Although Marvel Studios is keeping specific plot details for Thor: Love and Thunder close to the chest, one thing that’s abundantly clear about the upcoming movie is that it will be packed with familiar faces, from the long-awaited return of Jane Foster to the Guardians of the Galaxy being involved in the proceedings. But it’s not just major characters who are on the table. Following the report that Matt Damon is returning for Love and Thunder, Jurassic Park’s Sam Neill has indicated he’ll likely be back for another round too.
Thor: Ragnarok marked Sam Neill’s second collaboration with director Taika Waititi, with the two having first worked together on 2016’s The Hunt for the Wilderpeople. Like Matt Damon, Neill played an Asgardian actor in the production of The Tragedy of Loki of Asgard, with his character portraying Odin. Here’s what Neill told ET about the prospect of him appearing in Thor: Love and Thunder:
I think the odds are reasonably high. 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.
So while nothing is set in stone just yet, Sam Neill is confident that he’ll be able to participate in Thor: Love and Thunder in some capacity. Neill and Matt Damon’s Thor: Ragnarok characters, as well as the rest of the cast of The Tragedy of Loki of Asgard, were among the many Asgardians around when Thor exposed Loki as having disguised himself as Odin. However, they weren’t seen again for the rest of the movie, so Ragnarok ended without audiences learning if they survived Asgard’s destruction, and we certainly didn’t learn if they’d been massacred by Thanos and his minions at the beginning of Avengers: Infinity War.
To clarify, if Matt Damon and Sam Neill do indeed return in Thor: Love and Thunder, it’s unclear if they’d reprise the same Asgardian actors or play brand-new characters? If it’s the former, presumably we’d see them in New Asgard, a.k.a. Tonsberg, Norway, which is now being ruled by Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie. Fingers crossed that would also mean that Luke Hemsworth’s Thor: Ragnarok character, who played Thor in that never-going-to-win-any-Tonys production, is with them.
Again, we don’t know yet specifically what Thor: Love and Thunder has in store for audiences, but it will involve Chris Hemsworth’s God of Thunder clashing with Christian Bale’s Gorr the God Butcher, Valkyrie searching for a queen and Jane Foster transforming into The Mighty Thor. In addition to his directing and co-writing duties, Taika Waititi will also reprise Korg, with Love and Thunder exploring the Kronan’s culture. How the Guardians of the Galaxy fit into the picture hasn’t been disclosed yet, but let’s not forget that Thor departed Earth with them at the end of Avengers: Endgame, so don’t be surprised if he has a stronger dynamic with them.
Thor: Love and Thunder storms into theaters on May 6, 2022, and even if Sam Neill doesn’t get to appear there, we won’t be devoid of him in 2022, as he’s reprising Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic World: Dominion, which arrives the following June. Don’t forget to look through our Marvel movies guide to learn what else the MCU has primed for the big screen in the coming years.
