Thor: Love and Thunder is shaping up to do to the Asgardian God of Thunder what Captain America: Civil War did to everyone's favourite defrosted war veteran.
Last month, it was reported that the fourth solo Thor movie was going to have an "Avengers 5 feel" due to its ensemble cast, which is set to feature MCU crossovers to rival the Cap vs Iron Man battle of Civil War.
With so little known about the plot beyond the return of Natalie Portman, we don't yet know if Thor: Love and Thunder will end up feeling more like an Avengers movie than a Thor movie.
However, we've decided to do some digging into the announced and rumoured cast to show which MCU characters could be joining Thor in his latest adventure.
Thor regulars
So far, we know for sure that Chris Hemsworth will be back as Thor (obviously) and he'll be reunited with Thor: Ragnarok's Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie who is now officially the MCU's first openly LGBTQ+ superhero.
Having skipped out Thor: Ragnarok and the Avengers movies (bar some archive footage in Avengers: Endgame), Natalie Portman is back as Jane Foster, but she's no ordinary Jane anymore, she's Mighty Thor.
Despite the return of Jane Foster, it doesn't look like we'll be seeing Stellan Skarsgård or Kat Dennings back as Dr Erik Selvig and Darcy Lewis, respectively. Both stars have cast doubt on their appearance in the next movie, but maybe they're just being secretive.
The only other (still-alive) character we'd expect to see back is Korg, with Taika Waititi reprising his fan-favourite role.
Jaimie Alexander's Lady Sif managed to escape the slaughter of the Warriors Three at the hands of Hela in the last movie, potentially just because Alexander wasn't able to appear in the movie.
That does open up the possibility of Lady Sif returning and Alexander was teasing a return to the character earlier this year, so watch this space...
Guardians of the Galaxy
At the end of Avengers: Endgame, Thor decided to leave New Asgard and go off into space with the Guardians of the Galaxy, so it's not a surprise to know that some of them will be making an appearance in Thor: Love and Thunder.
Vin Diesel confirmed as much earlier this year, but it's not yet clear exactly which Guardians will appear. Chris Pratt is definitely going to appear as Star-Lord, but it's not yet clear how big of a role he'll play in the movie.
Star-Lord's appearance suggests we could also see Karen Gillan's Nebula, Dave Bautista's Drax and Pom Klementieff's Mantis, as well as Diesel and Bradley Cooper returning to voice Groot and Rocket, respectively.
They were all on board the Benatar at the end of Avengers: Endgame, so it would make sense for them all to appear. That is unless Pratt is only appearing in a cameo role where Star-Lord finally manages to get Thor off his ship.
Avengers
After the events of Avengers: Endgame, there aren't many Avengers left to join Thor on his next adventure, unfortunately.
You can't rule out an appearance from Mark Ruffalo after Hulk and Thor struck up a close bond in Thor: Ragnarok, but the events of Endgame have left Hulk permanently damaged so he might not be in the superhero game anymore.
Doctor Strange and Spider-Man are off on their own adventures that are currently filming in London and Atlanta, respectively. That could rule them out of appearances in Thor: Love and Thunder as it's set to start filming in Australia in January.
However, it wouldn't be the first time that footage for one Marvel movie was filmed on a different movie entirely, although that was generally for Stan Lee's cameos or post-credits bits, rather than full roles.
The likes of Ant-Man, Shang-Chi (who would have made his MCU debut by Thor: Love and Thunder's release) and Captain Marvel could technically make appearances, but none of them have close connections to Thor, so it seems unlikely.
Dead MCU characters
Thor had already lost a few people close to him in his own series with the deaths of Frigga and Odin in The Dark World and Ragnarok, respectively, before Avengers: Infinity War dealt him more blows with the deaths of Heimdall and Loki.
Fans have been speculating that Idris Elba could be back as Heimdall as Elba has been hanging out with Waititi in Australia. That could mean a surprise return for Heimdall (Elba hasn't ruled it out before), but it doesn't mean he'll be revived.
There's a possibility that we could see Valhalla for the first time in the MCU as it's something Waititi had thought about for Ragnarok. If that's the case, it could set up returns for Rene Russo and Anthony Hopkins as Frigga and Odin, but this is purely speculation for now.
As for Loki, we can't imagine there being a Thor movie without Tom Hiddleston's loveable rascal, so we reckon Loki will be back in some form. It might not be the reformed Loki, but actually a different timeline Loki, such as the one who will be the focus of the Disney+ series.
We just want Loki back to be honest, whatever version of him it is.
Thor: Love and Thunder is set for release on February 11, 2022.
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