Almost unbelievably so, the fourth Thor film, Thor: Love and Thunder is just around the corner. The film will reunite Chris Hemsworth with Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi and looks to be another grand cosmic adventure. This time around, Thor isn't the only one returning.
Many MCU characters look to appear in the upcoming MCU film, such as members of the Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor characters that haven't been seen since Thor: The Dark World. With so many returning characters, it's helpful to be reminded of where the larger MCU story left them.
Thor
Obviously, there can't be a Thor movie without the title character. Thor has been in 7 movies prior to Thor: Love and Thunder and has been put through the wringer. He lost his entire family to various villains and lost his entire planet. So, needless to say that the last time audiences saw him, he wasn't feeling like his old self.
Avengers: Endgame saw Thor stuck in a very deep depression when the remaining Avengers came asking for his help. He had gained weight and was constantly drunk. Luckily, he was able to pull himself out of it for one last battle with Thanos. After the day was won, he went off with the Guardians of the Galaxy to find where he could belong in the universe.
Jane Foster
Natalie Portman makes her triumphant return to the MCU with Thor: Love and Thunder. The character hadn't been seen since Thor: The Dark World, where she played host to the Aether, revealed to be the Reality Stone. When Malekith was killed, she waited for Thor to return to her once again and the last shot of the character, prior to a small cameo in Avengers: Endgame, was her sharing a kiss with Thor.
She wasn't seen again in the follow-up films but she was mentioned in both Avengers: Age of Ultron and Thor: Ragnarok. In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Thor mentions that she's receiving a Nobel Peace Price and In Thor: Ragnarok, Thor tells Loki that they had broken up prior to the events of the film. Now she's returned as The Mighty Thor, which will surely stir up some emotions in Thor.
Miek
Introduced as Korg's bug-like sidekick, Miek was a gladiator of the Grandmasters in Thor: Ragnarok. The character can't speak in an understandable language and seems to be a mystery even to Korg. When Korg, Miek, Loki, and some of the other gladiators arrive on Asgard, Miek is defeated and seemingly killed. However, it turns out they didn't die.
The last time the character was used was during the Fortnite scene in Avengers: Endgame. They were watching Korg while enjoying some pizza. They do appear in the final battle with Thanos which they also survived. Miek may look a little different in Love & Thunder, as Taika Waitit unveiled new concept art for the character earlier this year (via Screen Rant).
Korg
Korg was a fan-favorite character from Thor: Ragnarok, a very rewatchable MCU film, who was played by Taika Waititi. He was a Kronan warrior who found his way to Sakaar where he became a gladiator for the Grandmaster. He and a few of the other gladiators revolted and escaped the planet to help the Asgardians. Korg decided to go with Thor on their journey to Earth after the events of the film.
Korg doesn't have a major plotline in Avengers: Endgame but he does show up, in the beginning, playing Fortnite with his friend Miek at Thor's place in New Asgard. He does participate in the final battle with the rest of the heroes of Earth but, there's no major status quo shift for the character by the end of the film.
Valkyrie
Valkyrie was introduced in Thor: Ragnarok as the last of the great Asgardian warriors. She was working as a scrapper for the Grandmaster and after a chance encounter with Thor, decided to team up with him, Loki, and Bruce Banner to get back to Asgard and stop Hela once and for all.
The character returned in Avengers: Endgame where she was openly critical of how Thor acted as the King of New Asgard. She knew the people needed a leader and she stepped up when Thor was incapable of doing so. After the final battle, Thor made her King of New Asgard because he knew she would be a far better leader than he was.
Star-Lord, Drax, Mantis, & Groot
The Guardians of the Galaxy played a large role in Avengers: Infinity War. This film was the first time the Guardians had teamed up with the rest of the heroes in the franchise, having sat out Avengers: Age of Ultron. When Thanos snaps his fingers at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, Star-Lord, Drax, Mantis, and Groot all fade away into nothing.
Because of this, those Guardians don't play a major role in the events of Avengers: Endgame. Star-Lord does try to convince the 2014 version of Gamora to come with them, but she declines. At the end of the film, Star-Lord is seen searching for her, but it's unlikely this plot thread will be picked up in Thor: Love and Thunder.
Rocket
Even though Rocket and Groot went off to help Thor build a new weapon to stop Thanos, only Rocket survived the blip. Rocket has some really nice scenes with Thor in Avengers: Infinity War and they are paired up again in Avengers: Endgame.
Luckily Rocket and Thor's mission to 2014 Asgard was a success and they were able to help the rest of the Avengers build a new Infinity Gauntlet and bring everyone back. Rocket was very protective over his newly revived friend, Groot, during the battle, but in the end, he got his family back.
Nebula
Nebula was captured by Thanos prior to the events of Avengers: Infinity War and was used to force Gamora into giving Thanos the location of the Soul Stone. Nebula escaped and raced to Titan to help the rest of the Guardians fight off the Mad Titan. Unfortunately, she ended up just being there in time to watch her friends fall into nothingness.
Nebula returns in Avengers: Endgame to help the Avengers retrieve the stones from the past. She pairs up with Rhody to go to 2014 and retrieve the Power Stone before Star-Lord can get it. She's captured by Thanos and her younger self takes her place in the timeline. Nebula is able to defeat her younger self and reunite with the Guardians and hopefully Gamora sometime soon.
Kraglin
Sean Gunn's Kraglin character ended up playing a larger role in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 than he did in the first one. In the second film to feature the Guardians, he grows tired of Yondu's love of Star-Lord and he becomes part of a mutiny. Eventually, he makes things right and helps the Guardians and Yondu defeat Ego.
After Yondu's death, Kraglin takes up the Fin and the last scene of the film was him trying to learn how to control Yondu's arrow with it. Set photos do suggest the character is in Thor: Love and Thunder so perhaps he's mastered it and joined with the Guardians officially.
Sif
With all the characters that have supposedly been cut from Thor: Love and Thunder, it's likely Sif didn't make the final cut. But if she did then it would be a nice surprise for audiences who've wanted her return since Thor: The Dark World. Technically she has a cameo in Loki, but her last real appearance within the second Thor film.
She's absent from Asgard during the destructive events of Thor: Ragnarok and the last time she was seen was helping Jane, Thor, and Loki escape from Asgard to lure Malekith away. Now she does appear in two episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. which are set after Thor: The Dark World, but it's currently not clear if that show is canon at this time.