Thor: Love and Thunder Star Chris Hemsworth Says Taika Waititi Gave Franchise Something He Desperately Wanted

Chris Hemsworth will return as Marvel's God of Thunder, Thor, in Thor: Love and Thunder. The film will be the second in the Thor series directed by Taika Waititi following Thor: Ragnarok. Hemsworth tells GQ that Waititi brought something to the character that he'd been yearning for. "He's insanely fun," says Hemsworth of Waititi. "But don't mistake that child-like, frantic energy for someone who isn't prepared. That's quite a unique combination, that he has the ability to, through humor, put you at ease, but is also armed with all the knowledge that a director needs to lead you through the process. And it came at a time when I desperately wanted there to be more humor to the character."

Hemsworth also expressed some thoughts on Waititi's Oscar win for the screenplay to Jojo Rabbit. "I was certainly happy for him when he won and it was a pretty special moment," says Hemsworth. "I hadn't actually seen any of the other films he was nominated against – I hadn't seen much of anything. Living here I was like, 'Oh yeah, it's Oscars season'. I'd been pretty out of the loop."

Hemsworth returns in Thor: Love and Thunder, alongside co-stars Tessa Thompson (Valkyrie) and Natalie Portman (Jane Foster). Hemsworth had said previously that he wanted to return as Thor to follow up on the events of Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Endgame. "I'd still love to do more, to be honest," he said. "And I don't know what the plan is. I feel like we've opened up such a different character. I feel more energized for the possibility of where it could go...But I'll use that in other places and other characters if it's the end here."

In November 2019, Hemsworth said fans can expect "Lots of love and lots of thunder. You can expect that. I haven't seen the script yet. I know they're working very hard on it and pretty excited to bring you something pretty fresh and new again. But having left Endgame, where Thor was, we have a lot of room to move there and drastically change again, which is very, very exciting. But we start shooting that sort of mid-next year."

Waititi has suggested that Love and Thunder will amplify the aesthetic established in Ragnarok. "It's going to be bigger and louder and more bombastic," Waititi revealed. "It's only interesting to me if we're doubling down on how nuts Ragnarok was."

The upcoming film will see Portman's Jane Foster lifting Mjolnir to become Thor. The film was expected to begin production in August 2020, though the coronavirus pandemic will likely have an effect on those plans. The film is scheduled to open in theaters on February 11, 2022.

Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for InStyle