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Taika Waititi Teases Thor & Jane’s MCU Futures After Love & Thunder
Director Taika Waititi teases Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Jane Foster's (Natalie Portman) futures within the MCU following Thor: Love and Thunder. The highly anticipated MCU Phase 4 movie will follow the titular hero as he picks up the pieces of his life after the events of Avengers: Endgame. However, when Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale) steps into the fray with the goal to wipe out all gods, Thor must team up with King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), his rock-based friend Korg (Waititi), and his former flame Jane, who now wields Thor's old weapon Mjolnir as the Mighty Thor.
Although the film will be released five years after Thor: Ragnarok and follow MCU Phase 4 multiverse projects such as Loki, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder mainly pulls from threads left untied following Avengers: Endgame. With Thor's home-world destroyed and Thanos defeated, the titular hero pursues new purpose in his life during what Waititi has previously called Thor's mid-life crisis. The new Thor: Love and Thunder trailer sees Thor and Jane reunite after over eight years of being apart, now in roles different from their previous appearances.
Total Film caught up with Waititi, who teases Thor and Jane's future within the MCU after Thor: Love and Thunder. The sequel finds Thor still wielding Stormbreaker, a godly weapon forged by Eitri (Peter Dinklage) to kill Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. However, promotional materials have shown that Jane now wields a rebuilt Mjolnir, Thor's old weapon that was thought to be destroyed by his sister, Hela (Cate Blanchett). Waititi assumes fans will take this visual as Marvel Studios passing the torch from Hemsworth to Portman as the leader of the Thor franchise. However, the director does not think this is what is happening. Read what Waititi says below:
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And also, it’s really fun, the idea that Thor [has] got Stormbreaker, that big axe, and now his hammer’s back and it’s in the hands of someone else. It’s no longer his hammer. It’s the idea that someone’s taking his place. I think a lot of fans are gonna potentially assume, ‘Oh, OK, this is the passing on of the torch’... I’m not privy to any plans Marvel has for the future, but I don’t think that’s the case.
Although Waititi claims he does not have knowledge of any plans that Marvel Studios has for the characters, the director must be aware of the potential directions for both Thor and Jane following the end of the film that he himself wrote. Hemsworth has also stated he wishes to continue portraying Thor after Love and Thunder, and the Asgardian hero will reportedly have future appearances later in the franchise. However, Jane's future within the shared universe remains in question.
Jane's return as the Mighty Thor is such a big moment for the film series that her appearance being limited to only one film would be a disservice to the character. In the original source material, the Nine Realms was left without a Thor as its protector, leaving it vulnerable to many enemies. A mysterious woman eventually takes the mantle of Thor and is deemed worthy to wield the mighty hammer. It is later revealed to be Jane Foster, Thor's old love, who is battling cancer. If Thor: Love and Thunder adheres relatively close to the source material, then Jane should have a continuing presence in the MCU, as she was a crucial part of the Secret Wars story within Marvel Comics.
Thor: Love And Thunder (2022)
Release Date: Jul 08, 2022
