Guardians of the Galaxy's Chris Pratt Joining Thor: Love and Thunder

Chris Pratt is joining Thor: Love and Thunder. After speculation the Guardians of the Galaxy would appear in the fourth Thor, new reports have confirmed the Guardians star will soon arrive in Australia for principal photography on the Taika Waititi follow-up. The news comes from THR's Heat Vision newsletter, where it's revealed the actor will join Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson, and MCU newcomer Christian Bale in the feature. The extent of Star-Lord's involvement is unknown, though it's expected he'll finish a batch of reshoots for The Tomorrow War before heading Down Under for the next Marvel Studios feature.

News of Pratt's reprisal of Star-Lord before Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 comes as a welcome sight for fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as Gunn's threequel is still years from release. Thor: Love and Thunder is set to start rolling cameras in January for its February 2022 release.

It's also an expected move as Pratt's Peter Quill and the remaining Guardians were on board the Benatar at the end of Avengers: Endgame. Fellow Guardians star Vin Diesel previously confirmed with ComicBook.com the beloved cosmic group would be back in Thor 4, letting the news slip during the press tour for Bloodshot earlier this year.

"I am waiting and excited for my friend James Gunn to knock this next one out of the park," Diesel said during an interview in promotion of his upcoming Bloodshot movie. "He took The Suicide Squad so he's about to embark on it. Thor will also, the director talked to me about Thor will incorporate some of the Guardians of the Galaxy. That'll be very interesting, nobody knows, maybe I shouldn't have said anything."

The latest casting also follows the changing modus operandi for Kevin Feige and his team at Marvel Studios, as the production house looks to pack movies in Phase 4 with as many Marvel characters as possible. With Spider-Man 3 currently in principal photography in Atlanta, it's also been revealed that both Jamie Foxx and Benedict Cumberbatch will be appearing in the flick as Electro and Doctor Strange, respectively.

Foxxlast played Electro in Sony's The Amazing Spider-Man 2 — the second feature to have Andrew Garfield in the role of Peter Parker/Spider-Man

Thor: Love and Thunder is set for release on February 11, 2022.

What other character are you hoping to see pop up in Thor 4? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things MCU!