot a cameo for that Disney+ series (Loki mentions Heimdall by name) alongside Jaimie Alexander’s Lady Sif (also expected for Love & Thunder). There are a few ways to have Heimdall come back, The Multiverse and flashbacks being the most reasonable options.
Oscar-winner Christian Bale was confirmed by Marvel Studios in December as playing the film’s alien villain Gorr The God Butcher.
Filming has been underway since last month at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney with multiple Guardians of The Galaxy actors spotted on the set.
However, unlike other actors we know that Idris is specifically there for another movie production and his presence in Australia doesn’t automatically mean he’ll end up in the film. There is just an extremely good chance that it happens.
It looks like Rian Johnson himself has revealed in a chat with Sariah Wilson with that he’s indeed still working on his new Star Wars trilogy. This comes after the December update from Lucasfilm concerning their Star Wars projects failed to give us an update on the status of Johnson’s trilogy. However, it sounds like he’s still making them but his Knives Out sequel is the priority at the moment.
WILSON: “Yes, Rian’s SW trilogy is still on. No dates or timelines because he has other projects going on, but it is happening.”
This is how Lucasfilm described the trilogy when they first announced it’s development back in 2017.
Lucasfilm is excited to announce that Johnson will create a brand-new Star Wars trilogy, the first of which he is also set to write and direct, with longtime collaborator Ram Bergman onboard to produce.
As writer-director of The Last Jedi, Johnson conceived and realized a powerful film of which Lucasfilm and Disney are immensely proud. In shepherding this new trilogy, which is separate from the episodic Skywalker saga, Johnson will introduce new characters from a corner of the galaxy that Star Wars lore has never before explored.
Concerning the feature films, if the December presentation is to be believed Patty Jenkins’ Star Wars: Rogue Squadron would be the next project to go into production. While it’s a possible toss-up between Taika Waititi’s film (may have lost screenwriter Krysty Wilson-Cairns) and this mysterious project from Rian. There have been multiple rumblings that either the studio or Johnson himself has moved on, but these have always been met with denials and this update seemingly is coming from Johnson himself. It’s worth mentioning a handful of Star Wars films haven’t reached the finish line and likely has people wondering if the trilogy will ever get made given how long ago it was announced.
The Book of Boba Fett and Andor are currently in production with Kenobi about to start filming in the late spring. Pedro Pascal might be a little busy shooting HBO’s The Last of Us and could suggest he’s been given a window to shoot something else before Season 3 of The Mandalorian beings.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see what exactly Rian is making and when that first installment will get in front of cameras.
As filming on Marvel’s Thor: Love & Thunder has officially kicked-off in Sydney, Australia last week. The first real-deal set photos featuring cast members have finally arrived online via The Daily Mail.
The images can be seen by clicking the source link at the bottom of the page.
These set photos include first looks at Chris Hemsworth’s Thor (minus fat suit), Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord, Karen Gillan’s Nebula, and Sean Gunn’s Kraglin is wearing a Guardians patch suggesting he’s joined the team alongside Thor for some sort of adventure. Kraglin also seems to have Yondu’s arrow technology as well which should make him a bit more of an asset than in previous films.
Filming is taking place during Australia’s summer which is why you’ll see many cast members are holding fans, something we often see on these Aussie sets. The scene seems to be focused mainly on Thor’s involvement with the Guardians of The Galaxy as he joined them at the end of Avengers: Endgame leaving Earth and New Asgard behind.
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, Taika Waititi in a bigger role as Korg, and Matt Damon is playing an undisclosed character too.
There is a really good chance given the involvement of The Guardians, that the new Thor movie could help establish the events of James Gunn’s Guardians of The Galaxy 3.
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.
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.
THE RONIN 
