At Marvel Studios Thor: Love and ThunderDirected by Taika Waititi, Thor’s (Chris Hemsworth) journey of self-discovery is interrupted when a galactic assassin known as Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale) sets out to kill all the gods. To face the threat, Thor enlists the help of King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Korg (Waititi), and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who can wield Mjolnir—to Thor’s surprise (but hardly anyone else)— as Mighty Thor. Together, the heroes of Thor and New Asgard embark on a harrowing cosmic adventure to unravel the mystery of the God Butcher’s vengeance and stop him before he can kill Jesus (oh wait, that was a deleted scene), as well as the tween- population of New Asgard.
Fans of Marvel Cinematic Thors niverse will also meet the next generation of New Asgard’s heroes such as Axl, played by the 13-year-old Kieron L. Dyer in Thor 4. Born of Heimdall (Idris Elba) and Grace and given the name “Astrid” at birth, when the tween Asgardian arrived on Earth in New Asgard, he became a super fan of the hair metal band Guns N’ Roses, who decorated his room with “a a bunch of Guns N’ Roses posters’, getting ‘an electric guitar’ and renaming himself after the band’s lead singer, Axl Rose… All of this is of course to Thor’s surprise.
Preserving Heimdall’s Legacy
Axl has several hero moments in Thor 4 where he demonstrates classic Asgardian bravery, along with his father’s unique selflessness and leadership skills. When Axl and the other New Asgardian children are kidnapped by Gorr and taken to the Shadow Realm to lure Thor so the God Butcher can get Stormbreaker, Heimdall Jr. even if “all the kids are scared” to try to save everyone. “He inherited his father’s ability to look across the Nine Realms and project people to where he is and things like that,” Dyer explained, adding “[playing Heimdall’s son] was a pretty big legacy to uphold.”
Although Heimdall has a long history in Marvel Comics, he first appeared in 1962 Journey into the mystery #85 by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby, Axl is not a character that originated on the page, a fact Dyer commented on more than once, saying it was “really exciting” to be an original MCU character to play. “I have to make it my own. Since Axl is not a character in the comics, I had to read up on Heimdall and his abilities,” Dyer said at one point during the interview. “What you can see in Thor, Thor: The Dark Worldand Thor: Ragnarok is that he has courage, determination and leadership qualities. He is always thinking about what is best for Asgard and its people. I wanted to take that over.”
When Dyer found out he was playing Heimdall’s son Axl, he assumed he wouldn’t meet Elba “because he’s dead,” the actor explained. But he did meet him. “It’s a funny story,” Dyer said. “I was doing my schoolwork. My dad went out to call. When he came back he said Idris Elba was on set and wanted to have you, which was unexpected. He was such a cool guy. We chatted what about Heimdall, my character, and what it was like playing my character. I’m really glad I got to know him.”
Working with Chris Hemsworth and Taika Waititi
In the shadowy realm, Axl maintains communication with Thor through powers he inherited from Heimdall. At first, Axl can only project himself as a floating head (the VFX scene you’ve read about a million times), but Thor eventually teaches him how to make a link that allows the God of Thunder to see where the kids are. held . A cool scene, although unfortunately most of the online discussions around it have focused on the VFX rather than Dyer’s work as a young actor. To change the conversation, he offered some insight into Waititi’s directing style and the use of improvisation on set.
“I definitely learned a lot from improv because I had never done that before. In my last film I didn’t improvise much,” Dyer said of working with the director. “On this one, because Taika is very creative and likes to play with lines, we did quite a bit. Usually when I did a scene with Chris Hemsworth when we were in the cage, we played with lines a bit. We went back and forth with the whole, you’re in a cage, but it’s okay, because when you die, you go to walhalla, like, ‘oh my god shut up’ we played with that a lot, what was so much fun. It was so much fun doing it with Chris Hemsworth I mean it’s… Chris Hemsworth. I’m such a big fan of his, so I was so happy to do that.”
Dyer continued, “I also had to do quite a bit of improv with Christian Bale, back in the cage, and that was fun too, so I’m really glad I got to do it. I’ve been on other projects as well.”
Favorite BTS memories from Thor: Love and Thunder
Born into a family of MCU fans, Dyer says he always grew up watching Marvel (and his favorite characters are Black Widow and Captain America). “We love to watch Marvel movies: my sister, mom and dad. We watch them over and over. I’m pretty sure we Endgame like ten times. When I auditioned for [Thor: Love and Thunder], I knew it was Marvel and was so excited. So when I got the part, it was crazy. It was unreal. I was so excited.”
Asked about a favorite memory on set as a MCU fan, Dyer commented, “One of my favorite memories was filming the last fight scene. I’ll never forget that because it was so much fun and exciting to film. While I was reading the script, I kept yelling every moment, ‘ Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!'” When he thought about it a little longer, he added: “I think one of my favorite memories is holding Stormbreaker. It’s pretty tough. I think she made many different versions of it, too. There was the normal one I’m pretty sure there’s a metal one and the rubber one I had. Then we filmed it with this white metal [for VFX].”
As for Axl’s future? “I’m not sure,” Dyer said. However, the young Asgardian is taught by Sif (Heimdall’s sister in Marvel Comics) how to wield a sword near the end of the film. Hmmm… Have fans just been introduced to another Young Avengers? After all, Marvel Studios likes to have fun with its team rosters.
Marvel Studios’ God of Thunder’s fourth big-screen adventure, Thor: Love and Thunderarrived on Disney+ and other digital platforms on September 8, and on September 27, 2022 on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD. Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Thors universe – Thor and Mighty Thor, King Valkyrie, Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder, Korg, and New Asgard’s up-and-coming heroes like Axl – can now add Thor 4 to their collection. The Thor: Love and Thunder Featuring exclusive bonus content, including deleted scenes, a gag reel and audio commentary from legendary filmmaker and director Waititi, 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD are available today.