Taika Waititi Describes Thor: Love and Thunder as Thor's Midlife Crisis

Thor might be an ancient and functionally immortal being, but that doesn't change the fact that the God of Thunder will be dealing with a bit of a mid-life crisis. This is not the first time filmmaker Taika Waititi has said as much, but in a new interview with EW, the director went into much more detail about the way the Avenger's story will evolve, as he deals with life without his father and brother, the loss of his royal station, and someone else wielding the hammer of Thor. Part of the motivation, according to Waititi, was a need to keep things changing.

Thor: Ragnarok was praised for bringing fun and energy into the Thor franchise, which started as the dryest, most uneven Marvel film series.  This time around, Waititi wanted to make sure that Thor: Love and Thunder wasn't just Ragnarok 2.

"What I didn't want to do is just make Ragnarok again, because that's been done," Waititi told Entertainment Weekly. "I needed to do something more interesting for myself to keep the whole thing ignited and to make sure that I'm feeling creatively stimulated. I thought, What's the least expected thing with this franchise?"

That's where Thor's midlife crisis, and likely a kind of identity crisis, comes in.

"It's sort of like a midlife crisis film, really," Waititi adds. "That's the question we ask everyone: Are we doing the right thing, and are we doing all we can in the world? I think right now, while the world is still healing from this pandemic, it's a good question to ask. It's like, well, are we doing enough to look after each other and to look after ourselves?"

You can see the film's official synopsis below.

Here's how Marvel describes the adventure: The film finds Thor (Chris Hemsworth) 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 (Tessa Thompson), Korg (Taika Waititi) and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), 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.

Thor: Love and Thunder is due in theaters on July 8.