On January 26th, actor Chris Hemsworth took to Instagram to announce that Marvel's Thor: Love and Thunder has officially started filming. The hotly anticipated film is finally beginning production in Sydney, Australia after a long delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Instagram post features multiple slides of Chris Hemsworth and Thor: Love and Thunder director Taika Waititi with a group of Indigenous Australian performers. In one of the slides, you can see masked crew members gathered around watching the performance. Chris confirms the film shoot has begun at the beginning of the caption, writing, "A beautiful start to our shoot today with a Welcome to Country ceremony from the Gamay dancers of the Gadigal and Bidiagal Nation and performance and karakia by Maori dancers from Te Aranganui."

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The post continues, "January 26th as a date signifying the beginning of dispossession, disease epidemics, frontier violence, destruction of culture, exploitation, abuse, separation of families and subjection to policies of extreme social control. Let’s begin the healing and stand together in unity and support with our First Nations people with solidarity and compassion. Let’s find a date where all Australians can celebrate this beautiful country together. #changethedate @taikawaititi #thorloveandthunder." January 26th is Australia Day, Australia's national holiday. This date is controversial because it is held on a date marking British Colonization of the Indigenous Australians' lands. Chris Hemsworth is supporting the movement that wants the date to be changed to respect Indigenous Australians and not celebrate colonization.

Many Marvel stars have been confirmed to be in Sydney for Thor: Love and Thunder. Those who don't live in Australia and have arrived from other countries have been quarantining for two weeks before filming begins. The cast includes the Guardians of the Galaxy cast, including Chris Pratt, Karen Gillan, Dave Bautista, and Pom Klementieff. Tessa Thompson will be returning to the Thor franchise as Valkyrie, and Natalie Portman will be returning as Jane Foster. It has been confirmed that Jane Foster will gain the power of Thor, as seen in the Mighty Thor comics.

New to the series is Christian Bale, who will be playing villain Gorr the God Butcher. Matt Damon has also been quarantining in Sydney pre-filming, and it's not yet known whether he will be reprising his cameo from Thor: Ragnarok or playing a different role. With filming beginning, fans are just a little bit closer to getting the answer to that question and to many more.

Thor: Love and Thunder is set to be released in theatres on May 6, 2022.

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Source: Chris Hemsworth | Instagram