After the audience-pleasing “Thor: Ragnarok,” MCU fans are excited to see Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman return to the franchise with “Thor: Love & Thunder.” The God of Thunder is sort of dealing with a mid-life crisis after the events of “Avengers: Endgame” as he discovers his ex-girlfriend has her own god-like powers now. This has led some to assume that the torch will be passed to her character, but that might not be the case.
In an interview with Total Film, director Taika Waititi admits that the film closely adapted “The Mighty Thor” comic from Jason Aaron for Jane Foster’s journey in the sequel but then downplayed the fan assumption that she would automatically take over the torch. Although, Waititi adds the caveat that he’s not entirely sure of the studio’s future plans for the character.
“We stick pretty closely to Jane’s storyline, and what happened to Jane… because that was such an influence on the film. We’re trying to take the best parts of that.”
“And also, it’s really fun, the idea that Thor [has] got Stormbreaker, that big axe, and now his hammer’s back and it’s in the hands of someone else. It’s no longer his hammer. It’s the idea that someone’s taking his place. I think a lot of fans are gonna potentially assume, ‘Oh, OK, this is the passing on of the torch’…I’m not privy to any plans Marvel has for the future, but I don’t think that’s the case.”
Marvel released a new synopsis for the sequel which reads as follows:
The film finds Thor on a journey, unlike anything he’s ever faced — a search for self-discovery. But his retirement is interrupted by a galactic killer known as Gorr The God Butcher, who seeks the extinction of the gods. To combat the threat, Thor enlists the help of King Valkyrie, Korg, and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster, 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.
This comes after Aaron posted “All gods will die” on Twitter after the new trailer dropped last night, adding to speculation that Thor might not come out of the film alive after going against Christian Bale‘s Gorr The God Butcher. As the name would suggest, Gorr is likely to kill multiple gods in the film. Many have assumed that Russell Crowe‘s Zeus is an automatic walking corpse, but with the introduction of Olympus, his son Hercules shouldn’t be far behind.
It’s worth pointing out that other “Avengers” members have had their own swan songs recently with Tony Stark, Black Widow, and Captain America saying goodbye on the big screen. So, Hemsworth bowing out in a heroic fashion when the film is released on July 8 wouldn’t be the most surprising thing.