Taika Waititi Says Thor: Love and Thunder Is "About Love, With Superheroes and Outer Space"
Taika Waititi brings the love — and the thunder — in Thor: Love and Thunder. After re-energizing the Asgardian Avenger in 2017's Thor: Ragnarok, Waititi returns to the Marvel Cinematic Universe to reunite the retired God of Thunder Thor (Chris Hemsworth) with his ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) post-Avengers: Endgame. When Jane returns wielding the magical hammer Mjolnir and possessing the power of the mighty Thor, the potential of a rekindled romance could make Thor: Love and Thunder worthy of another title: a superhero romantic comedy with a lot of heart — and a lot of love.
"Tonally it's where I've always wanted it," Waititi told Empire Magazine of Thor 4, described by the Jojo Rabbit filmmaker as "a film about love, with superheroes and outer space."
Along with putting the Retired Avenger on a quest for inner peace, Waititi wanted to tell a superheroic romantic love story.
"I wanted to embrace this thing that I was always a bit dismissive of, and explore this idea of love, and show characters who do believe in love," Waititi explained. "On paper, it feels kinds of cringy to me, but there's a way of doing it with cool characters making a cool movie, and also having a thing that no fan ever wants in a superhero movie, which is people talking about love, and characters kissing."
But those characters may not be who — or what — you're expecting. Rounding out the cast are the allies of the mighty Thors: New Asgard's King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Korg (Waititi), and Guardians of the Galaxy members Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Drax (Dave Bautista), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Rocket Raccoon (voice of Bradley Cooper), and Groot (voice of Vin Diesel).
"I think most people will assume that the love story is between Chris and Natalie," Waititi teased. "I can't promise that what people think is going to happen in this film will happen."
Thor: Love and Thunder finds Thor on a journey unlike anything he's ever faced: a quest for inner peace. But his retirement is interrupted by a galactic killer known as Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale), who seeks the extinction of the gods. To combat the threat, Thor enlists the help of King Valkyrie, Korg and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster, who – to Thor's surprise – inexplicably wields his magical hammer, Mjolnir, as the Mighty Thor. Together, they embark upon a harrowing cosmic adventure to uncover the mystery of the God Butcher's vengeance and stop him before it's too late.
Marvel's Thor: Love and Thunder opens only in theaters July 8.
