Taika Waititi Would Return For ‘Thor 5’ as Long as Chris Hemsworth Returns

Thor: Love and Thunder is in theaters now, and despite mixed reviews, the fourth installment has already grossed over $300 million at the global box office. Surely the financial success confirms a fifth movie.

Spoiler Alert for Thor: Love and Thunder

At the end of the movie, we see Jane Foster’s The Mighty Thor succumb to her cancer diagnosis and enters Vallahala via a post-credits scene. However, Chris Hemsworth’s Thor lives on being a guardian to Love, the daughter of Gorr the God Butcher. However, the first post-credit scene reveals Zeus tasking Hercules (Brett Goldstein) with getting revenge on Thor. It appears likely that a Thor vs. Hercules confrontation is coming to the MCU. The credits end with the now-classic end card “Thor will return”.

Thor 5 will happen at some point with Hemsworth, but the question now is, will director Taika Waititi return? While speaking with Insider, Waititi he had no idea Marvel was adding that title card to the end of the movie., although he would return to direct his third Thor movie as long as franchise star Chris Hemsworth is also involved. “That was a surprise to me, too. I’m not joking. I saw it in the theater and I was like, ‘Oh, shit. Really?’ Even Chris was like, ‘What?’ But, of course he’ll be back. He’s the best character. I mean, I may be a little biased, but he’s the most fun to watch.”

“Now, I don’t know what would be next. I would definitely do one, but only if Chris did it. But it would need to be something surprising and unexpected for me to want to do it. Like what would be the new take? The battles and all the fighting is fine, but I would want something that feels unexpected when it comes to the story. Like making just a $5 million movie with no fighting at all, just Thor on a road trip. Like ‘Nebraska.’”

The actor/director recently teased ideas in a jokingly manner for a potential fifth film with the God of Thunder, “A Chris Christmas,” he said, implying Chris Pratt would be back to venture off with Hemsworth’s Thor. “Star Lord. Thor. Roadtrip movie. Christmas. They’ve got to get to someone’s house for Christmas.” Waititi rejuvenated the franchise with Thor: Ragnarok following the franchise’s lackluster installment Thor: The Dark World.

As previously mentioned, Love and Thunder continues to get mixed reviews and Waititi appears to be taking the fall for it (undeservedly so). I think Marvel did something wildly different with Love and Thunder, and it seems to work thanks to the box office numbers. Waititi is still a hot director with multiple hit credits to his name including What We Do In The Shadows, Hunt For The Wilder People, Jojo Rabbit, as well as his episode of The Mandalorian. It should also be noted that test screenings for his next feature, Next Goal Wins have been overwhelmingly positive. So, a Waititi Thor 5 would be a treat.

That said, Taika Waititi’s schedule is filling up, so a new installment of Thor from him is becoming unlikely. He is currently developing his Star Wars movie, which is expected to begin filming early next year. He is still attached to direct multiple projects including Akira, The Incal, and Disney’s Tower of Terror, which has Scarlet Johansson attached to produce and star.