Mjölnir is back in the first teaser trailer for Thor: Love and Thunder, but it’s not the Odinson wielding it. Chris Hemsworth may still technically be Thor, but it’s Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster whom the teaser reveals as the new Goddess of Thunder.
Taika Waititi’s upcoming sequel to his series-altering smash Thor: Ragnarok picks up where Avengers: Endgame last left the mightiest Avenger. With New Asgard in the capable hands of its Queen, Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Thor has chosen to go galavanting about the universe with the Guardians of the Galaxy (Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord, Karen Gillan’s Nebula, Dave Bautista’s Drax, Pom Klementieff’s Mantis, et al). Determined to find out “exactly who I am,” Thor decides to put down Stormbreaker, give up the superhero life, and go on a journey of self-discovery.
But apparently the universe needs a Thor, so with Odinson out of commission, Foster steps in as the Mighty Thor — with a reconstructed Mjölnir, no less! The trailer offers but a brief look at the heroine, though it’s more than we get of Russell Crowe’s Zeus; we only see him from behind, holding a golden lightning bolt above the gathered masses of Olympus.
The teaser trailer also doesn’t give away a ton of plot for Thor: Love and Thunder, instead simply setting it up as a late-stage coming-of-age tale. What we do see, however, are the types of gorgeous visuals and cheeky sight gags we’d expect from a master like Waititi (including a moment that might be a nod to his HBO Max series, Our Flag Means Death). Oh, and Thor’s got his right eye back, so that’s good for him.
Watch the preview — epically soundtracked by Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child O’ Mine” — below. The fourth entry in the Thor franchise (making the character Marvel’s first to go beyond a solo trilogy), Thor: Love and Thunder arrives on July 8th.
