Though he appeared briefly in 2017's Thor: Ragnarok, actor Sam Neill had no idea what was going on in the Marvel movie.
While promoting his new film, Rams, Neill spoke with Collider about appearing in the Taika Waititi film and how out of his depth that he was during the process. “I’m not really entirely nerdishly [into] the Marvel franchise," Neill said. "I was completely baffled by so many things. I went with friends who sort of knew a bit more than me. I was like, ’Do you know what planet we’re on at the moment? Is that Hopkins or was that Loki?’ And they were explaining it, they said, ‘You’re in the film! Why do we have to explain it to you?’ I said, ‘Because I’m a bit lost. I’m truly lost here.’ I shouldn’t really confess to that. I should really know what’s going on. [Laughs] It is a strange - it looks like Tony Hopkins, but it’s not!”
In Thor: Ragnarok, Neill played one of the many cameo roles in the film. He appeared as Odin in the dramatization of Loki's life that the God of Mischief put on while disguised as Odin himself, leading to some of the confusion Neill mentioned above. In the play within the film, Chris Hemsworth's brother Luke played Thor, while Matt Damon appeared as Loki.
Despite not understanding what was going on, Neill isn't saying no to a return to the MCU. The New Zealander was recently asked if he would appear in Thor: Love and Thunder after a rumor emerged that Matt Damon would be reprising his role as one of the Asgardian actors from Ragnarok.
"I think the odds are reasonably high," Neill said last month. "I think Taika's got something up his sleeve. We will see what happens. Travel between [New Zealand] and Australia is problematic at the moment, but we will see if something can be worked out."
The fourth Thor film will be bringing back a number of actors from Ragnarok, so it's certainly possible that the actors from the film's play survived on New Asgard, as seen in Avengers: Endgame. The movie will also see the return of characters like Lady Sif, who missed out on Ragnarok entirely.
Directed by Taika Waititi, Thor: Love and Thunder stars Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, Jaimie Alexander as Lady Sif, Chris Pratt as Star-Lord, Dave Bautista as Drax, Karen Gillen as Nebula and Christian Bale as Gorr the God Butcher. The film arrives in theaters May 6, 2022.
Source: Collider