Natalie Portman: ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ Shot Its Most Visually Stunning Scene in Best Buy Parking Lot

Adam B. Vary Senior Entertainment WriterSPOILER ALERT: This story discusses major plot developments in Marvel Studios’ “Thor: Love and Thunder,” currently playing in theaters.When Jennifer Kaytin Robinson first got a call from Marvel Studios, it wasn’t about writing the script for “Thor: Love and Thunder” with director Taika Waititi.“I actually pitched to write ‘Captain Marvel 2,'” Robinson tells Variety.

Brett Goldstein opened up about his entrance into the Marvel Cinematic Universe at the “Ted Lasso” FYC event in Los Angeles Monday evening.The actor made his franchise debut at the conclusion of Taika Waititi’s “Thor: Love and Thunder,” which hit theaters earlier this month. In a post-credits scene featuring Zeus (Russell Crowe) fretting over his defeat at the hands of Thor (Chris Hemsworth), the god sends his son, Goldstein’s Hercules, to enact vengeance on his behalf.

J. Kim Murphy “Thor: Love and Thunder” looks to rule the box office again in its second weekend, fending off more modest openers “Where the Crawdads Sing” and “Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank.”While Marvel’s Thor fourquel has an easy path to remaining the weekend’s top release, the superhero film is taking a sizable tumble from its opening.

is a candy-colored carnival of action and humor, and a welcome return of favorite Marvel characters: Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, Natalie Portman’s Jane, Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie and Chris Pratt’s Peter Quill, popping in from the “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise. One face you may have failed to identify in the trailer: Gorr the God Butcher, who’s played by Christian Bale. But if you know anything about Bale, you’ll know this guy is recognizably unrecognizable.Bale, 48, is the industry’s standard for body modification.

interview with Rolling Stone magazine, the “Thor: Love and Thunder” director said that he had totally forgotten that Natalie Portman had starred in the “Star Wars” prequel trilogy, according to the Wrap. The 46-year-old “Jojo Rabbit” director said that while they were filming “Love and Thunder,” he actually asked Portman if she had ever wanted to be in a “Star Wars” film.“She said to me, ‘What are you up to next?’ I said ‘Oh, I’m trying to work on a “Star Wars” thing. Have you ever wanted to be in a “Star Wars” movie?’ ” said Waititi.“She said, ‘I’ve been in a “Star Wars” movie,’ and I went ‘… should we do another take?’ ”Portman starred as Queen Padmé Amidala in the franchise’s first prequel installment, 1999’s “The Phantom Menace,” alongside Keira Knightley, Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor and would later reprise her role in 2002 for “Attack of the Clones” and 2005’s “Revenge of the Sith.” Lucasfilm announced on May 4, 2022 that Waititi would be directing his own theatrical “Star Wars” film, but the production company was unclear about when Waititi’s addition to the franchise would debut.

The latest edition in the seemingly never-ending Marvel Cinematic Universe arrives in UK cinemas tomorrow (July 7). Thor: Love And Thunder is the sixth MCU film to be released in the last year, following a slight hiatus during the Covid-19 pandemic, just a couple of months on from the release of Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness.

headed to a galaxy far, far away — or at least, a different galaxy than the Marvel one we’ve seen him in so far — but that doesn’t mean he remembers everything about “Star Wars.” In fact, he totally forgot that his “Thor: Love and Thunder” co-star Natalie Portman was in the prequels — and accidentally told her so.In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, the “Thor: Love and Thunder” director — and soon to be “Star Wars” director — admitted that during filming on “Love and Thunder,” he actually asked Portman if she’d ever wanted to be in a “Star Wars” film, having fully forgotten she was already in her own trilogy.“She said to me ‘What are you up to next?’ I said ‘Oh, I’m trying to work on a ‘Star Wars’ thing. Have you ever wanted to be in a ‘Star Wars’ movie?'” he recounted.

Rita Ora and Taika Waititi are showing off their love on the red carpet. The couple stepped out on Tuesday to attend the U.K. Gala screening of Waititi's latest directorial venture, .Ora, 31, stunned on the carpet in an embellished gown with a plunging neckline, thigh-high slit and open back.

Natalie Portman, director Taika Waititi, and Tessa Thompson pose together at the UK Gala Screening for their film Thor: Love and Thunder on Tuesday (July 5) in London, England.

, hilariously led by star Chris Hemsworth and director Taika Waititi.In ET's exclusive clips from the set of the upcoming Marvel movie — which was filmed on day 84 of the production, back in 2021 — the pair take fans on a tour of the town of New Asgard, though it looks slightly different than when we last saw it in the MCU. shows that King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) has shaped her people's new home into an idyllic, commercialized paradise, however, it's been partially laid to ruin after a confrontation with the film's villain, Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale).Hemsworth and Waititi gleefully add to the destruction as they show ET around the on-set wreckage, smashing windows and throwing bricks and furniture at the destroyed cars and set pieces.«Just a couple of street thugs, aren't we?» Hemsworth jokes as the pair cause hilarious havoc.

“Thor: Love and Thunder,” out on July 8.However, it wasn’t the easiest task for the “Black Swan” star, who discussed with Vogue Australia how hard it was to come back to set after a decade away.While it was “incredible” and “surreal” to return to the Marvel world, Portman noted that she felt like she had to “figure out how to fit in” again.“It’s so strange when something is very familiar but also, you’re kind of the new kid,” the “Black Swan” star said. Her costars Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson, as well as director Taika Waititi, had previously worked together on the third film, “Thor: Ragnarok” in 2017.“Because Chris and Tessa and Taika had worked together on ‘Ragnarok,’ and so successfully and so it was like they were all reuniting and I was this newbie in there trying to figure out how to fit in,” she explained.The Israeli-born filmmaker went on, “But also they’re just the nicest people, and also I know Chris and Tessa so well from previous work together, and also I had done ‘Thor’ movies twice before.”Portman appeared in both “Thor” and “Thor: The Dark World.” She also collaborated with Thompson, 38, on the 2018 drama “Annihilation.”“So there was a lot of familiarity and comfort in that world too, but it was this weird mix of being the veteran and the newbie at the same time,” she said.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic“Thor: Love and Thunder” has a pleasing, let’s-try-it-on-and-shoot-the-works effervescence. Like most Marvel movies, the fourth entry in the Thor saga would seem to have weighty matters on its mind, starting with Thor’s hammer, the smashed fragments of which have been reassembled — and, more to the point, claimed — by Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), Thor’s old flame. By possessing the mystique of that hammer, she has become the Mighty Thor.

Thor: Ragnarok.” He has the complex motivations of Erik Killmonger of “Black Panther,” but with the mesmeric physical transformation we’ve come to expect from Bale.The Brit is a glutton for punishment.Running time: 125 minutes. Rated PG-13 (intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, language, some suggestive material and partial nudity.) In theaters July 8.Able to shed and gain weight with the seeming ease of Alexa delivering the weather report, he’s Hollywood’s most addictive freak. In his latest role, the actor is stick-thin (no Batman biceps here) and looks like he might have fleas.

Chris Hemsworth's kids aren't impressed by his fame. ET's Cassie DiLaura spoke to the 38-year-old star, and the actor revealed his kids' reaction to being on the set of the upcoming Marvel flick.

Thor: Love and Thunder,” Chris Hemsworth bares it all to show off another asset: his bare butt.“It was 10 years in the making that scene — kind of a dream of mine,” Hemsworth told Variety during Thursday’s “Thor: Love and Thunder” premiere at El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. “The first time I played Thor I took my shirt off and I thought, ‘You know what’s gonna sweeten this …  a decade from now it’s all gonna come off.”Although it’s still unclear what can be expected a decade from now, there’s a lot to take in from the fourth “Thor” movie, directed by Taika Waititi.

#ThorLoveandThunder is fucking great. I think instantly one of my favorite Marvel movies – probably cause it’s easily the funniest, yet still had me choked up by the end. I hope Taika Waititi never stops making Thor movies.#ThorLoveAndThunder might be my favorite Marvel movie and it also might be their very best.