Thor: Love And Thunder Cut A Major Game Of Thrones Star Out Of The Marvel Movie

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"Thor: Love and Thunder" is a lot of things, good and bad depending on who you talked to. One thing it unquestionably has is a ridiculous amount of talent in front of the camera. Had things gone anothere way, anothere talented actress would have been in the movie as well. Lena Headey who was a key part of the cast of "Game of Thrones," having played Cersei Lannister in HBO's fantasy series, shot some scenes for the 2022 Marvel Cinematic Universe sequel. However, they didn't make the final cut. 

So, why did director Taika Waititi cut them out and what would those scenes have looked like? We now know.

In a recent interview with Screen Rant, Headey confirmed that she filmed scenes for "Love and Thunder." What's more, her scenes took place alongside Angus Sampson and the Oscar-winning star of "The Holdovers" Da'Vine Joy Randolph. What were they up to in the scenes that didn't make it to theaters? Here's what Headey had to say about it:

"I wasn't in it, but I worked on it. There were three of us. We were [a] coven of witches. I think it was Taika's invention, and they were kind of Thor's guide in the underworld, but they were very, very funny and kind of insane. I think there was this whole story of like, 'They got fired,' when actually it was just like, 'What are they doing here?' But I think the intention was to find this land for them to have their own adventures. It was myself, Angus Sampson, and Da'Vine Joy [Randolph], so it was quite a trio of madness."

"Oh, she's a delight. She is a joy. She is a divine joy," Headey added. "So yeah, bummer that we didn't make the cut."

Lena Headey makes it sound like Marvel Studios and/or Disney called into question what Taika Waititi was trying to do with these scenes. As a result, they never made it to the final edit.

Whether or not these scenes would have benefitted or hurt the movie is unknowable. What we can say for sure is that "Thor: Love and Thunder" featured quite a few major cameos, including the Guardians of the Galaxy, in addition to introducing new characters like Zeus played by Russell Crowe. That's just the tip of the iceberg.

Natalie Portman made her long-awaited MCU return as Jane Foster, while Christian Bale played the villain Gorr the God Butcher. Adding a coven of witches would have further contributed to the overstuffed proceedings.

Waititi helped reinvent the "Thor" franchise with 2017's "Thor: Ragnarok," but his follow-up was largely seen as a step down. Josh Spiegel in his review for /Film called "Thor: Love and Thunder" was billed as a "shaky attempt to recapture lightning in a bottle." While the movie was a hit taking in $761 million at the box office, the critical sentiment was shared by many, including franchise star Chris Hemsworth.

Hemsworth has acknowledged that "Love and Thunder" failed, saying that it got "caught up in the improv and the wackiness." It's difficult to imagine adding yet another subplot and more new characters would have improved the final product. That said, it's entirely possible that Heady's scenes with these witches, taken on their own, might have been a good bit of fun. They just didn't fit into the already jam-packed movie that Marvel had on its hands.

You can grab "Thor: Love and Thunder" on 4K, Blu-ray, or DVD from Amazon.