The Marvel Cinematic Universe started with solo heroes that eventually merged together to create the Avengers. Four heroes currently have their own trilogies within the MCU - Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man, Chris Evans' Captain America, Tom Holland's Spider-Man, and Chris Hemsworth's Thor. However, come July 8, 2022, Hemsworth will be set apart from the rest of the group with the arrival of his fourth solo flick, Thor: Love and Thunder.
Thor: Ragnarok ended with the destruction of Asgard, and Avengers: Endgame revealed that the surviving people relocated to Earth under Thor's rule. At the end of the movie, Thor sets out on an adventure with Peter Quill and the Guardians of the Galaxy, naming Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie as King.
Love and Thunder, directed by Taika Waititi, will feature the return of Natalie Portman's Jane Foster. At some point, Thor's former love interest will be transforming into Mighty Thor, even wielding Mjolnir, Thor's hammer that was crushed by Hela in Ragnarok.
While it is unclear if there will be any other characters from past films returning to the screen once again, an actor that played a role in Avengers: Infinity War has expressed his interest in coming back.
Peter Dinklage's Return to Marvel
BEJT, a content moderator for MCU Wiki, shared a recent interview between actor Peter Dinklage and Empire while promoting his latest film, Cyrano.
Dinklage portrayed the Dwarf King Eitri in Avengers: Infinity War, who was responsible for forging Thor's axe, Stormbreaker, as well as the hammer Mjolnir.
In the interview, the actor was asked about a possible return to the MCU, where he mentioned that Thor: Love and Thunder was coming out soon:
“Well, there’s another Thor movie there, isn’t there? Coming out that Taika’s directed. But, I didn’t say anything. I didn’t say anything.”
Dinklage then followed up with a few joking uses of the word "what," before saying that "it doesn't matter" what happens to a character in the MCU, that they can always come back. He then went on to talk about TV shows and said that "it's Marvel World, we're just all part of it:"
“If you die in a Marvel movie, doesn’t mean it’s your last Marvel movie. That’s the crazy thing, it doesn’t matter. Somebody could make a TV—now, there’s TV shows. It’s Marvel World, we’re just all part of it.”
This is not the first time that Dinklage's return was teased, as an IMDb listing for Love and Thunder's makeup department featured Lane Friedman as a hairstylist for Dinklage as Eitri.
No One's Ever Really Gone in the MCU
Eitri's fate following Avengers: Infinity War was never confirmed. The last fans saw of him, he forged Stormbreaker for Thor before seeing the God of Thunder off to Wakanda so he could aid the other Avengers against Thanos.
It was shown that Thanos permanently damaged Eitri's hands in Infinity War when he was looking for the Infinity Stones. Thanos needed a gauntlet that could harness the power of all six stones, and Eitri refused to make one for him, so Thanos put his hands into melted metal, which would make him unable to forge anything ever again.
It has been revealed that Jane Foster will be wielding Mjolnir in the upcoming film. It appears that the hammer she will be using is the same one that was destroyed in Thor: Ragnarok, as it is covered in cracks and looks to be pieced back together. It is possible that Peter Dinklage's Eitri will be the one responsible for putting it back together, as his skills in weaponry are second-to-none.
While it is unclear whether or Dinklage will be back, he does seem to have some interest in returning. It is possible that he will make an appearance in Thor: Love and Thunder, but if not, there are plenty more chances down the road for him to be seen again.
Thor: Love and Thunder will be released in theaters on July 8, 2022.
