The wait is over, folks! The Thor: Love and Thunder trailer is finally here, and there’s a lot to take in from the preview for the upcoming Marvel movie, including Chris Hemsworth’s God of Thunder having given up the superheroing life and a great look at Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster geared up as The Mighty Thor. But upon watching the first Love and Thunder trailer a few times, I noticed something: it seems as though a character’s been digitally removed from one of the shots, as you can see above.
I can’t say this with 100% certainty, but there have been plenty of instances where trailers for Marvel Cinematic Universe movies have digitally removed characters, like when Spider-Man was scrubbed from the Team Iron Man lineup for one of the Captain America: Civil War previews. All that empty space on Chris Hemsworth’s left indicates this is happening once more for Thor: Love and Thunder, so assuming this is indeed the case, who is that mystery character? I have a few guesses.
Jane Foster
This coming July will mark three years since it was announced at San Diego Comic-Con that not only would Natalie Portman be returning to the MCU, her version of Jane Foster would follow in her comic book counterpart’s footsteps and transform into The Mighty Thor. So MCU fans have known for a while she’s coming back, and now the average moviegoer knows this too thanks to the trailer. It’s also been revealed that Foster will become a superhero by inheriting Mjolnir, which has somehow been reformed after being destroyed in Thor: Ragnarok.
It’s safe to say that Jane Foster will play an important role in Thor: Love and Thunder, but Marvel Studios may not want to tip its hand too much on just how integral she’ll be. As such, it’s easy enough to imagine she’s the figure next to Chris Hemsworth’s Thor and Korg who’s been digitally removed. Of all the characters who’ve been officially announced to appear in Love and Thunder, she’s a solid candidate for going on an adventure with these two.
Lady Sif
Another character who’s been absent from the Thor film series for a while is Lady Sif. Jaimie Alexander wasn’t able to reprise her character in Thor: Ragnarok due to being busy with Blindspot, but in December 2020, five months after the NBC series concluded, it was announced that Alexander would be returning for Thor: Love and Thunder. Since then, Alexander popped up as a past version of Sif from Loki’s memory in an episode of his same-named Disney+ series, but it’ll be nice to reunite with her present day self and learn what she’s been up to since the events of Thor: The Dark World.
Unless she’s barely perceptible in one of the Thor: Love and Thunder trailer’s faraway shots, Lady Sif isn’t present in this preview. So while MCU fans know she’s coming back, the average moviegoer is still in the dark, and Marvel Studios may want to keep it that way. It’s also easy to envision Sif adventuring with Thor and Korg, but since this trailer was packed with plenty of goodies, why not leave Sif’s inclusion out for the people who haven’t followed along with Love and Thunder’s development as either a surprise for the next trailer or for when they sit down to watch the movie?
Valkyrie
Following Avengers: Endgame’s climactic battle, Thor decided to name Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie as New Asgard’s new king. As seen in the Thor: Love and Thunder trailer, New Asgard has become a booming tourist destination, but Valkyrie clearly isn’t enjoying having to wear a suit and preside over various meetings, committees, etc. Still, we know that eventually an opportunity will come for her to jump back into action, the question is how that will unfold.
This may be another instance of Marvel Studios want to keep a tight lid on particular events in Thor: Love and Thunder. If Valkyrie is indeed the figure who’s been digitally removed from that shot, maybe she’s wearing a new costume that Marvel doesn’t want the public to see just yet, or maybe there’s something else about the way she looks in that shot that would tip off eagle-eyed MCU fans to a Love and Thunder plot point. Regardless, you can be sure there are a lot of people looking forward to spending more time with Valkyrie.
One Or More Of The Guardians Of The Galaxy
After his conversation with Valkyrie, Thor departed Earth with the Guardians of the Galaxy as Avengers: Endgame wrapped up, and he’s still adventuring with them when Thor: Love and Thunder rolls around. We know that eventually they’ll go their separate ways, with Thor embarking on a colorful adventure, and the Guardians returning later in the year for The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special on Disney+, followed by Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in May 2023. However, perhaps the events of Love and Thunder will result in one of the Guardians, if not the entire team, returning to help out the Asgardian of the Galaxy when he’s in some trouble.
The main strike against this theory is that Chris Pratt and the other Guardians of the Galaxy actors didn’t spend that much time in Australia shooting Thor: Love and Thunder. This means they probably don’t have a lot of screen time in Love and Thunder, but who knows, maybe some extra filming with them was done on the down low.
Hercules
There’s no question this is the longest shot of all the people on this list, but it’s by no means an impossibility. Last year, it was revealed that Russell Crowe would star as Zeus in Thor: Love and Thunder, and this trailer included a quick tease of him and Olympus, the domain of the Olympian Gods. Shortly after we learned Zeus will appear in Love and Thunder, I speculated on if his inclusion would pave the way for Hercules, who’s been part of Marvel Comics lore since the mid-1960s. Maybe that time is now.
To be up front, there’s been no mention of Hercules appearing in Thor: Love and Thunder, and with everything that’s packed into this movie already, throwing the strongest Olympian into the mix could lead to the story feeling overstuffed. Still, Hercules coming to the aid of Thor and his allies would be a pleasant treat and set the stage for the character to have a bigger role in another Marvel movie or Disney+ series. I’m not putting any money on Hercules being the scrubbed-out character, but I’ll certainly be happy if this is the case.
Don’t forget that if you have a Disney+ subscription, you can catch up with all of Thor’s previous MCU appearances so you’ll be ready to go when Thor: Love and Thunder drops on July 8. When that day finally arrives, keep your eyes peeled for who that figure next to Thor and Korg ends up being!
