Thor: Love and Thunder could be starting production a bit sooner than originally thought. Actress Natalie Portman was spotted at a Sydney, Australia airport earlier this week, which is where it is believed that highly anticipated sequel will film. Portman, like most United States citizens, has been on lock down and remaining indoors, so it seems a bit suspicious that she would take her whole family out to Australia at this current time.

Chris Hemsworth wanted to shoot Thor: Ragnarok in Australia, and it's believed that they will do the same for Thor: Love and Thunder. Most productions in the U.S. are still halted, which means that projects have had to look for alternatives. However, if the upcoming sequel was already set to start shooting in Australia, which for the most part, seems to have the public health crisis under control, then Marvel Studios is ahead of the game. James Cameron also lucked out by scheduling Avatar 2 shoots in New Zealand.

Natalie Portman previously said that she would be returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in early 2021, which means that either she is preparing for Thor: Love and Thunder early, or she is in Australia for another reason. At this point, it's not clear until we start to see other stars from the movie, like Tessa Thompson, heading to Australia too. Director Taika Waititi has been working on writing new projects, including his highly anticipated mystery Star Wars movie that he is currently developing.

Taika Waititi shared some behind-the-scenes set photos of himself back at the beginning of August, though he did not specify what project it is for. Many have speculated that he was putting the final touches on his upcoming soccer comedy Next Goal Wins starring Michael Fassbender. This could throw a monkey wrench into the Thor: Love and Thunder production rumors, unless Waititi is extremely fast when it comes to editing his projects. It would seem that the director would want to completely finish one project before jumping into the next, though a lot of directors like to work in a variety of different ways. Waititi could be a master multitasker.

Taking into account that Taika Waititi is more than likely still working on Next Goal Wins, Thor: Love and Thunder could be going into pre-production, which means Natalie Portman could be in Australia to get fitted for various costumes and work on different looks for her character. Marvel Studios is extremely private about their productions, so we're not going to hear about it from them. With that being said, Waititi could share a few behind-the-scenes images to let everyone know that the gang is back together and working again. For now, we'll just have to wait and see. You can check out some images of Portman exiting a plane in Sydney, Australia above, thanks to the History Marvel Instagram account.