With the upcoming release of Taika Waititi’sThor: Love and Thunder, the reveal of Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster returning to the MCU as MightyThorhas shocked Marvel’s audience, but it’s also caused some big questions to arise.
Thor: Love and Thunderdirector Waititi has responded to some of the questions that Marvel fans have had following the release of the trailer. The biggest question of all? What does the future hold for the original God of Thunder now that Jane Foster wields Mjolnir.
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From the trailer for the fourthThorfilm, many took away thatPortman’s Mighty Thorwould possibly take over for Chris Hemsworth’s Thor. But Waititi has made it clear that isn’t the case. “It’s really fun, the idea thatThorhas got Stormbreaker, that big ax, and now his hammer’s back, and it’s in the hand of someone else. It’s no longer his hammer. It’s the idea that someone is taking his place. I think a lot of fans are gonna potentially assume, Oh, ok, this is the passing on of the torch,” Waititi said during an interview with Total Film. “I don’t think that’s the case.”
AlthoughThor: Love and Thunder’s director has said he doesn’t believe this is a passing of the torch situation, the torch has been passed before within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This has sort of been seen in theHawkeyeseries whenKate Bishop becomes Hawkeye’s partner, and the passing of theCaptain America title is seen in bothAvengers:EndgameandFalcon and the Winter Soldier.So the question about Thor’s title being passed to another is an understandable assumption.
Following the events ofEndgame, the Marvel Cinematic Universe underwent many different changes, withthe biggest ones being Robert Downey Jr’s.Iron Man and Chris Evans’Captain America exiting the Marvel Cinematic Universefollowing their solo trilogies and the end of phase 3. However, Hemsworth has even stated in the past that he believes his character is way too young for retirement, making him one of the last members of the originalAvengersteam to be actively participating in the fourth phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
WithThor: Love and Thunderset to be released later this summer, questions about how Portman’s MightyThor will fit into the Marvel Cinematic Universe will certainly be answered, as the duo and the rest of New Asgard duke it out withChristian Bale’s Gorr the God Butcher.
Thor: Love and Thunderwill be released in theaters on Jul 17, 2025.
