There are people you might have expected to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and then there's Christian Bale, who you could imagine was happy to leave the world of capes and heroics behind after his tenure in the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy came to an end. Not so! According to Collider, Bale is now in talks for, and very likely to join the cast of, Thor: Love And Thunder.
This fourth outing for Chris Hemsworth's Norse hero is the second to be overseen by writer/director Taika Waititi and promises the return of not only Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie (and Waititi's own performance capture breakout star Korg), but Natalie Portman's Jane Foster. The latter has been tempted back by the lure of a storyline that should let her do more than sigh over Thor in lust or frustration, or be the damsel in distress. This time, she'll get her own crack at heroics, assuming the mantle of Thor herself in a new form.
Bale's role in all this is unknown right now, though we could see him embracing the role of a villain. Waititi recently said that the film will shift into pre-production mode this April to target a shifted August shoot start, with the busy director still taking aim at a November 2021 release for the movie.