Every Cameo In Thor: Love And Thunder, Ranked
Thor Odinson is the first Marvel superhero to get a fourth solo film. As "Thor: Love and Thunder" illustrates, he's lost a lot of people along the way, including his mother, his father, his brother (several times), his home world and many of its people, and even some of his fellow Avengers. However, Thor has also forged new relationships as his own personal cinematic universe has expanded.
He met humans — Jane Foster, Darcy Lewis, and Erik Selvig — in his first movie. "Thor: Ragnarok" introduced his sister Hela, Valkyrie, the Grandmaster, Miek, and Korg. And by "Avengers: Infinity War," he was practically an honorary Guardian of the Galaxy. Especially with the multiverse and various versions of the afterlife in play, post-"Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" and "Moon Knight," just about anybody from the MCU or the vivid imagination of writer-director Taika Waititi could've reasonably had a part to play in "Thor: Love and Thunder."
So who made the cut? Jane, Valkyrie, and Korg return as Thor's co-leads this time, forming a scrappy but fierce posse of Space Vikings to go up against Marvel's latest surprisingly sympathetic villain, Gorr the God Butcher. It seems footage of Goldblum's Grandmaster, Peter Dinklage's Eitri, and a new character played by "Game of Thrones" star Lena Headey was edited out for time. But there are still cameos galore in "Thor: Love and Thunder." Some are returning favorites. Some are intriguing new additions. And if we're being honest, some barely register while others steal the show. (Spoilers ahead!)
14. Stellan Skarsgard as Dr. Erik Selvig
Dr. Erik Selvig has longstanding connections to both main characters in "Thor: Love and Thunder." The astrophysicist is professor and mentor to Jane Foster, and he was one of the first humans to make contact with the God of Thunder, along with Jane and Darcy, when the trio struck him with their vehicle chasing a cosmic thermonuclear storm. Selvig was enlisted by Nick Fury to study the Tesseract, which Loki used to take control of his mind so that the doctor could do his bidding on Earth. Tony Stark eventually frees him from Loki and the Mind Stone's influence, but the experience takes a toll on Selvig's mental health. Despite this, he continues to be a prolific researcher and ally to the Asgardians and the Avengers.
Except, Erik Selvig didn't appear in "Thor: Ragnarok," which has no Earth-bound storyline. Neither did Jane Foster for that matter. But Jane's the co-lead of "Thor: Love and Thunder," so it would be reasonable to assume that her teacher and collaborator might be back, too. He is, but only for a brief moment, and from behind a screen within a screen. Selvig can be seen on a video call with Jane in which he shares the disappointing results of her cancer treatment. He tells her that the chemo isn't having any affect. Having come to the end of the road of what science can do for her, Jane wraps up her call with Selvig and turns to a book of Norse mythology.
13. Everyone's kids
"Thor: Love and Thunder" is about found family, and making the latest MCU film really was a family affair. Chris Hemsworth recently revealed to People that his children can be seen in the movie, and so can the sons and daughters of Taika Waititi, Natalie Portman, and Christian Bale.
Hemsworth's son Tristan plays Kid Thor, who can be seen running through the forest in a montage as Korg recounts his legend to a group of children. Tristan's twin, Sasha, is one of the Asgardian children. So are Amalia Millepied and Aleph Millepied, Portman's children with her French dancer-choreographer husband, Benjamin Millepied. Waititi's two kids – Matewa Kiritapu and Te Kāinga o te Hinekāhu — can be spotted among the young Asgardians, too. Bale's children, 7-year-old Joseph and 17-year-old Emmaline, not only have small parts in the movie but insisted that their dad take the role of Gorr the God Butcher when it looked like there might be a scheduling conflict.
While this collection of cameos is adorable in concept, fans wouldn't be able to recognize the actors' kids' faces if they hadn't given interviews or without consulting the cast list. And since the characters they play don't, individually, impact the plot, the inclusion of little Hemsworths, Waititis, Millepieds, and Bales is an Easter egg more than anything else. That is, except for one actor's daughter, who we'll get to in just a bit.
12. Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone as actor Hela and Asgardian stage manager
Tourists visiting New Asgard attend a play version of the events of "Thor: Ragnarok," and wait with bated breath to see who will emerge from the paper prop portal that's brought out by a couple of stagehands. We know that someone costumed as Thor's evil sister, Hela, is about to burst through. In the past, Marvel Studios has been cheeky about giving actors who were being considered for roles in the MCU these kinds of cameos (John Krasinski was in the running for Captain America before he got turned to spaghetti as Earth-828's Reed Richards), so some viewers may have anticipated a Cate Blanchett-type... someone known for accents and award-worthy-dramas.
Instead, Melissa McCarthy — a comedian and actor who isn't afraid to make herself ridiculous — rages to the center stage wearing Hela's over-applied black eye makeup and massive, spiky headpiece. McCarthy is always funny, and it's extra clever of Waititi to have her husband and frequent director, Ben Falcone, bow alongside her as the Asgardian stage manager. The plays within the Thor movies are meant to be of questionable taste and quality, and several of McCarthy and Falcone's collaborations ("Tammy," "Superintelligence," "Thunderforce") were panned by critics. The couple deserves credit for being self-deprecating, but part of the joke here is that McCarthy doesn't look a thing like Blanchett, which is, regrettably, the worst kind of gag in which McCarthy is deployed.
11. Jaimie Alexander as Sif
When it was announced that Jaimie Alexander had joined the cast of "Thor: Love and Thunder" to reprise her role as Sif, fans — especially of the character, who is a much bigger presence in the comics as well as in Norse mythology — were understandably thrilled. Though she voices the character in the Disney+ animated series "What If?" and shows up in a memorable episode of "Loki," Alexander hadn't appeared in an MCU movie since 2013's "Thor: The Dark World." Sif wasn't involved in "Thor: Ragnarok" even though her storyline intertwines with Hela's in the pages of the comics, which rubbed some fans the wrong way (Alexander cleared up the reason: scheduling conflicts).
Since her name wasn't atop the official poster with the primary cast members but in the smaller font at the bottom, fans correctly guessed she'd have a smaller role. Some hypothesized she'd be a love interest for King Valkyrie. Others simply thought we'd get to see her defend the universe's various gods and their peoples against Gorr the God Butcher. Unfortunately, when we see Sif again on the big screen, she's already lost to Gorr and is near-death on an icy battlefield. She has an equally dramatic and funny (though very short) exchange with Thor about her missing arm (he tells her that maybe her severed appendage is in Valhalla). Then, he and Korg transport her to New Asgard to convalesce for the rest of the movie. We're happy that Sif is back and that she survived her run-in with the God Butcher, but it would've been so much more satisfying to see this fearsome warrior in action.
10. Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis
Darcy Lewis is Jane Foster's assistant (she's the only person who applied) and loyal sidekick, but she's also one of Marvel Studio's sources of comic relief. Most recently, she quipped her way through "WandaVision" as the expert who'd been called in to make sense of the cosmic microwave background radiation that the hex was emitting. In the time between "Thor" and "WandaVision," she earned her Ph.D. in astrophysics. Darcy retains her wry sense of humor in "Thor: Love and Thunder," even as she lets the audience know that Jane has been diagnosed with late-stage cancer, but her true purpose in the film is to be Jane's supportive best friend.
As an impatient Jane tries to rush her chemotherapy session in order to get back to the lab, Darcy tries to reason with her. She doesn't let her ill friend delude herself; she reminds Jane that she has stage 4 out of 4 cancer and probably doesn't have long to live. This fast-talking academic pleads with her fast-living counterpart to slow down and enjoy the time she has left. Since that doesn't seem likely, she floats the idea of going to Jane's ex-boyfriend Thor for a possible solution. Jane dismisses that notion outright, but Darcy's suggestion might've been what sparked Jane to consult the volume of Norse mythology that led her to Mjolnir. Darcy's presence in "Thor: Love and Thunder" is short but sweet.
9. The Guardians of the Galaxy
The Guardians of the Galaxy were a prominent part of the marketing campaign for "Thor: Love and Thunder," and fans seemed genuinely excited to see what kind of hijinks the combined Guardians and Asgardians of the Galaxy might get up to out there in space. After the film's bleak opening, it's a real mood-changer to see Drax, Mantis, Groot, Rocket, and Nebula all ribbing and taunting each other as they fight alongside Thor in some of his more recent soon-to-be legendary adventures. Rocket's annoyed that teenage Groot got sap on his binoculars. Drax is happily tearing apart swamp creatures. Nebula's taking out her angst on armies that are taking advantage of godless, unprotected peaceful populations. But before "Thor: Love and Thunder" moves onto its A-plot, the Guardians are boarding the Milano and off to other business.
Their early scene mostly serves to set the film's tone, which is both goofier and more heartfelt than the already pretty goofy and heartfelt "Thor: Ragnarok." The Guardians, who are fairly functional for a band of anti-hero misfits, also work as an emotional foil to Thor, who is still lost and looking for himself when the universe needs him again. It's always great to see the Guardians, and it's nice to know they're still going strong after the death of Gamora, but they're only in "Thor: Love and Thunder" in a cameo capacity. We know how entertaining this group can be, so their limited screen time is a little disappointing and underwhelming.
8. Sean Gunn as Kraglin
In the MCU, Kraglin (played by director James Gunn's brother Sean) is a relatively good-hearted if dim-witted Ravager and the right-hand-man of Yondu. During the events of "The Guardians of the Galaxy," he helps Yondu go after his lost dependent, Peter Quill, before the Ravagers decide to switch sides and join the Guardians in taking on Ronan the Accuser. By the time the sequel "The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" rolls around, he's unwittingly started a rebellion against his leader when he questions his soft spot for Quill, but as it becomes clear to Taserface and the mutineers that Kraglin is still squarely on Yondu's side, he ends up imprisoned along with the rest of the Guardians. When Yondu sacrifices himself at the end of that film's climactic battle, Kraglin inherits his telekinetic arrow and the head fin Yondu used to control it with a whistle.
Kraglin is, like Star-Lord, a reformed Ravager and a Guardian of the Galaxy when "Thor: Love and Thunder" begins. He can be seen participating in the background of some of the opening sequence's battles, but he gets his own bit after they (well, mostly Thor) defend Centauri IV. Kraglin rushes onto the Milano before it departs with a female who he claims to have married. Quill gives a frustrated sigh and tells Kraglin that he can't do this on every planet, suggesting Kraglin has poor impulse control when it comes to intergalactic dating and mating. We'll see more of this character in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" (as Kraglin and doing the motion capture for Rocket).
7. Chris Pratt as Star-Lord
When Star-Lord and Thor first crossed intergalactic paths in "Avengers: Infinity War," theirs instantly became one of the most hilarious dynamics in the entire MCU. The half-god space pirate was — though he'd never admit it — threatened by the full-god space Viking. His team, including his girlfriend Gamora, respected his confidence and were drawn in by his magnetic personality. The more fragile Peter Quill attempted to lower his voice and puff up his posture as he tried to perform masculinity and retain leadership of his crew and his ship.
Fans were itching to see Quill and Thor play off of each other again, as was advertised in the teaser trailer. When we catch up to them in "Thor: Love and Thunder," the Guardians, Thor, and Korg have been living, warring, and traveling together for some time, and it's almost as if Star-Lord and Thor's roles have been reversed. Thor is the more emotionally fragile man now, and it barely bothers Peter (though it must still, a little) that Thor fancies himself the leader and even believes the Milano is his ship. A more mature but still foul-mouthed and snarky Star-Lord gives a wayward Thor the advice that sets him (and the movie) on his course. He says that while it feels awful to have lost the love of his life, that crappy feeling is better than no feeling at all. Thor heeds Quill's wisdom and tells Jane he loves her before it's too late.
6. Johnathan Brugh as Rapu
Before he signed contracts with Marvel and "Star Wars," Taika Waititi made small-scale, sometimes silly but always thought-provoking movies with his pals from New Zealand. Sam Neill, Rachel House, Jemaine Clement, and Rhys Darby have all appeared in multiple Taika Waititi projects, from "Boy" to "Our Flag Means Death." Another of his former Kiwi collaborators is Jonathan Brugh. Brugh (a comedian and musician) played Deacon — the hipster vampire who is only 183 years old — in the now cult-classic mockumentary "What We Do in the Shadows."
Brugh gets one of the more substantial cameos in "Thor: Love and Thunder." He's Rapu, the ambivalent and hedonistic god to which Gorr prays for salvation as his planet becomes too harsh to survive on and his civilization collapses. After he buries his daughter, Gorr sees what seems like a mirage in the desert. There, he comes face to face with his god, dressed from head to toe in gold. There's really no other way to put it: Rapu is a jerk. But Brugh seems to be having a blast hamming it up as someone whose self-importance is so great that they truly believe they deserve to be worshipped. Rapu's hubris is what does him in. When he nonchalantly admits to Gorr that there is no eternal reward, his once faithful servant skewers him in the neck, and Brugh's reaction to a death he didn't see coming is just as fun as his over-the-top arrogance was only moments before.
5. Brett Goldstein as Hercules
This fleeting cameo has the least impact on "Thor: Love and Thunder" but the most impact on the future of the MCU. In a mid-credits stinger, a somehow still living Zeus is having the gaping hole in his chest filled in by a bevy of beautiful, young women. He addresses someone just outside of the shot about his unresolved beef with Thor. The God of Lightning wants revenge and he wants Hercules to get it for him. The next shot reveals that the MCU's Hercules is Brett Goldstein, of "Ted Lasso" fame.
Goldstein has but a split second of screen time as the God of Strength, but it's just enough for the audience to pick up on what will be his interpretation of the character's vibe. The British writer and actor rocketed to stardom and won an Emmy for his performance as Roy Kent on the Apple TV+ series. In portraying Kent — a talented midfielder who's aging out of the game — Goldstein is all muscles, body hair, grunts, and curse words on the outside, but all healthy masculinity with a penchant for yoga on the inside. Roy Kent is a fan favorite, in part because his struggles with identity and self-esteem are so relatable. It'll be interesting to see what Goldstein can do with Hercules who, historically, believes in himself maybe a little too much for his own good. Since Marvel almost always uses mid-credits scenes to introduce important new characters, it's a safe bet that Goldstein's Hercules will be here, there, and everywhere in the MCU sooner or later.
4. Idris Elba as Heimdall
Fans love Heimdall because Thor loves Heimdall, and because Idris Elba has, throughout his handful of appearances in the MCU, infused the character with so much stoicism and soul. An actor of Elba's abilities and stature probably should've been given a larger part in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but he made the most of the role he was cast in back in 2011. He and his glowing amber eyes command attention every time he's on screen. However, fans weren't necessarily expecting to see those eyes opened again, since Heimdall was brutally stabbed and killed by Thanos in "Avengers: Infinity War."
Elba has a delightful surprise cameo in the end-credits scene, in which a back intact (but still dead) Heimdall welcomes a fully recovered (but still dead) Jane Foster into Valhalla. Since the rule is, any Viking who dies on the battlefield can enter the eternal paradise, Mighty Thor punched her ticket when she used her last ounce of strength to destroy the Necrosword. Death seems to agree with both Heimdall and Jane, who look sort of like they're at an exclusive wellness retreat, decked out in silky robes with perfectly coifed hair. Since we know he spent his life faithfully protecting Asgard and the nine realms, and since Elba's Heimdall is such a warm presence, he's the ideal character to greet Jane as she leaves one plain of existence for another. This post-credits stinger also means it's possible we might see more of Valhalla (and thus Heimdall and Jane) in the future.
3. India Rose Hemsworth as Love
"Thor: Love and Thunder" opens with a devastating scene about a father and daughter. Gorr — who's a true believer in his god, Rapu — watches his child go from scribbling on rocks to dying of thirst, starvation, and exposure on the lost kingdom that is his home planet. Her death is what turns Gorr into the God Butcher as he seeks revenge on gods that have forsaken their people. But when he finally reaches Eternity, he has a change of heart. Rather than kill all gods as he promised, he brings back his little girl.
As he expires from the curse of the Necrosword, he asks Thor to protect her. In the movie's charmingly domestic final scene, "Uncle Thor" acts as father figure to the spritely 10-year-old who doesn't want to eat her "panflaps" and prefers fuzzy slippers to boots. She's made a bed for Mjolnir, whom she's colored all over with permanent marker, but Stormbreaker is her weapon now. Though she's but a child, Thor is already preparing her for life as a Space Viking Superhero, and that includes active combat practice as well as lessons in doing the right thing. As the duo leap into battle, we learn that Thor and his girl now go by the names Love and Thunder, which gives the title a whole new meaning that might have audiences wiping away tears as they exit their theaters. If it seemed like Thor and Love had noticeably natural chemistry together, that's because Love is played by none other than India Rose Hemsworth, Chris Hemsworth's real-life daughter.
2. The New Asgard Players
"Thor: Ragnarok" was a revelation thanks to signature Taika Waititi innovations like the irreverent play within the movie that summed up Thor and Loki's previous plotlines. Waititi had the stroke of brilliance to cast Matt Damon as actor Loki, Chris Hemsworth's brother Luke as actor Thor, and Sam Neill (who starred in his film "Hunt for the Wilderpeople") as actor Odin. All three are better known for their more dramatic roles, but they made a meal out of overacting for their adoring Asgardian audience... that is, until Thor showed up and broke Loki's illusion. The trio ranks high among the best MCU cameos of all time, so it was an absolute joy for moviegoers when they reprised their roles in "Thor: Love and Thunder."
This time, Damon, Hemsworth, and Neill are performing the legend of "Thor: Ragnarok" itself for tourists who've come to visit New Asgard, which has become a sort of Disney-like retreat for in-world fans of the Avenger. Their low-budget stage show is made even funnier by the use of kitschy special effects like very visible wires and confetti guns. The three actors playing actors are using their second go-round in the MCU to chew up even more scenery as they re-enact Odin's death and their first encounter with Hela. They even get a chance to act off-stage when they approach King Valkyrie about putting together a production about Gorr's attack on New Asgard in the immediate aftermath. Notably, she doesn't say no, which means these iconic Asgardian thespians could return for a third performance.
1. Russell Crowe as Zeus
Zeus has one scene in "Thor: Love and Thunder" (if you don't count that mid-credits tease), but boy is it a doozy. Serious Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe goes for broke as the Greek god of all gods in a completely unselfconscious and rare comedic performance that makes for what might well be the highlight of the movie.
When his squad sneaks into Omnipotence City, Thor is reduced to an awestruck child about to meet his hero. He tells his friends that the God of Lightning is famous for his grand entrances. After some showy pyrotechnics, it isn't the platonic ideal of an Olympian who saunters onto the dais, but an aging, bloated man who barely fits into his gold chest plate.
Crowe's Zeus is belligerent and attention-seeking, and he holds some problematic views about mortal and god relations. He affects an absurdly thick accent as he mocks Thor and threatens to ban him from the annual orgy. He's foppish with the bobbed curls of a Victorian schoolboy and white gauzy skirt, prancing down from his platform to confront the rogue Asgardian who's disrupted his party. This god — even more than Rapu — couldn't care less about the well-being of others (including lesser gods) so long as he gets to keep living it up in his city in the sky. There's something extra amusing about Crowe as Zeus, since he played Maximus the Gladiator in Ridley Scott's epic, which feels like it's being subversively referenced here. Zeus is a laugh riot until he gets his comeuppance when he literally falls from grace after taking his own lighting bolt to the chest. But this might not be the last we see of this embittered god.