From the moment it was first announced at San Diego Comic-Con, Thor: Love and Thunder became arguably the most highly-anticipated entry in Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The fourth installment in the God of Thunder’s solo franchise isn’t just bringing back Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson and Taika Waititi, but Love and Thunder will also see Natalie Portman returning to the MCU to take up the mantle of Thor.
Waititi’s work on Ragnarok not only completely reinvigorated what was one of the MCU’s most stagnant standalone franchises, but it also gave Chris Hemsworth a completely new lease of life as the God of Thunder, with the new and more comedic version of the character becoming one of the standouts in the entire shared universe. Waititi’s success certainly hasn’t gone unnoticed by those with connections to Marvel Studios, and in a recent interview during the press rounds for Hobbs & Shaw, Idris Elba made his feelings very clear when asked if he would be interested in returning to the Thor franchise.
“Of course. Listen, Heimdall is essentially part of the god family. So you know, he essentially could be alive. I’m just saying! I’m just putting it out there. The Heimdall character goes way back into, you know, the Thor mythology. And I’m sure there will be an interesting way to bring that alive. Of course I would. Yes.”
Obviously, Heimdall was seemingly killed off during the opening scene of Avengers: Infinity War, so it would be difficult to bring the character back in a logical way without cheating the audience, especially following the events of Endgame. However, it is interesting that Elba seems so eager to return to the MCU after having publicly criticized his time working with Marvel Studios as “torture,” and admitting in an interview just last year that he didn’t know what the initials ‘MCU’ actually stood for.
The draw here is presumably working with Taika Waititi, as Elba both praised the director and had a pop at his previous experiences on the Thor franchise in an interview during the promotion of Ragnarok.
“The last one was fun. The others weren’t fun. They’re work. But on this one, Taika was great.”
Everyone from Kat Dennings to Jeff Goldblum has thrown their hat into the ring for the chance of an appearance in Thor: Love and Thunder, but with Heimdall apparently dead, there seems to be little way back for Idris Elba into the MCU. Perhaps the character could return on the small screen though, especially with the upcoming Disney Plus series starring Tom Hiddleston’s Loki set to heavily involve time travel. Fingers crossed, eh?