Thor: Love and Thunder’s “Most Visually Beautiful” Scene Was Shot in a Best Buy Parking Lot

Thor: Love and Thunder represents a flurry of firsts for Marvel Studios. It’s the first time an individual Avenger has received a fourth installment in their solo franchise. It’s the first time a Marvel Studios production has utilized Industrial Light & Magic’s StageCraft (also known as The Volume), the massive on-set virtual production screen that has brought landscapes for The Mandalorian, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and The Batman to life in recent years. Now, it’s (likely) the first time a Marvel Cinematic Universe project has utilized a local electronics retailer’s parking lot to bring one of its most magnificent scenes to life.

“There’s one scene that’s one of the most visually beautiful scenes I’ve seen on film, and we shot [it] in real life in a Best Buy parking lot,” Thor: Love and Thunder star Natalie Portman told Entertainment Weekly. “It’s so wild to be on this size of movie, and we were literally in a parking lot with a blue screen, doing this really dramatic thing. It looks so stunning on film, but every time I see it, I’m like, ‘That’s a Best Buy parking lot.’”

Funny enough, this is not the first time a parking lot was utilized to bring an other-worldly location to life this year. Behind the scenes footage from The Book of Boba Fett released earlier this year that showcased a Carson, CA parking lot being transformed into a Tatooine desert. This particular set, a Tusken Raider camp, was showcased in flashback scenes during The Book of Boba Fett Episode 2.

While fans will find out what this “most visually beautiful” scene is when Thor: Love and Thunder hits theaters, there are a number of Jane Foster moments that didn’t make the final cut.

“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 recently told 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.”

Thor: Love and Thunder arrives in theaters on July 8.