Thor: Love and Thunder — release date, reviews, trailer, cast and everything we know about the Marvel movie

By Michael Balderston
last updated

Thor: Love and Thunder is the fourth solo MCU movie for one of the original Avengers.

Thor: Love and Thunder poster
(Image credit: Marvel Studios)

Though Marvel continues to add new superheroes to its MCU roster, fans will once again be treated to a new movie featuring one of the original Avengers — Chris Hemsworth’s Thor in 2022’s Thor: Love and Thunder. This will be the fourth solo Marvel movie for Thor.

Thor: Love and Thunder is part of Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which officially got underway in 2021. So far this new phase of the MCU has seen the release of Black Widow, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Eternals, Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on the big screen, as well as the expansion of the MCU on TV, as Disney Plus has premiered a number of Marvel original series that continue the larger, connected story — WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, Hawkeye, Moonknight and Ms. Marvel. 

In addition to Thor: Love and Thunder, we know in 2022 Marvel is also releasing Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, as well as She-Hulk on Disney Plus.

What’s in store for the God of Thunder? Here is everything we know about Thor: Love and Thunder.

Thor: Love and Thunder release date

Thor: Love and Thunder has a current release date of July 8, putting it right in the heart of the summer blockbuster season. Advance tickets for the movie are now on sale.

While Thor: Love and Thunder was always going to be one of summer 2022’s big movies, July 8 was not always the date it was lined up for.

In October 2021, Disney announced date changes for multiple Marvel movies, including moving Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness from its initially planned March 2022 release to May 6, which was the original date for Thor: Love and Thunder. This caused a chain reaction that put Thor: Love and Thunder on its new July 8 date, pushing Black Panther: Wakanda Forever to November 11, 2022, which then pushed the Captain Marvel sequel, The Marvels, to 2023.

Learn how to watch Thor: Love and Thunder right here.

Thor: Love and Thunder reviews

Reviews are coming in for Thor: Love and Thunder. 

The movie is "packed with love and unleashes its mighty thunder with all the colorful personality we've come to appreciate from Taika Waititi's films," according to What to Watch's Thor: Love and Thunder review. The review also praises the entire ensemble of new and returning actors, but particularly singles out Natalie Portman's Jane Foster.

Review aggregator sites are showing pretty positive reviews for the Marvel movie. Rotten Tomatoes scores the movie as 69% "Fresh," while it sits in the "Good" tier on Metacritic with a score of 62 (both scores as of July 7).

What is Thor: Love and Thunder rated?

Thor: Love and Thunder has earned a PG-13 rating in the US for "intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, language, some suggestive material and partial nudity. In the UK, the movie has been given a 15 rating.

What is the Thor: Love and Thunder runtime?

The total runtime for Thor: Love and Thunder (including all of the post-credit scenes) is two hours and five minutes.

Thor: Love and Thunder trailer

Marvel has released the official trailer for Thor: Love and Thunder, which gives fans the best look yet of Natalie Portman's return as Jane Foster/The Mighty Thor and the first look at Christian Bale's villain, Gorr the God Butcher. Watch the trailer directly below:

You can also enjoy the previously released teaser trailer right here:

A brief clip of Thor: Love and Thunder was shown during the MTV Movie & TV Awards, showing Thor reuniting with Mjolnir.

Thor: Love and Thunder cast

As the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to grow, the cast of Thor: Love and Thunder will feature an exciting mix of new and fan favorite characters, but first and foremost it will see Chris Hemsworth returning to the role of Thor. Hemsworth has played the God of Thunder since 2011, appearing in seven MCU movies, including his three solo movies and all four Avengers movies (it’s eight if you want to count his post-credits appearance in Doctor Strange, though that was a scene from Thor: Ragnarok). 

Hemsworth hasn’t just been confined to the MCU, however. During his time as Thor, Hemsworth has also started in movies like Snow White and the Huntsman, Rush and Extraction, to name a few. He has become one of the most popular actors today, with a knack for balancing action and comedy roles; a skill he definitely has shown as Thor.

While other original Avengers actors like Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson have seen their characters’ arcs come to a definitive end, Hemsworth keeps rolling along as Thor. Though there is a chance his title as God of Thunder may be passed to someone else in Thor: Love and Thunder — Natalie Portman.

Portman played scientist and Thor love interest Jane Foster in Thor and Thor: The Dark World, though did not appear in Thor: Ragnarok (it was explained that the pair had broken up); her character did pop up as a cameo in Avengers: Endgame. Portman is back for Thor: Love and Thunder, and it was confirmed early in the process that Jane would become the superpowered Mighty Thor in this new movie (check out some concept art revealing what could be Natalie Portman’s Thor: Love and Thunder costume below). Outside of the MCU, Portman is known mostly for her Oscar-winning role in Black Swan and her role as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequels, but she has a career that spans back to when she was a kid, starring in the movie Leon: The Professional. 

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Hemsworth and Portman are leading the way, but Thor: Love and Thunder is stuffed with other fan-favorite Marvel characters. From previous Thor movies, Tessa Thompson is confirmed to reprise her role as Valkyrie, Jaimie Alexander is returning as Lady Sif and Taika Waititi is back as Korg. Joining things, at least for a bit, will also be members of the Guardians of the Galaxy (Thor left with them at the end of Avengers: Endgame), specifically Chris Pratt’s Peter Quill, Karen Gillan’s Nebula, Sean Gunn’s Kraglin, Dave Bautista's Drax and Pom Klementieff's Mantis.

Adding a bit of fun, Sam Neil, Luke Hemsworth and Matt Damon are returning as the actors playing Odin, Thor and Loki, respectively, while Melissa McCarthy is expected to join as an actress playing Thor: Ragnarok villain Hela.

While McCarthy will be a fun new cameo, there are two big new additions to the cast that will have a bit more bearing on the plot. Christian Bale, who already has superhero experience playing Batman in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, is slated as the Thor: Love and Thunder villain, Gorr the God Butcher. Another Oscar-winning actor is entering the MCU after appearing in a DC movie (Man of Steel), as Russell Crowe is slated to play Zeus.

Some bonus material ahead of the movie's release, Marvel has shared a video about the legacy of Thor from its stars.

Thor: Love and Thunder director

In addition to starring as Korg, Taika Waititi is back as the writer (with Jennifer Kaytin Robinson) and director of Thor: Love and Thunder after receiving near universal praise for Thor: Ragnarok.

The New Zealand actor/director has become a big player in Hollywood. Starting out his career with smaller movies like Eagle vs Shark and Boy, Waititi began to get acclaim with the comedies What We Do in the Shadows (the movie that inspired the hit TV show) and The Hunt for the Wilderpeople. He followed Thor: Ragnarok up with Jojo Rabbit (for which he won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay).

In addition to Thor: Love and Thunder, Waititi has the movie Next Goal Wins possibly coming out as a new 2022 movie and the HBO Max original TV series Our Flag Means Death.

Thor: Love and Thunder plot

The official synopsis for Thor: Love and Thunder is here:

"The film finds Thor on a journey unlike anything he’s ever faced — a quest for inner peace. But his retirement is interrupted by a galactic killer known as Gorr the God Butcher, who seeks the extinction of the gods. To combat the threat, Thor enlists the help of King Valkyrie, Korg and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster, who — to Thor’s surprise — inexplicably wields his magical hammer, Mjolnir, as the Mighty Thor. Together, they embark upon a harrowing cosmic adventure to uncover the mystery of the God Butcher’s vengeance and stop him before it’s too late."

Also check out a pair of posters for Thor: Love and Thunder below, the first featuring Chris Hemsworth and the second Natalie Portman in her Mighty Thor regalia.

Thor: Love and Thunder poster and images

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Thor: Love and Thunder poster
(Image credit: Marvel Studios)

How will Thor: Love and Thunder impact the MCU?

Phase 4 of the MCU has been building out the idea of the multiverse. We’ve seen it in Loki and Spider-Man: No Way Home, while the new Doctor Strange movie literally has multiverse in its title. However, with as little knowledge as we have on Thor: Love and Thunder’s actual plot, it is hard to say if the multiverse will be a factor in its story.

What we can make educated guesses on is how the story will impact the characters. With Jane Foster returning and taking on the title of Mighty Thor, its possible that Chris Hemsworth could either take a step back in the MCU and Natalie Portman lead things in future movies, or they could become a package deal.

We’ll also probably get a sense of where things might be going with the Guardians of the Galaxy, as their next movie is expected in 2023.

Maybe another Marvel character will pop up and surprise us. After all, can we really have a Thor movie without Loki?

How will Thor: Love and Thunder impact the MCU?

Fans have been enjoying the Marvel Cinematic Universe since 2008, but just to keep things neat and tidy, here is a full list of all the MCU movies (we’re omitting the Disney Plus series) released so far and upcoming as part of Phase 4.

MCU Phase 1

MCU Phase 2

MCU Phase 3

MCU Phase 4

Michael Balderston
Michael Balderston

Michael Balderston is a DC-based entertainment and assistant managing editor for What to Watch, who has previously written about the TV and movies with TV Technology, Awards Circuit and regional publications. Spending most of his time watching new movies at the theater or classics on TCM, some of Michael's favorite movies include Casablanca, Moulin Rouge!, Silence of the Lambs, Children of Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Star Wars. On the TV side he enjoys Only Murders in the Building, Yellowstone, The Boys, Game of Thrones and is always up for a Seinfeld rerun. Follow on Letterboxd.