Wait, Is Thor: Love And Thunder Bringing Back A Surprise Ragnarok Star?

Matt Damon in Thor: Ragnarok

Though its release date isn't scheduled until a year from May, Thor: Love And Thunder has been coming together in recent months – its development primarily visible via the number of Marvel stars who have been flying down to Australia in preparation for the production. Thus far this list includes mostly Guardians of the Galaxy stars, including Chris Pratt, Pom Klementieff, and Karen Gillan, but now it looks like the project is prepping another surprise, as rumor has it that Matt Damon has flown down under to do some work on the Taika Waititi Marvel Cinematic Universe sequel.

This rumor comes to us from News.co.au, which reports that Matt Damon and his family arrived in Sydney, Australia this past weekend and that he has begun quarantining in preparation for being on the Thor: Love And Thunder set. It's unknown what role he will actually be playing in the developing blockbuster, but it seems fair to say that he will probably be reprising his part from Thor: Ragnarok.

We don't actually know his character's name because Matt Damon was uncredited in the 2017 movie, but evidently he is one of the great Asgardian thespians. He only had one scene in Thor: Ragnarok, which featured him playing Loki in a staged performance of the events of Thor: The Dark World , including the God of Mischief's big "death" scene (with Chris Hemsworth's brother, Luke Hemsworth, playing Fake Thor). We didn't see what happened to the actor during the attack by Hela and the destruction of Asgard by Surtur, but if he is showing up in Thor: Love And Thunder we can probably assume that he managed to not only make it to the lifeboat, but also then make it to an escape pod during the Thanos attack that played out right before the start of the action in Avengers: Infinity War.

If this is the case, it seems likely that we'll be reintroduced to Matt Damon's character living in New Asgard, which is now located in Tonsberg, Norway and, should things from the end of Avengers: Endgame hold strong, he will be hailing Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie as his new king (hopefully he won't be doing any performances playing her, however).

It doesn't look like production on Thor: Love And Thunder has quite started up just yet, but there is so much to be excited for even beyond another possible Matt Damon cameo. Chris Hemsworth is back in the titular hero role – becoming the first central Marvel character to see their solo series reach four movies – and he will be joined by returning stars Tessa Thompson and Natalie Portman (who will notably be transforming into The Mighty Thor in the movie). As mentioned earlier, the Guardians of the Galaxy are expected to make appearances (having left Earth with the God of Thunder after Avengers: Endgame), and Christian Bale is playing Gorr the God Butcher, the film's primary antagonist.

We're not exactly sure when filming on Thor: Love And Thunder will begin filming, but you can be sure that it's a development we're keeping a very close eye on, so keep a lookout for more news and updates here on CinemaBlend. You'll be able to see the Marvel Cinematic Universe blockbuster in theaters next year on May 6, 2022.

Eric Eisenberg
Assistant Managing Editor

Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.