Favorite MCU superhero faces off with ex-girlfriend, new villain in 'Thor: Love and Thunder'

HOLLYWOOD -- Thor is back for another adventure at the box office and this time, he's leading the battle against someone who wants to see all the Gods extinct.

In "Thor: Love and Thunder," Thor's ex-girlfriend, Jane Foster, is back in a big way.

Oscar winner Natalie Portman says she was happy to return to the role of Jane.

"She has a lot of power," said Portman. "She has a lot of strength, but she also has human vulnerability. It's something I can relate to more than someone who's just like a badass all the time."

Tessa Thompson also returns to her fan favorite role of King Valkyrie.

"I think what felt really special about this one is that it has a tremendous amount of heart," said Thompson.

Star Chris Hemsworth said director Taika Waititi brought his talent and his good nature to this project.

"People knew they're going to have a good time, and that's what it's about," he said. "If you're not having fun making films, then why the hell are you doing it? He embodies all of that."

"This movie is so different than the movie I thought I was shooting, you know, a year and a half ago," said Portman. "There's huge sequences that are just not in the movie, and there's really important parts of the movie that we ended up shooting in, like, one day of re-shoots. It's really wild how it turns out."

Christian Bale joins the "Thor" crew playing a galactic killer known as Gorr the God Butcher.

"It's such a good time," he said. "I watched it last night for the first time on a big screen with everybody. It's such a wonderful quality of life, that communal experience, which I haven't really experienced for a long time."

Also communal: Several of the stars' kids appear in the movie.

"I read the script and I said to Taika, 'What if my daughter played this part?' And I filmed it on an iPhone at home, in like two takes, and she's, like, 'Oh, I'm done with this,'" said Hemsworth. "It was really good. The first two takes and she had that attitude for the whole film and I was like, 'Let's rehearse it.' She said 'No, I'll do it on the day.'"

"Thor: Love and Thunder" is rated PG-13 and hits theaters Friday, July 8.