Thor: Love & Thunder Trailer All-But Confirms The Best Guardians Theory

The Thor: Love and Thunder trailer provided much-needed information about the upcoming film - and it also confirmed the extent of the Guardians' role.

Thor: Love & Thunder Trailer All-But Confirms The Best Guardians Theory

The first full trailer for Thor: Love and Thunder has now been released and, while much is left to be confirmed, it says a lot about the role that the Guardians of the Galaxy may play in the upcoming film. The Thor: Love & Thunder trailer was far closer focused on Jane Foster’s Mighty Thor after her cameo in the preliminary teaser, and it also provided a first look at Christian Bale’s Gorr the God Butcher – set to be the film’s primary antagonist. Alongside these characters, the film will also feature returning supporting casts such as Taika Waititi’s Korg and Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie alongside MCU staples, the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Leaving with Thor after the events of Avengers: Endgame, Thor: Love & Thunder will be the first of many appearances that the Guardians are set to have across Phase 4. Appearing as supporting characters in this instance, Peter Quill and Co. will star in Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3 as well as Guardians of the Galaxy: Holiday Special – the former of which is intended to be a dark turn in the Guardians’ MCU arc. Aside from this future, however, the Thor: Love & Thunder trailer suggests that the heroes will play a very different role in the upcoming film.

Rather than appearing as co-stars alongside the God of Thunder, the Guardians’ lacking appearances in the Thor: Love & Thunder trailer implies that they will instead have very little screen time, potentially only appearing in a singular act. This was hinted at in the first teaser, which dedicated very little time to the Guardians, though the full trailer seems to confirm it, with the team playing an even smaller role in the film’s extended publicity. While the Guardians look set to become major players in the future of Phase 4, the same cannot be said for Thor: Love and Thunder – which is potentially a wise idea, as it allows for Guardians of the Galaxy 3 to be set up without making the crew spend a film as background characters.

The full extent of the Guardians’ role in Thor: Love & Thunder is still unknown, but the trailer heavily suggests that the heroes will only appear in the film’s first act, potentially begrudgingly transporting the God between locations as he attempts to find his place in the world. After seeming to get involved in a battle from which Thor abstains, the teaser showed the team parting ways, leaving Thor behind on the foreign planet to find himself. This limited presentation continues into the full trailer, with the new shots of the Guardians being on the same planet.

In addition to the shots that made up the teaser, the full trailer for Thor: Love & Thunder has only a limited amount of original Guardians content. It shows the team watching Thor take on a new look – wearing a red leather vest reminiscent of Quill’s iconic jacket – which has been dubbed as the God’s “Ravager” gear in certain pieces of the film’s merchandise. There is also a brief shot of Drax and Nebula firing weapons at an unseen enemy, though this action appears to take place in the same red planet location that the Guardians were previously seen battling in the teaser.

With the trailer having very little to add to the original teaser, it appears that the Guardians will play a minor supporting role in Thor: Love & Thunder. December 2022 will reveal the potential future of the team with Guardians of the Galaxy: Holiday Special, and then in a further five months Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 should hit the big screen – currently slated for release May 5 2023. Without the Guardians for support, Thor: Love and Thunder will see the God of Thunder relying on his older friends in his search for self-fulfillment.