Thor: Love and Thunder Star Natalie Portman Says There Are A LOT of Deleted Scenes

Thor: Love and Thunder clocks in under two hours, largely because a plethora of scenes were removed from the film. According to Thor star Natalie Portman, “entire sequences” were removed from the final edit of the flick, partially due to the cast and crew’s ability to improvise and adjust things while filming principal photography.

“There were whole sequences, planets, characters, and worlds that didn’t end up in the movie that were hilarious and amazing and [that] we spent a lot of time and energy on, and certainly the entire crew also designing and conceiving,” Portman said in a recent chat with IndieWire. “It’s just amazing how much great material is not in the film, considering how much great material is in it. Usually, it’s like, you’re just trying to get enough good stuff to put in the film, and this had overflow. So that was really surprising.”

The actor went on to add that one pivotal moment was filmed nearly two dozen different times as she and her acting colleagues were allowed to explore their characters further.

“I don’t want to spoil anything, but there are some very emotional scenes. The interesting thing was how we had room to workshop them. We filmed 20 different versions of [one key scene]. There’s a few pivotal emotional scenes, but we did really, really different things, many different times.”

The film has been gathering generally positive reviews as it hovers around a 70-percent Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. A film or series generally needs to have a 75-percent Fresh rating or hire to earn the site’s coveted Certified Fresh banner. To date, five films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have yet to receive the honor: Thor: Love and Thunder, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, The Incredible Hulk, Thor: The Dark Worlds, and Eternals.

Taika Waititi, who directed Thor: Ragnarok, returns to direct Thor: Love and Thunder. He also co-wrote the film’s screenplay with Jennifer Kaytin Robinson. The film and stars Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Chris Pratt, Jaimie Alexander, Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Sean Gunn, Jeff Goldblum, and Vin Diesel.

Thor: Love and Thunder opens in theaters on July 8th.

What other surprises do you think are in store for Thor: Love and Thunder? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things MCU!