Taika Waititi says ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ is a midlife crisis movie

For those of you who haven’t been paying close attention, Thor grappling with his identity might come off as a bit of a surprise in Thor: Love and Thunder. The MCU superhero has, after all, always known who he is and what he needs to do, more often than not involving a whole lot of superheroing and saving the day.

But now, after going through every trauma conceivable to god and man alike, our titular thunder lord is struggling to find his footing in a fictional world where newer characters are continuously picking up the mantle, like, say, our very own Jane Foster now brandishing the Mjolnir as Mighty Thor.

If the first two trailers for Love and Thunder didn’t make it clear, and that abysmal helmet Thor wears at some point during the movie didn’t tip you off, director Taika Waititi is here to confirm that the protagonist is indeed going through something of a midlife crisis in the upcoming film.

“We pick up in a little bit of an existential crisis point,” he said in a chat with Fandango. “And he’s trying to figure out who he is, what his purpose is, you know, is he really meant to be a superhero? Basically, it’s a midlife crisis. Everyone’s experienced this. You wake up, you’re like, am I doing what I should be doing?”

Hopefully, going up against Christian Bale’s Gorr the God Butcher will give Thor all the meaning he craves, though where the character will go from there is a question that only Love and Thunder will answer when it arrives in theaters on July 8.