Chris Pratt Back in LA After Thor: Love and Thunder Filming
After weeks of filming Thor: Love and Thunder in Australia, Chris Pratt is back in Los Angeles. The actor is confirmed to reprise his role as Star-Lord as he and his fellow Guardians of the Galaxy heroes joined the God of Thunder in his upcoming adventure. Directed by Taika Waititi, James Gunn has been consulting on the project to make sure that the fan-favorite cosmic team is utilized in line with what's established with their characters thus far in the MCU.
Thor: Love and Thunder featuring the Guardians of the Galaxy makes sense since Thor was last seen with them at the end of Avengers: Endgame. The Asgardian Prince officially relegated reigning duties to Valkyrie as he embraces his real self as an adventurer more than a leader. But whatever is happening in this upcoming MCU standalone will rope him back in Asgard and it may have something to do with the emergence of Gorr The God Butcher; played by Christian Bale, the character will be the primary antagonist of the story. Meanwhile, the project will also see the return of Jane Foster in the franchise as she assumes the superhero persona of Mighty Thor.
Just last week of January, Pratt was spotted reuniting with Hemsworth as the pair geared up for filming Thor: Love and Thunder. Not long after that, set images emerged seeing the actors, as well as other Guardians of the Galaxy cast members in costume and filming. Now, Pratt is back in Los Angeles in time for Valentine's Day with Just Jared scoring pictures of him and his wife, Katherine Schwarzenegger out and about. It's uncertain when he returned from Australia, but it may have already been a while considering that he's already out.
Previously, Nebula and Mantis actresses Karen Gillan and Pom Klementieff were confirmed to have left Australia; more recently Dave Bautista who plays Drax the Destroyer has also wrapped up work for Thor: Love and Thunder. Between those and Pratt's sighting in Los Angeles, it's safe to say that the Guardians of the Galaxy will have minor roles in the movie. Perhaps their involvement is just to establish the connection between what was seen last in Endgame and the upcoming Waititi blockbuster. After that, they may have gone on to their own adventure that will expectedly play out in Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Whatever the case may be, limiting the Guardians of the Galaxy's role in Thor: Love and Thunder is for the better. As great as their chemistry is with the Avenger, there's already a lot of moving pieces in the film, and incorporating a full superhero team could make it feel overstuffed. Even if Marvel Studios is able to balance everything out as they have done before in Captain America: Civil War, it would still take away focus from the movie's core narrative. What's impressive is that the actors were willing to go through all the hassle of traveling during the pandemic including a mandated 14-day quarantine for a relatively small role for the feature.
Source: Just Jared