Marvel Producer: Thor Is the First MCU Hero to Get Four Movies “So Far”

When Thor Odinson (Chris Hemsworth) thunders back into the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Thor: Love and Thunder, he’s not the one and only Mighty Thor — but he is the only hero so far to headline four solo movies. The God of Thunder returns for a new cosmic adventure set post-Avengers: Endgame, which saw sendoffs for Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) following their respective Captain America and Iron Man trilogies. After reinventing and reinvigorating the Asgardian Avenger in 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok, director Taika Waititi reteams with Hemsworth to shake up the MCU a second time with the arrival of the new Mighty Thor: Jane Foster (Natalie Portman). 

Asked about Thor’s fourth solo movie during Thursday’s red carpet world premiere, Thor: Love and Thunder executive producer Brian Chapek told Deadline, “He’s the only person so far to get four movies.” 

“It’s not necessarily a hint,” Chapek continued, adding, “it’s the first person to get that. I also feel like the big reason is because Ragnarok was a little bit of a reset of this character, so it was almost a rebirth. We want to continue evolving upon that character.”

After donning the mantle and shield of the star-spangled Avenger in Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) will return in the still-untitled Captain America 4, the fourth Captain America movie but Mackie’s first solo outing as the character. Peter Parker (Tom Holland) will also return to the MCU in a fourth Spider-Man movie now in development from Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios. 

“Each time, if the opportunity comes up and presents itself, I’m just open to whatever creative exploration can happen, thanks to different writers and directors and so on,” Hemsworth recently told Total Film magazine about playing the thunder god in Thor, Thor: The Dark World, Thor: Ragnarok, and four Avengers movies. “But I love playing the character, I really do. It always comes down to: ‘Is this script different to the last one? Are we repeating something?’ And when it becomes too familiar, I think that’s when I’d have to say … I’d like to exit before people tell me to exit.”

Added Marvel Studios president and Thor franchise producer Kevin Feige, “I know this: there are many, many other Thor stories in the comics that we talk about a lot. And as we watch Chris Hemsworth continue to grow and evolve as a major acting talent, I would be excited to see how he keeps evolving this complex character.” 

Starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Tessa Thompson, Taika Waititi, Russell Crowe as Zeus, Jaimie Alexander as Sif, and Chris Pratt, Karen Gillan, Dave Bautista, Pom Klementieff, Sean Gunn, Vin Diesel, and Bradley Cooper as the Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvel Studios’ Thor: Love and Thunder opens July 8 in theaters.