According to Taika Waititi and Chris Hemsworth, Thor: Love and Thunder left a lot of footage on the cutting room floor, and it looks like some of that involved Jeff Goldblum and his beloved Grandmaster from Thor: Ragnarok.
Oftentimes, illustrators, VFX specialists, and other artists who work on MCU blockbusters tend to share their drafts and ideas and social media. uch is the case of Laurent Ben-Mimoun, who recently posted a matte painting showing what would have likely been the Grandmaster's cameo in Thor: Love and Thunder.
The concept art, simply captioned, "Moon of Shame," features Goldblum's character in the same costume and bodiless Korg, both aboard a Sakaaran ship. Having Waititi's rocky facade sitting in the lower left corner of the image would confirm that this scene takes place somewhere between when the film's heroes, Thor, Jane Foster, and Valkyrie, get their hands on Zeus' thunderbolt and before the movie’s final showdown, possibly when they first face Gorr and Tessa Thompson's character ends up injured. Still, considering Waititi and Hemsworth's past words and the nearly four hours of material they had, it’s impossible to tell why such a scene would have been cut or if it was filmed at all.
Goldblum was spotted in Australia at some point during Thor: Love and Thunder's filming, and the same goes for Peter Dinklage, who played Eitri in Avengers: Infinity War. However, their scenes could have gone down as the funnier parts that were ultimately cut by Waititi. In any case, Ben-Mimoun's work does the Grandmaster's eccentric nature a lot of justice, which is no wonder, as the artist also worked on Ragnarok.
Thor: Love and Thunder is bound for streaming release in September to commemorate Disney Plus Day, however, it’s possible that the scene featuring Goldblum will never see the light of day given that Waititi has stated the deleted scenes were scrapped for a reason. As far as quality goes, Thor: Love and Thunder has, for the most part, failed to meet the expectations set by its predecessor, with Ragnarok still being widely considered the superior film.
Is there any chance MCU fans will get to see the Grandmaster in the near future? Well, it's impossible to tell, but She-Hulk already teased some Sakaaran influence nearing Bruce Banner, and Goldblum is the planet's most famous resident. Nevertheless, it's also possible Marvel Studios could be setting the building blocks for a future World War Hulk storyline.
Thor: Love and Thunder will be available on Disney Plus starting September 8, 2022.
Source: Laurent Ben-Mimoun | Instagram