Thor: Love and Thunder will see its titular character going through some big changes. Most prominent will be Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster receiving his powers, as teased during the film’s announcement way back in 2019. This was inspired by a well-received recent comics arc by Jason Aaron and, if the movie lifts the basic elements, will find Thor suffering a crisis of confidence.
But Chris Hemsworth has been experiencing some changes of his own. He celebrated the film’s wrap by posting an image featuring his new and appropriately god-like arms. That practically broke the internet, so now he’s posted an update showing off the brutal training routine he endured to get them:
As Hemsworth explains, this is “occlusion training” – a cutting-edge workout that entails wrapping a cuff around your upper arms to reduce the amount of blood that can enter your muscles. Originally conceived as a form of rehab, it’s becoming popular among bodybuilders, and judging by Hemsworth’s arms I can see why!
Though the focus is shifting towards Portman in this installment, we know from behind-the-scenes footage that Hemsworth will wield Mjölnir at some point. This is interesting because the iconic weapon met its end in Thor: Ragnarok, with the characters borrowing a version of the hammer from an alternate universe to battle Thanos in Endgame and returning it when they were done.
We already had a hint Mjolnir would be back when Natalie Portman raised it above her head during the Love and Thunder unveiling, but how is this possible? In the comics, the weapon has been destroyed a few times, but has always been able to be rebuilt from core fragments that are still able to judge “worthiness.”
Right now all we can do is wait to find out, but let’s hope for a teaser sometime this year. Thor: Love and Thunder hits theaters on May 6th, 2022.