Thor: Love and Thunder is currently shooting in Sydney, Australia, and a few set photos have leaked online via The Daily Mail. One of those photos appears to show actress and comedian Melissa McCarthy cast in the role of Hela, who was previously played by Cate Blanchett in Director Taika Watiti's first Marvel film, Thor: Ragnarok. However, this isn't exactly a return for the character.
Early in Thor: Ragnarok there's a scene that shows a piece of what can only be described as 'Asgardian theatre'. The play being put on by Asgardian actors recaps the events of the previous film, Thor: The Dark World, when Loki seemingly died in his brothers arms. The Asgardian actors playing Loki and Thor are also hilariously played by actor Matt Damon, and real-life brother of Thor actor Chris Hemsworth, Luke Hemsworth. Damon and Hemsworth are confirmed to be reprising their roles as the 'fake' Thor and Loki in Love and Thunder, so fans can expect another theatre rendition, likely once again recapping the events of the previous film.
This is where McCarthy comes in. As the photos show, the Bridesmaids star appears to be playing the role of Hela in another fictional play. In Thor: Ragnarok Hela was the main antagonist, Thor's evil sister who after destroying Thor's hammer sought to conquer Asgard. So it appears audiences will get another play to recap the events of the previous film, and surely Melissa McCarthy will give a hilarious performance as the Goddess of Death. It should also be noted that in Thor: Ragnarok, this 'recap theater' appears to have been put on by Thor's adopted brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston), who at the time was disguised as his father Odin, ruler of Asgard.
At the moment it remains unclear as to whether Hiddleston will reprise his role as the God of Mischief in Love and Thunder. The character was killed on screen in Avengers: Infinity War by Thanos. However, unlike the trillions of casualties in that movie due to the now infamous 'snap', when Thanos used the infinity stones to wipe out half of all life in the universe, Loki was instead killed in the opening scene of the film by Thanos' bare hands. This puts him in the category of Marvel characters who 'actually died' in the last two Avengers movies (like Black Widow and Gamora) as opposed to all the characters who were snapped out of existence only to be brought back when the Avengers undid 'the blip' in Avengers: Endgame.
That being said Loki's story is far from over. Hiddleston will be reprising the role in the upcoming Disney Plus series titled Loki, which will see the God of Mischief embark on a solo time-traveling adventure. In Avengers: Endgame a version of Loki from the past managed to get ahold of the tesseract and used it to teleport somewhere. Hopefully, the Disney Plus series will give viewers some answers as to where, and when Loki went, but it is possible that by using the power of the tesseract this 'past' time-traveling Loki could make an appearance in Love and Thunder. If he does it will be a strange family reunion, since the Loki from that time period won't be the same Loki that died in Infinity War.
Thor: Love and Thunder is currently slated to be released May 6th, 2022. The Disney Plus Loki series will premiere on June 11th, 2021.
Source: The Daily Mail