Taika Waititi Confirms He's Not Returning to Direct THOR 5 for Marvel Studios
A couple of weeks ago it was rumored that Taika Waititi would not be returning to direct Thor 5 for Marvel Studios. The filmmaker behind Thor: Ragnarok and Thor: Love and Thunder has now confirmed this news during an interview with Business Insider. When asked about it, the director told them that he’s going to be focusing on other film projects that he’s signed on to make:
"I know that I won't be involved…I'm going to concentrate on these other films that I've signed on for… So that's six, seven years gone. I'd imagine another 'Thor' would be a lot sooner than that…But I love Marvel, I love working with them. I love Chris.
"I would never feel like they are cheating on me. We're in an open relationship, and it's like if they want to see other people, I'm happy for that. I'd still get back into bed with them one day."
So, while Waititi won’t return for Thor 5, he is very much open to playing in the Marvel movie sandbox again at some point. After the overly silly Thor: Love and Thunder, though, I’m fine with Waititi not directing the next installment of the franchise. I’m much more interested in watching the other original film projects that he makes.
When previously talking about what he’d like to see in Thor 5, Waititi said: "What is left to do to him? It's got to be something that feels like it's carrying on with the evolution of the character, but still in a very fun way and still giving him things to come up against that feel like they're building on the obstacles that he has to overcome. I don't think we can have a villain that's weaker than Hela. I feel like we need to step up from there and add a villain that's somehow more formidable."
Hemsworth previously said of his character moving onto a potential fifth film: "I mean you look at Thor one and two, they were quite similar. Ragnarok and Love & Thunder: similar. I think it's just about re-inventing it. And I've had such a unique opportunity even with [Avengers] Infinity War and Endgame to do very drastic things with the character; I enjoy that, I like keeping people on their toes, it keeps me on my toes, keeps me invested. And I've said this before: when it becomes too familiar, I think there's a risk of getting lazy I think, like 'Ah, I know what I'm doing,' you know? So I don't know – again, I don't even know if I'm invited back. But if I was, I think it'd have to be a drastically different version – tone, everything. Just for my own sanity [laughs]."
What would you like to see happen in the story for a fifth Thor film? Would would you like to see direct it?