How the Thor: Love and Thunder cast aimed to 'freak the fans out'

How do you follow up one of the most beloved, strange, and psychedelic films that Marvel's ever made? If you're director Taika Waititi, you set out to write a sequel that's even more ambitious — and way wilder.

After rebooting everyone's favorite hammer-toting, golden-tressed hero with 2017's Thor: Ragnarok, Waititi returns with Thor: Love and Thunder (out July 8). Like its predecessor, Love and Thunder centers on the intergalactic adventures of Chris Hemsworth's Viking space god, and before the film hits theaters, EW recently sat down with Waititi and cast members Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson, and Christian Bale for a spoiler-free edition of its Around the Table series.

For Waititi, the biggest challenge was crafting a story that felt true to Ragnarok, while also charting a new path for the Asgardian hero. Specifically, a romantic path.

"I was thinking, what would freak the fans out — and not in a good way?" the writer-director explains. "You associate Thor [with being a] big hero. The last thing a Thor fan really wants to see is the word 'love.' They're like, ugh, kissing! So I was like, we'll lean into that. We'll make them love love and make the fans excited for a romance."

Hemsworth has played the character for over a decade, beginning with 2011's original Thor and stretching across more than a half-dozen films. Over the years, poor Thor has faced the death of his entire family, the destruction of his home, losing to Thanos, and all sorts of life-altering traumas — so Hemsworth says he was excited for the Lord of Thunder to traverse new territory.

Marvel Studios Natalie Portman, Taika Waititi, Tessa Thompson, and Chris Hemsworth in 'Thor: Love and Thunder'

"We've kind of broken the character down and rebuilt him a number of times," Hemsworth explains. "What we hadn't sort of explored was the romantic comedy set in space."

"Mixed with a mid-life crisis," Waititi adds.

In addition to Waititi and Hemsworth, Love and Thunder also sees the return of Thompson's Valkyrie and Portman's Jane Foster, with the latter now taking up Thor's old hammer Mjolnir and wielding lightning powers of her own. But the film also introduces Bale's nefarious Gorr the God Butcher, whom Waititi has teased as "probably one of the best villains that Marvel's had in their films."

Bale is no stranger to comic book blockbusters, having starred as Batman in all three of Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight films. But he still says he was hesitant to dive in again and play a Marvel baddie — at least until his family convinced him otherwise.

"My kids have never really shown any interest in anything I've ever done," Bale says. "And this was the first film ever. I wasn't certain I would be able to do it, and they went to me [and said], 'No, you're doing this film.' They absolutely insisted on it. So I took their marching orders and said yes, definitely."

In addition to breaking down some of the film's best and most colorful fight scenes, the cast also opens up about stunt training and secretly watching Russell Crowe rehearse his lightning bolt twirls. ("He would sometimes stand outside of my trailer, practicing," Thompson explains. "He'd be in his tennis skirts with his little tendrils… It was the cutest thing.") They also praised Waititi for always setting the mood on set, whether he was organizing push-up competitions or curating the perfect playlist.

And as Portman notes, that atmosphere was particularly helpful on days when the set itself didn't feel all interstellar.

"There's one scene that's one of the most visually beautiful scenes I've seen on film, and we shot [it] in real life in a Best Buy parking lot," Portman says with a laugh. "It's so wild to be on this size of movie, and we were literally in a parking lot with a blue screen, doing this really dramatic thing. It looks so stunning on film, but every time I see it, I'm like, 'That's a Best Buy parking lot.'"

Thor: Love and Thunder hits theaters on July 8. Watch the full interview in the video above.

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