Love And Thunder’ offers first look at Christian Bale’s villain

Marvel Studios have released the second trailer for Thor: Love And Thunder, showing off the first look at Christian Bale’s villainous Gorr The God Butcher.

The trailer premiered during Game 4 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals, with director Taika Waititi (who also voices the ex-Kronan warrior Korg) teasing its inclusion with stars Chris Hemsworth (Thor) and Tessa Thompson (Valkyrie) over the weekend. His Korg character narrates the trailer, telling a group of alien children “the story of the space viking, Thor Odinson”.

Have a look at the new trailer for Thor: Love And Thunder above.

Featured prominently in the trailer is Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, whose appearance in Thor: Love And Thunder marks her first in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since 2013’s Thor: The Dark World.

She was notably absent from 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok – an exclusion Portman opened up about two years after its release. The new film will address Foster’s time away from the limelight, during which she gained superpowers and adopted the Mighty Thor mantle.

Wielding the mythical weapon Mjölnir alongside Thor and Valkyrie – who in Avengers: Endgame was named the King of New Asgard – Thor: Love And Thunder will see Mighty Thor go head-to-head with Gorr The God Butcher, who in the trailer declares that “all gods will die”.

Also appearing in the film will be the Greek god Zeus (played by Russell Crowe), who looks to imprison Thor during an excursion to Olympus. The full Guardians Of The Galaxy team, who appeared prominently in the first trailer, will show up, too, though they only pop up briefly in the new trailer, and don’t appear at all on the new poster.

Though unconfirmed, it’s possible we’ll see Idris Elba return as Heimdall for Thor: Love And Thunder – despite his character’s death in 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War – with Elba teasing his future in the MCU last July. Melissa McCarthy was also spotted shooting scenes for the film last March; she’ll reportedly star as a fake version of Hela, the villain played by Cate Blanchett in Thor: Ragnarok.

Waititi has called Thor: Love And Thunder the “craziest” film he’s ever made, saying in a recent interview: “It’s almost like it shouldn’t be made. If you walked into a room and said, ‘I want this and this and this.’ Who’s in it? ‘These people.’ What are you going to call it? ‘Love And Thunder.’ I mean, you’d never work again. Maybe I won’t after this.”

Due to hit cinemas on July 8, Thor: Love And Thunder will be 29th film in the MCU, following the release of Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness earlier this month. It will also follow the Disney+ premiere of Ms. Marvel on June 8, ahead of the premiere of She-Hulk on August 17.