Tessa Thompson Confirms Christian Bale Is Playing a Villain in Thor 4: 'We're Going to Have Fun'
Tessa Thompson is excited about the recent addition to the upcoming film Thor: Love and Thunder.
The actress spoke to Entertainment Tonight at the season 3 premiere of Westworld in Los Angeles on Thursday night, confirming Christian Bale, 46, had joined the recent installment of the Marvel franchise.
“Christian Bale is going to play our villain, which is going to be fantastic,” Thompson, 36, said. “I’ve read the script. I can’t tell you much. Lots of exciting text messages exchanged between Natalie [Portman] and I.”
She added, “We’re going to have fun. Taika [Waititi] is writing [and] directing. Some familiar faces. Some new people coming into the mix.”
The fourth film in the franchise was announced in July 2019 at San Diego Comic-Con where Chris Hemsworth, Thompson and Waititi introduced the film’s title to fans.
Vera Anderson/WireImage; Frazer Harrison/Getty Images Tessa Thompson, Christian Bale
Also present was Portman, 38, who surprised fans by revealing she would be Female Thor in the upcoming film.
While Thompson couldn’t give ET any details or clues as to what fans could expect from the movie, she did assert her character would be known as King Valkyrie since taking over from Hemsworth’s Thor in last year’s Avengers: Endgame.
“She’s king,” she said. “If she can’t find her queen, she’ll just be king and queen at the same time.”
Portman opened up about returning to the role of Jane Foster in September 2019, telling ET, “They came to me with the idea and said, ‘We have this idea for you that was a storyline in some of the comics where Jane becomes Lady Thor,’ and I was like,’ This is very exciting!’”
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She continued, “Obviously, I wasn’t written into [Thor: Ragnarok] because of here it took place. It wasn’t really on Earth, and my character is on Earth.”
As for working with Hemsworth and Thompson, Portman said, “I love Tessa and Chris so much, so it’s exciting to work with them again. And I’m very excited to wield the hammer.”
Portman starred as Thor’s love interest Jane in Thor and Thor: The Dark World in 2011 and 2013. As Entertainment Weekly previously reported, “Her super new role in the fourth Thor film is based on Jason Aaron’s comic book run that saw Jane Foster ultimately become the Mighty Lady Thor when Thor Odinson finds himself unworthy of picking up Mjölnir for the first time in the rebooted Thor #1.”
Thor: Love and Thunder is in theaters Nov. 5, 2021.
