 Christian Bale had initially turned down the possibility of appearing in any more comic book or superhero films after The Dark Knight Rises 2012, seeing the genre as uninteresting from an acting perspective and especially finding the experience of donning the Batman costume to be a miserable one. He agreed to take part in this film, however, having been impressed by Taiko Waititi's previous works and after his kids begged him to take the role. Chris Hemsworth's family appears in this film. His sons, Sasha Hemsworth and Tristan Hemsworth play young Thor at different ages in the film. His daughter, India Rose Hemsworth, plays Gore's daughter, Love. His brother, Luke Hemsworth, plays a stage actor portraying Thor. His wife, Elsa Pataki, plays a former love of Thor. Cork's god, Nininani, sits on a throne of scissors because in the rock-paper-scissors game, rock beats scissors. Natalie Portman told in a total film in a separate interview that Christian Bale looked terrifying while in costume. The children would run screaming, she said. He has a very, very, very scary look, in addition to, of course, his excellent acting. But on this one, in between takes, he'd be like, hey what's up? It was just a normal conversation, which is jarring because he looked terrifying. Thor's goats, Tooth Grinder and Tooth Nasher appear in the film. These goats had appeared in both the Marvel Comics and Norse myth of Thor. Their constant yelling is a reference to the famous internet video of a screaming goat. Chris Hemsworth, on his eighth time playing the character of Thor, achieved his biggest physique ever for this film. Getting up to 231 pounds for the role. His longtime trainer, Luke Zochi, said, he is in phenomenal shape. He's the biggest he's ever been. He's the heaviest he's ever been. This extent of musculature required Hemsworth to eat at least eight times a day during the entire duration of filming, just to maintain all the muscle mass he had acquired. When Thor and Jane discussed their breakup, Jane estimates it happened three years ago while Thor says eight. The reason for that difference is Jane was dusted for five years in the decimation after Avengers Infinity War. And contrary to Thor saying to Loki that it was a mutual dumping in Thor Ragnarok, this movie makes it clear that Jane was the one who finally pulled the plug. It was Russell Crowe's idea to have Zeus speak with the Greek accent. Director Tycho Waititi wanted a British accent for the Greek god, so he had Crowe do every take once in a Greek accent and once in a British accent. Waititi then determined that Crowe was right and the Greek accent worked best. Christian Bale almost shrubbed out of the film due to scheduling conflicts. Bale usually prefers to have wider gaps between projects, but this time he had only three days after finishing shooting a film in Los Angeles and starting the mandatory COVID-19 quarantine in Australia. It was his children who eventually convinced him to make the scheduling work. Thor considers his goats good for eating. In Norse mythology, Thor often slaughtered his goats and ate their meat, then resurrected them with his power. Natalie Portman stood on platform boxes next to Chris Hemsworth to look taller next to him. Portman stands at 5'3", while Hemsworth is a foot taller at 6'3". Chris Hemsworth calls Gore his favorite villain in the Marvel Universe. In the comics, Gore the God Butcher's powers are shared with the symbiote beings due to Gore's weapon, the Necro Sword, being created by Null, the dark god of the symbiotes. The film makes no mention of the symbiotes, as they're currently having films produced by Columbia Pictures. Thus, the previous wielder of the Necro Sword, implied to be Null, is made by an unknown and unnamed figure. Thor is the first MCU character to have four standalone films, and, as of July 2022, the only one to have as many. Thor wears a vest over a t-shirt with jeans. This is the uniform of Thunderstrike, a superhero who inherited Thor's powers. One scene has Thor and Corg stare at the body of a fallen god. This is a replica of a scene in the Thor God of Thunder comic, where Thor came across the same body. Thor or Love and Thunder marks Natalie Portman's official return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Jane Foster. After her experiences working on Thor the Dark World, Portman had decided to retire from doing any more MCU films. But when it was revealed she had a cameo in Avengers Endgame, this suggested Portman was game for another Thor movie. This was officially confirmed at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con when Portman walked on stage and director Tycho Waititi handed her a meal near prop, also confirming that Jane would become the mighty Thor in this film. She then made her official return in the animated series, What If. Chris Pratt, an action star himself, not to mention being the son-in-law of bodybuilding legend Ardon Schwarzenegger, confessed to being awed by Chris Hemsworth-Physique in this film. The film represents Hemsworth's biggest physique to date. Pratt said, people are going to be astounded when they see what he's brought to Thor for. He's ratcheted up to another level. I was just in awe of his presence. He's a man-god in real life. On the days they would film kissing scenes, Chris Hemsworth would abstain from meat because Natalie Portman is vegan. During the fight in the omnipotent city, the guards do not splatter red blood when injured, but gold. Greek mythology states that gods have a substance called icker instead of blood. Heimdall's teenage son, Astrid, asked to be renamed to Axl in honor of a rockband from Earth. He refers to Axl Rose, the lead singer of Guns N' Roses. However, Axl is an ancient Norse name that means helmet, thus blending as guardian and human culture. When Korg tells Thor's story in the beginning, Thor can be briefly seen wearing his classic costume from the comics. The film was not released in Malaysia, Brunei, Kuwait, and Bahrain due to Disney's refusal to cut any LGBT elements. As with Avengers Infinity War, Chris Pratt felt that having a supporting role rather than leading the film allowed for a more relaxed and quirky interpretation of Peter Quill and Star-Lord. Among the gods whom Valkyrie names in Omnipotent City, she identifies one as the God of Carpentry. Unlike the other gods named, this one is not shown. This unseen god is possibly Jesus Christ, who was a carpenter by trade. The comic version of Gore from Thor, God of Thunder, was a hideous alien with a bulbous, nose-less face, fangs, twilight-like head-tails, and a disheveled look. Twilight is a race from the Star Wars franchise, seen for the first time in Star Wars Episode VI, Return of the Jedi. Due to its trailer being released much later on, Thor, Love and Thunder has broken the record for the shortest gap between an MCU movie's first trailer and its theatrical release, with less than a two-month gap between both. Christian Bale is the second actor to play Batman to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, after Michael Keaton and Spider-Man Homecoming. Tycho Waititi is the first person to direct more than one Thor film. He also directed Thor Ragnarok. During the scene in New Asgard near the beginning of the movie, there's a play put on for tourists where Matt Damon plays the stage version of Loki. Matt Damon played Loki in the movie Dogma, directed by Kevin Smith.