Thor: Love and Thunder: Chris Hemsworth and Taika Waititi celebrate the start of filming in Australia

Thor: Ragnarok
(Image credit: Marvel)

Thor: Love and Thunder celebrated the start of filming with a Welcome to Country ceremony, with director Taika Waititi and actor Chris Hemsworth marking the occasion on social media.

On Instagram, Hemsworth shared images of the ceremony, along with the caption: "A beautiful start to our shoot today with a Welcome to Country ceremony from the Gamay dancers of the Gadigal and Bidiagal Nation and performance and karakia by Maori dancers from Te Aranganui."

The caption went on to talk about January 26th, which is Australia Day: "Indigenous Australians may be just as proud of this country, but many see January 26th as a date signifying the beginning of dispossession, disease epidemics, frontier violence, destruction of culture, exploitation, abuse, separation of families and subjection to policies of extreme social control. 

"Let’s begin the healing and stand together in unity and support with our First Nations people with solidarity and compassion. Let’s find a date where all Australians can celebrate this beautiful country together." (H/T Collider)

Director Waititi shared a similar Tweet: "Started Love & Thunder with Welcome to Country ceremony from Gamay dancers of Gadigal & Bidiagal Nation and karakia from Te Aranganui. I encourage all film makers to engage with 1st nations peoples whenever shooting your films. It's worth it and it's the right thing to do."

Thor: Love and Thunder is the follow-up to Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok, and it’s shaping up to have a massive cast of familiar faces. Along with Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie, Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster will be back, as well as Jamie Alexander’s Sif – and Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord. Vin Diesel has also hinted at more Guardians appearing, and Christian Bale is reportedly playing the villainous Gorr the God Butcher.

The thorquel lands February 18 2022. In the meantime, check out everything we know about Marvel Phase 4.

Molly Edwards
Senior Entertainment Writer

I'm a Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English. 

Latest in Marvel Movies
Daredevil: Born Again episode 6
Daredevil's Charlie Cox isn't in the Avengers: Doomsday cast list – but Marvel fans have an idea about how he might still show up
Simu Liu in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Simu Liu had the best reaction to Shang-Chi’s announcement for Avengers: Doomsday, but fans think it's "criminal" there hasn’t been a direct sequel
Fantastic Four: 1234 #2 cover excerpt
Sue Storm and Namor are officially both in Avengers: Doomsday, and fans are wondering if Reed Richards has something to worry about
Chris Evans as Steve Rogers with the rest of the gang during the superhero movie, The Avengers.
The OG Fox X-Men are back, with Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, and more joining the cast of Avengers: Doomsday alongside a whole new Avengers team to take on Robert Downey Jr's Doctor Doom
Robert Downey Jr. sitting in a chair at the end of a long line of chairs
Everything announced during Marvel's Avengers: Doomsday cast reveal live stream
The Fantastic Four: First Steps cast assemble
Fantastic Four star says the Marvel movie "will go down in history" for rejuvenating the MCU, "in the same way the Guardians of the Galaxy and Black Panther hit"
Latest in News
Daredevil: Born Again episode 6
Daredevil's Charlie Cox isn't in the Avengers: Doomsday cast list – but Marvel fans have an idea about how he might still show up
Simu Liu in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Simu Liu had the best reaction to Shang-Chi’s announcement for Avengers: Doomsday, but fans think it's "criminal" there hasn’t been a direct sequel
Mario faces the camera with a thumbs up pose in Super Smash Bros. Ulimate.
Nintendo Direct March 2025 live – all the Switch news, trailers, and reveals as they happen
Batman: Arkham Knight
Rocksteady's rumored single-player Batman game is in development for PC, PS5, Xbox, and "the next generation of consoles"
The Last of Us Part 1
The Last of Us director Neil Druckmann wanted to make sure the first game "was complete" because "I wasn't sure they would ever let me direct a game again"
Pillars of Eternity
10 years later, in a post-Baldur's Gate 3 and Avowed world, Obsidian is giving its own throwback CRPG Pillars of Eternity a turn-based combat mode