Thor 4 leaks tease the return of a surprising Ragnarok villain

Thor 4 could be heading back to a familiar planet. The film (officially titled Thor: Love and Thunder) is shaping up to be one of the most exciting entries in Phase Four of the MCU. It will be the second Thor film directed by Taika Waititi and already seems like a fitting follow-up to Waititi’s beloved Thor: Ragnarok.

Now, with Thor 4 officially shooting, some unofficial new set photos may reveal that Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth won't be the only key Ragnarok cast members returning for Love and Thunder either.

The News — New set photos from Thor: Love and Thunder, which began filming in Australia last week, reveal the makings of one of the film’s sets. And while it’s hard to make out exactly what the set in question is — it does give off some familiar vibes. Specifically, the set’s colorful-but-destroyed design feels very in line with the look of the Sakaar junkyards featured in Thor: Ragnarok. (We won't publish them here, but you can see for yourself on Twitter.)

A Return Trip — Created by Jeff Goldblum’s The Grandmaster, Sakaar is an artificial trash planet surrounded by wormholes that transport waste to it from all over the universe. Most of Thor: Ragnarok took place on Sakaar after Thor and Loki were banished there while Hela began her take over on Asgard. Featuring huge junkyards, a massive gladiator ring, and apartment high-rises, Sakaar remains one of the most unique planets in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, which makes the thought of Thor: Love and Thunder returning to it that much more exciting.

It’s not out of the realm of possibility either. Love and Thunder is, after all, directed by Waititi, who could very well want to revisit some of his creations from Thor: Ragnarok. The 2017 film left Sakaar in an interesting place too, with Loki and Korg leading the native Sakaarans in an uprising against The Grandmaster. The film’s post-credits scene even showed The Grandmaster trying to bargain/negotiate with the Sakaaran revolutionaries. So it'd make sense for Waititi to check back in on Sakaar at some point during Love and Thunder — if only to finally wrap up the plot threads that were left hanging from Ragnarok.

If that is the case, then there's a real chance the film will also feature Jeff Goldblum reprising his role as The Grandmaster. The actor has not been included in any of the film’s casting announcements or press releases, but he did say back in 2019 that he and Waititi were talking about having The Grandmaster return in Love and Thunder. Assuming the character managed to survive the Sakaaran revolution, it seems like a given that he'd appear in any Sakaar-set sequences in Love and Thunder.

The Inverse Analysis — If The Grandmaster does indeed show up in Thor: Love and Thunder, it’ll be interesting to see what he does in the film. The character would no doubt want revenge against Thor and his compatriots for the mayhem they caused in Ragnarok, but given the fact that Christian Bale's Gorr the God Butcher is set to fill the film's villain role, it's unlikely that The Grandmaster will be a primary antagonist in Love and Thunder.

With other notable MCU characters like the Guardians of the Galaxy and Jane Foster all appearing in the film as well, it doesn't seem like there’s much room for The Grandmaster to play a pivotal role in Thor: Love and Thunder. But that doesn’t mean he won’t show up in any capacity in the film — especially if that really is part of a Sakaar set in the pictures above.

After all, if Korg can come back, why can't Sakaar? And why can't The Grandmaster?

Thor: Love and Thunder is set to hit theaters on May 6th, 2022.