New Thor: Love and Thunder trailer reveals first look at Christian Bale's terrifying villain

Marvel has unveiled the first official trailer for Thor: Love and Thunder – and it looks just as zany as we’ve come to expect from the Avenger’s solo movies.

While the previous teaser only gave us a glimpse at Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster wielding Mjolnir, this new clip sees her in action, as she helps Thor battle a bunch of gladiators. It introduces Russell Crowe’s Zeus and Christian Bale’s Gorr the God Butcher, too. The latter of which we haven't properly seen until now.

It opens with Taika Waiti’s Korg telling a bunch of youngsters about the titular "space viking." He explains: "He was no ordinary man, he was god. After saving planet Earth for the 500th time, Thor set off on a new journey… he got in shape, he went from Dad Bod, to God Bod, and after all that, he reclaimed his title, as the one and only Thor."

"Ooh, spoke too soon," Korg adds, as a shot of Foster’s Mighty Thor pops up on the screen. Cue a whole bunch of awkwardness.

"The old ex-girlfriend," Thor mumbles under his breath to Korg in a later scene, before sharing a cringey moment with his former flame.

"What's it been, like three... four years?" asks Jane, prompting Thor to admit that he's been watching the calendar a little more than she has. "Eight years, seven months, and six days... Give or take," he says.

Feelings prove to be the least of Thor's worries when Gorr rocks up, though. Born on a planet with no name, the villain harbors a deep resentment for gods – and the lives of wealth and privilege they often get to lead – as he's been fighting to survive since he was small, and they never once answered his prayers. 

"The only ones who gods care about is themselves," Gorr growls in the promo. "So this is my vow... all gods will die." Uh oh.

Directed by Waititi, Thor: Love and Thunder is also set to star Akosia Sabet (as Wakandan goddess Bast), Jaimie Alexander (Sif), and Tessa Thompson (as Valkyrie). Chris Pratt (Peter Quill/Star-Lord), Dave Bautista (Drax), Pom Klementieff (Mantis), and Karen Gillan (Nebula), or as we know them best, the Guardians of the Galaxy, round out the supporting cast.

It is currently scheduled to release on July 8. If you don't have time to rewatch every film in Marvel Cinematic Universe ahead of time, then jog your memory as to what's been going down with our breakdown of the MCU timeline

Amy West

I am an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering all things TV and film across our Total Film and SFX sections. Elsewhere, my words have been published by the likes of Digital Spy, SciFiNow, PinkNews, FANDOM, Radio Times, and Total Film magazine.

Read more
Thunderbolts
New Thunderbolts trailer sees the MCU's most beloved antiheroes step in for the Avengers and save the world
The cast of Thunderbolts
I'm more excited for Thunderbolts than Fantastic Four, and the latest Super Bowl trailer just proves why
Thunderbolts
Thunderbolts release date, cast, trailer, plot, and more about the Marvel movie
The Fantastic Four: First Steps cast assemble
The Fantastic Four: First Steps trailer introduces Marvel's first family, big bad Galactus, and John Malkovich's deep-cut comics character to the MCU
Captain America: Brave New World trailer
New Captain America: Brave New World teaser gives us our best look yet at Danny Ramirez's Falcon and has everyone making the same joke
Thunderbolts* trailer
The latest Thunderbolts trailer all but confirms a major Marvel fan theory that one character is a goner
Latest in Superhero Movies
Ben Affleck in Zack Snyder's Justice League
Ben Affleck reflects on the "excruciating experience" playing Batman in the Zack Snyder movies: "A lot of it was misalignment of agendas, understandings, expectations"
James Gunn
James Gunn reacts to Jason Momoa almost spoiling his Lobo costume in an interview: "I just want to profoundly thank Jason’s publicist"
Peter Dinklage as Toxie in The Toxic Avenger
The first trailer for Peter Dinklage's long awaited Toxic Avenger reboot movie channels all the raunchy weirdness of the '80s original
Hot Fuzz
The 35 greatest 2000s action movies
Captain America: Brave New World
Giancarlo Esposito confirms he was originally set to play Marvel's King Cobra in Captain America: Brave New World: "It was a bit of a whirlwind"
Chris Evans as Steve Rogers in Avengers: Endgame
The Russo brothers hope that Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars are a "new beginning" for the MCU
Latest in News
Lunar Remastered Collection
"Will today’s players still enjoy a game from 30 years ago?": JRPG icon Kei Shigema says he was thrilled to see Lunar getting a remaster even after all this time
Nick Offerman as Bill and Murray Bartlett as Frank in The Last of Us episode 3
The Last of Us season 2 showrunners tease a "gorgeous" episode akin to season 1’s Emmy-nominated Bill and Frank story: "Just you wait"
The Witcher 4 screenshot with Ciri using sword and sorcery to fight an ancient monster
CD Projekt boss says "cutting-edge single-player games" – you know, like The Witcher 4 and Cyberpunk 2 – will "continue to enjoy great popularity" despite industry shifts
Cyberpunk 2077
Despite releasing exactly zero new games, CD Projekt bagged $120 million in profit for 2024 – the Witcher and Cyberpunk studio's third-best result ever
Muse
Daredevil: Born Again midseason trailer teases Matt Murdock’s violent fight with Muse, including a gory scene straight from the comics
Batman looking over the city during Batman: Arkham City, one of the best PS3 games.
The PS2 Batman Begins game was considered such a "disaster" that Christopher Nolan turned down a Dark Knight-inspired game