Thor: Love & Thunder Director Reveals When & How the Movie Got Greenlit

Thor: Love and Thunder was first announced at a massive Marvel Studios panel at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019, nearly a year and a half after Thor: Ragnarok hit theaters. Despite months between the two events, Love and Thunder was actually given the go-ahead by Marvel execs right as Taika Waititi's first Marvel picture began to hit theaters.

"We got this greenlit over dinner when Ragnarok came out," the filmmaker said in a recent stop with Fandango. "We pulled into a few cinemas around town and then went to dinner and started talking through ideas with Kevin and the rest of Marvel. The film became so beloved that very soon after that, they said 'Let's do another one!'"

Those ideas over dinner would soon turn into the "craziest" thing the filmmaker has ever done while working in cinema.

"And that's a wrap on Thor: Love and Thunder," Waititi shared in a celebratory Instagram post shortly after principal photography wrapped last year. "Sometimes two people come together to inspire the world and change the cinematic landscape forever. And then there's me and [Chris Hemsworth] who are too cool to care about anything except making movies that bring people absolute joy. Ok I don't look cool I know that."

The filmmaker then added, "This film is the craziest thing I've ever done and I'm honoured to bust my ass and have a nervous breakdown so you can all see it in May 2022."

Taika Waititi, who directed Thor: Ragnarok, returns to direct Thor: Love and Thunder. He also co-wrote the film's screenplay with Jennifer Kaytin Robinson. The film and stars Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Chris Pratt, Jaimie Alexander, Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Sean Gunn, Jeff Goldblum, and Vin Diesel.

Thor: Love and Thunder opens in theaters on July 8th.

What other surprises do you think are in store for Thor: Love and Thunder? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things MCU!