Thor: Love and Thunder will release in July 2022; Credits: MCU Wiki

Marvel has taken to release back-to-back hits, first with Eternals and now with the news of the upcoming release of Thor: Love and Thunder. The film will feature a big star cast, and Marvel might soon reveal the deets on the film's trailer release and more sneak peeks into what is coming soon!

Marvel's Phase Four is a time like no other Marvel releases before. The Fourth Phase began with the WandaVision series, which is to release on November 5th, and Marvel is soon to release Thor: Love & Thunder. As Thor: Ragnarok made a big impression on the Box Office with a gross collection of $854 million, another Thor release is bound to make a big impact, too. With four Thor films already under Marvel's helm, beginning with Thor, Thor: The Dark World, and then Thor: Ragnarok, Love, and Thunder is a much-awaited release for many fans. 

Chris Hemsworth will reprise his role as Thor; Credits: CNBC

Marvel now has six productions under Phase four and has collectively released 29 films in its entirety of productions. Chris Hemsworth, who has featured as Thor in 9 Marvel movies, will once again feature as Thor in the latest release. Thor: Love & Thunder was first scheduled to release earlier next year, but the release date was then bumped to July 2022, further enhancing the popularity of the latest Thor release. 

Here is everything you need to know about Thor: Love & Thunder!

The cast

Chris Hemsworth, of course, will make a reappearance as the much-loved Thor in the fourth film of the Thor series and will star along with Natalie Portman, who portrays the character of Jane Foster. While Portman wasn't seen in the franchise since the 2013 release of Thor: The Dark World, her return to the series now is already expected to be bigger and better than ever before.  

In the latest release, Jane is all set to feature as Might Thor and also gets to wield the legendary hammer of Thor: Mjolnir. Additionally, Valkyrie, the leader of New Asgard, will once again be played by Tessa Thompson. Other members to join the cast are Jaimie Alexander as Siff and Jeff Goldblum as Grandmaster. Other members from The Guardians of the Galaxy are also expected to join the crew. The film will also feature Vin Diesel's Groot!

The villain is to be played by Christian Bale, who gets to portray Gorr the God Butcher. A cameo appearance by Russel Crowe will show him as Zeus while Loki, Odin, and Thor are to be once again played by Matt Damon, Sam Neil, and Luke Hemsworth. Furthermore, we will get to see Hela played by Melissa McCarthy. 

The film's direction is once again to be under the skilled manship of Taika Waititi after he first directed Thor: Ragnarok. The director is also the co-writer of the screenplay, along with Jennifer Kaytin Robinson for Thor: Love & Thunder. The director is also set to once again feature his character Korg in the fourth film in the Thor franchise. 

The film's storyline:

Natalie Portman to lead center stage in Thor 4; Credits: ScreenRant

The otherwise Chris Hemsworth-led film will now feature Natalie Portman as Jane Foster in the limelight of the plot as she gets to play Might Thor and eventually take control of Thor's hammer. The director Taika had shared a sneak peek into the story as he revealed it during the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con. He had said, "That storyline is incredible, full of emotion, love, and thunder, and introduces for the first time female Thor."

Natalie Portman herself shared a bit more on the story to Yahoo! back in 2020. She conceded, "I'm starting to train, to get muscles. If there can be all these female superheroes, the more of them they are, the better it is. I'm trying to think — it's based on the graphic novel of the Mighty Thor. She's going through cancer treatment and is a superhero on the side."

The film also features an LGBTQ+ trope with Valkyrie openly announcing to be LGBTQ+. Tessa had revealed, "As the new king, she needs to find her queen. So that will be the first order of business."

However, the first openly LGBTQ+ couple in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is Phaistos and his husband. The two characters were featured in Eternals and were shown kissing on screen.

Sharing more on the love trope of Thor: Love & Thunder, director Taika revealed to wired, "What I wanted to do from the beginning was to ask: 'What are people expecting the least from this franchise?' Oh, I know – a full-blown love story!"

In another interview with BBC, Taika said, "It is so insane. It's also very romantic. I'm into romances now. I just want to make a romance. I want to make something I've never done or never cared for. I would like to attack something like that."

More on its release and production

'Thor: Love and Thunder' is scheduled to release on July 8th, 2022, now after countless reschedules. The first announced release date was November 5th, 2021, but with production having to be shifted into a later time slot because of the pandemic, the film was said to be released in February 2022, which was then shifted to May. 

Thor: Love and Thunder will feature Jane-Thor romance; Credits: Indian Express

The Australian shot film hasn't yet revealed its trailer or sneak peeks, but keep your fingers crossed for getting to see the movie soon!