Thor: Love and Thunder isn’t just a continuation of Marvel’s Thor franchise — it’s also a Guardians of the Galaxy crossover. Following the events of Avengers: Endgame, which concluded with Chris Hemsworth’s Thor becoming an unofficial member of the Guardians, Love and Thunder is set to prominently feature several members of the beloved Marvel team. But that’s not where the crossover ends.
All Aboard the Benatar — During a recent red carpet interview with Marvel Entertainment, Chris Pratt revealed that Thor: Love and Thunder will see the God of Thunder’s cosmic goats, Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder, end up in the care of the Guardians of the Galaxy. According to Pratt, Love and Thunder director Taika Waititi chose to leave the goats with the Guardians in order to force Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 director James Gunn to figure out what to do with the animals.
“[Taika] just wanted to stick James with some goats,” Pratt remarked. “He was like, ‘I’ve rewritten the script, mate, and, you know, I decided to put some goats in there and see what he’s going to do with them. So James has to pick up where Taika left off and he stuck us with some space goats.”
The MCU’s Unlikeliest Team-Up — Pratt’s comments, notably, line up with several early Love and Thunder leaks, so it seems safe to assume that Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder will, indeed, end up joining the Guardians of the Galaxy crew by the time everything is said and done in the new MCU film.
That minor spoiler aside, Pratt’s comments do seem to confirm that Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder will likely appear again in the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special later this year, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 next year, or in both projects. Either way, the goats’ presence in one of those titles suggests that the unlikely bond between the Thor and Guardians franchises will continue after Thor: Love and Thunder.
The goats’ future with the Guardians also raises the possibility that one of the team’s upcoming Marvel adventures could very well feature appearances from several Love and Thunder characters. In fact, now that we know Toothgrinder and Toothgnasher are going to join up with the Guardians, it seems pretty likely that someone like Thor or Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie will show up in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
The Inverse Analysis — There’s no telling right now what James Gunn has planned for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 or its upcoming, holiday-themed Disney+ predecessor. However, it looks like those plans will involve Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder in some form or another. On its own, that fact automatically raises the possibility of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 featuring a cameo from Thor himself or, at the very least, one of his Love and Thunder allies.
That’s assuming Gunn doesn’t choose to just straight-up murder Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder in either the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special or Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Knowing Gunn’s sense of humor, that possibility isn’t totally off the table right now.
Thor: Love and Thunder hits theaters on July 8, 2022.