Thor: Love and Thunder features a whole pantheon of cameos

Warning: This post contains major spoilers for Thor: Love and Thunder.

Thor: Love and Thunder is already a star-studded affair, following Chris Hemsworth's golden-haired hero as he teams up with Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson, and director-costar Taika Waititi to help take down Christian Bale's nefarious villain. But the latest Thor adventure also has plenty of cameos and surprises hidden in its 2-hour runtime — including faces both familiar and new.

Here, EW breaks down all the surprise appearances and cameos of Thor: Love and Thunder. (Obviously, major spoilers ahead.)

An Asgardian curtain call

One of the most delightful scenes in 2017's Thor: Ragnarok was a goofy cameo from an Asgardian theater troupe, recounting the events of the past films. Westworld star Luke Hemsworth (Chris' real-life brother) played the stage version of Thor, with Matt Damon as his brother Loki and Waititi's Hunt for the Wilderpeople star Sam Neill as their father Odin.

In Love and Thunder, the theater troupe's role is expanded, with all three actors having relocated to New Asgard on Earth. There, they regularly put on a show for tourists, telling the story of how Thor lost his hammer and defeated his twisted sister Hela (Cate Blanchett). In Love and Thunder, the stage version of Hela is played by comedy legend Melissa McCarthy, with McCarthy's real-life husband and frequent collaborator Ben Falcone also popping up as a stagehand.

McCarthy's appearance was spoiled months ago when paparazzi shots leaked of her on set, but she's spoken frequently about her love for Ragnarok, and she and Falcone have been lobbying to appear in Love and Thunder since 2020. (Fingers crossed that we someday get a spinoff focusing on this quirky Asgardian theater group. Would love to hear their thoughts on the Rogers Broadway musical.)

Familiar faces

Early in the film, after Portman's Jane Foster is diagnosed with cancer, she's visited by her former intern/longtime friend Darcy, played once again by Kat Dennings. (When we last saw Darcy, she was in New Jersey for WandaVision, investigating Westview and brushing up on her classic sitcoms.) There's also a brief cameo from Stellan Skarsgard as scientist Erik Selvig, his first MCU appearance since 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Later, as Thor is investigating the murders of various gods, he reunites with Lady Sif, played by Jaimie Alexander. Alexander starred in the first two Thor films and later returned for the Loki TV series in 2021.

One of the film's two post-credit scenes also brings back Idris Elba as Heimdall, Thor's longtime friend who was killed by Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. Here, we see him welcoming Jane to Valhalla, after she too dies in battle. (The other end-credits scene also introduces Ted Lasso star Brett Goldstein as Thor's rival Hercules. More on that here.)

Finally, the New Asgard scenes also feature a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo by Daley Pearson, who played Thor's one-time roommate Darryl in a series of "Team Thor" shorts. Directed by Waititi, these goofy videos caught up with Thor and attempted to explain where he was during the events of Captain America: Civil War. (A later short found Darryl moving in with Jeff Goldblum's Grandmaster, to disastrous results.) But with Love and Thunder, Darryl becomes an official canon part of the MCU, and we learn that he's gotten a job in New Asgard, serving as a tour guide. Way to go, Darryl!

A family affair

Apparently, Love and Thunder had at least one bring-your-kids-to-work day. Hemsworth's children had minor roles in the film, with his real-life daughter India playing Gorr's daughter Love on screen. His twins Tristan and Sasha also appear, with one of them playing a young version of Thor in a flashback.

Hemsworth has also confirmed that it was a family affair on set, with Portman, Waititi, and Bale's young children all appearing throughout the film, too. Finally, there's also a brief shot of Hemsworth's real-life wife Elsa Pataky, who appears as the wolf woman Thor kisses early in the film.

Funnily enough, this isn't the first time Pataky has made out with Thor on screen: For the scene in 2013's Thor: The Dark World where Thor kisses Jane at the end of the film, Portman was unavailable for reshoots. So, Pataky donned a brunette wig and stood in for her.

Thor: Love and Thunder is in theaters now.

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