Marvel fans are up on Cloud 9 in anticipation following San Diego Comic Con’s buzziest panel that had studio chief Kevin Feige revealing the next two years of releases for the MCU. Among them is Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love and Thunder, which will see the return of Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie and Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster, who boasts a new alter-ego, Mighty Thor.
Jeff Goldblum is now sharing the love for the newly announced Thor sequel with this tweet tweaking the ‘80s-esque title card of the film slightly with:
How could we forget Jeff Goldblum’s Grandmaster? His blue eyeliner-fueled stare is by definition iconic, not to mention the character orchestrated the epic battle starring Thor and Hulk between hilarious tidbits on his planet of Sakaar in 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok.
This looks to be a hushed announcement that he’ll be returning to Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love and Thunder, but I guess it could be a nudge at the filmmaker to bring the Grandmaster back to the franchise in 2021. But seriously, forgetting Jeff Goldblum seems pretty farfetched!
In Thor: Ragnarok, Grandmaster was the secondary villain, enslaving Thor, Korg, Miek and Hulk so they could compete in his fight to the death in his Contest of Champions. As Thor escapes the competition, a revolt against Grandmaster goes down, overthrowing him as leader of Sakaar.
Jeff Goldblum’s return to the franchise would answer our questions about what’s next for the Collector’s brother. He might have some unfinished business with Thor since he directly affected the loss of his Sakaarian rule.
The Grandmaster’s potential return aside, it’s unclear where we will pick up with Thor. In Avengers: Endgame, we last see him boarding the Milano with the Guardians of the Galaxy after offering up his position of Ruler of Asgard to Valkyrie.
We’ve speculated that the scene was setting up an “Asgardians of the Galaxy” team-up in the upcoming continuation of James Gunn’s films, but Gunn confirmed Guardians 3 will be after the events of Thor: Love and Thunder. Maybe Thor catches a ride with them to the destination of the fourth Thor film?
During the Comic Con panel, Tessa Thompson announced that Valkyrie’s first order of business as King of Asgard will be to "find her Queen," beautifully hinting at her character becoming Marvel’s first LGBT hero, previously teased by Marvel execs.
Natalie Portman’s surprise return to the franchise as Mighty Thor was also among the most exciting reveals for Phase Four. Jane Foster was notably absent from Thor: Ragnarok and presumed to have exited the franchise.
Thor: Love and Thunder already has some major hype surrounding it and word of Grandmaster’s possible return is exciting! However, the film is the last in Phase Four! Black Widow, The Eternals, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will be hitting the big screen before Thor 4’s November 5, 2021 release date.
