Even if Marvel decides to produce a fifth “Thor” movie, Taika Waititi is unlikely to return to the director’s chair. The filmmaker spoke to Business Insider while promoting his underdog soccer crowdpleaser “Next Goal Wins.” During that chat, he was asked the extent of his involvement with the reportedly in-development “Thor 5.”
“I wouldn’t know if that’s accurate,” Waititi responded. “I know that I won’t be involved.” He further stated that he was “going to concentrate on these other films that I’ve signed on for.”
Waititi’s “Thor: Ragnarök turned him into a household name at least among the film nerd crowd. The pulpy, colorful and fantastical action comedy earned strong reviews along with a franchise-high rave reviews for the along with a franchise-high $854 million in late 2017. The film helped rejuvenate the “Thor” series after the successful ($644 million in 2013) but indifferently received “Thor: The Dark World.”
However, the even sillier and comparatively goofier “Thor: Love and Thunder” earned comparatively inferior reviews. It still earned $761 million in the summer of 2022. If you don’t count Russia and China, where “Thor 4” did not play, the film outgrossed its predecessor.
However, he has no ill will toward Marvel or the talent he worked with on “Thor: Ragnarök” and “Thor: Love and Thunder, stating “But I love Marvel, I love working with them. I love Chris (Hemsworth).”
Nor does he mind if Marvel makes a “Thor” film without him. “I would never feel like they are cheating on me,” he said. “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.”
He is currently working on a theatrical adaptation of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s “The Incal” as he continues to develop a “Star Wars” movie. But next up for the Oscar-winning writer/director of “Jojo Rabbit” is an adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s “Klara and the Sun.” That novel concerns a robot created to prevent loneliness among teenagers.