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Thor: Love and Thunder is a "Midlife Crisis Film," Says Taika Waititi

When it comes to superhero movies, the idea that would make the most sense from a business perspective would be to try and get the lightning to strike twice.  While some Marvel movies have done things like that in the past, that was not what Taika Waititi set out to do with Thor: Love and Thunder, as he explained to Entertainment Weekly in a new interview. He explained that to keep it more interesting for himself, he wanted to do what was least expected for the franchise.

"What I didn't want to do is just make Ragnarok again, because that's been done," Waititi, 46, tells EW. "I needed to do something more interesting for myself to keep the whole thing ignited and to make sure that I'm feeling creatively stimulated. I thought, What's the least expected thing with this franchise?"

Waititi explained that Ragnarok felt like a party, and while Thor: Love and Thunder is still a lot of fun, this one is different when it comes to tone and themes. It goes deeper with the ideas that we are exploring,

"Ragnarok felt a bit like a party," Waititi explains. "It was quite festive. This one is still fun, and it's got moments of being over the top, but thematically, it's about something a bit deeper than the last film. It's not a serious film, and it's not a drama, but we do deal with ideas that I think a lot of humans deal with — universal themes about love and loss and our place in the world. Everyone sort of asks this question in the film: What is your purpose? What is the reason that you're a hero, and what do you do when you have these powers?"

Thor Looks For Inner Peace in New Thor: Love and Thunder Image
Chris Hemsworth as Thor in Marvel Studios' THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER. Photo by Jasin Boland. ©Marvel Studios 2022. All Rights Reserved.

If we can equate the crisis that Thor is going through in Thor: Ragnarok, it's a midlife crisis. That moment where you wonder if you have made the right decisions in your life, if you're on the right path, but only you have the powers of a god, so everything is turned up to eleven.

"It's sort of like a midlife crisis film, really," Waititi adds. "That's the question we ask everyone: Are we doing the right thing, and are we doing all we can in the world? I think right now, while the world is still healing from this pandemic, it's a good question to ask. It's like, well, are we doing enough to look after each other and to look after ourselves?"

As usual with Waititi's films, there is probably even more beneath the surface of Thor: Love and Thunder that might not even be apparent on the first viewing.

Marvel Studios' Thor: Love and Thunder finds the God of Thunder (Chris Hemsworth) on a journey, unlike anything he's ever faced – a quest for inner peace. But Thor's retirement is interrupted by a galactic killer known as Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale), who seeks the extinction of the gods. To combat the threat, Thor enlists the help of King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Korg (Taika Waititi), and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), 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. Directed by Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok, Jojo Rabbit) and produced by Kevin Feige and Brad Winderbaum, Thor: Love and Thunder opens in U.S. theaters on July 8, 2022.


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Kaitlyn BoothAbout Kaitlyn Booth

Kaitlyn is the Editor-in-Chief at Bleeding Cool. She loves movies, television, and comics. She's a member of the UFCA and the GALECA. Feminist. Writer. Nerd. Follow her on Twitter @katiesmovies and @safaiagem on Instagram.
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