Natalie Portman revealed that sequences in Thor: Love and Thunder that would've featured several additional planets were cut from the film by director Taika Waititi.
Portman, who will reprise her role as Jane Foster in the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe film, shared some details about the amount of "pretty remarkable" content removed from the final cut of the film. "The joy and the sorrow of a Taika Waititi project is that he creates so much brilliance and so much material that the movie could be like an infinite number of things," Portman told Collider. "And it like inevitably means that incredible, hilarious, moving comedy and drama ends up not there. So, there's a lot. I mean, there's full planets that are not there anymore."
After appearing in 2011's Thor and its 2013 sequel, Thor: The Dark World, Portman did not return as Jane Foster for Waititi's Thor: Ragnarok in 2017. In Love and Thunder, however, Portman returns as Jane, who has taken on the mantle of "The Mighty Thor." Portman's decision to reprise her role came following a meeting at her house with Waititi, after which she agreed to join the film. While some fans assumed that this would act as a passing of the torch between Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Jane, Waititi said recently that "[he doesn't] think that's the case."
Gorr's Motivations
Love and Thunder will see Thor and Jane, along with Valkyrie and Korg (Tessa Thompson and Waititi, respectively), team up to stop the murderous rampage of Christian Bale's Gorr the God Butcher. "Gorr's backstory involves being wronged by the gods, and a lot of his motivation is getting revenge for these wrongdoings... we really wanted to explore this idea of religion, belief, and what it means to put your faith in a higher power," Waititi recently said of the character's motivations. "And because Thor is essentially a god, what does it mean for him to represent these gods?"
In addition to the motivations of the character, Bale recently shed some light on what it was like to physically portray Gorr in the film. "[Gorr's long nails] rendered me completely incapable of everything," Bale said. "I was pathetic. I found myself thinking things like, 'I don't think I can walk because I've got long nails.' It affected my brain. I was like, 'I can't eat, I've got long nails.' I was trying to type. I couldn't do anything."
Thor: Love and Thunder will arrive in theaters on July 8.
Source: Collider