Don’t worry, says Taika Waititi, Thor won’t be replaced with Jane Foster

The director of the upcoming MCU tentpole movie Thor: Love and Thunder took some time to assuage fan fears that the movie marks the end of the Chris Hemsworth Thor era.

Taika Waititi spoke with Looper about the perception that scientist Jane Foster (Oscar-winning actress Natalie Portman) will take over now that she owns Thor’s hammer. In Thor: Ragnarok, Hela (played by Cate Blanchett) smashed the weapon to demonstrate how strong she was. Now it’s in Foster’s hands.

Waititi said the movie follows Jane’s storyline from the comics fairly closely, meaning she has cancer and whenever she changes into Thor, it erases the chemotherapy effects she’s facing.

“We stick pretty closely to Jane’s storyline, and what happened to Jane … because that was such an influence on the film. We’re trying to take the best parts of that,” he said.

Of course, that provides a natural tension for the narrative as Thor now has to deal with the fact that he’s not the only game in town.

“And also, it’s really fun, the idea that Thor [has] got Stormbreaker, that big axe, and now his hammer’s back and it’s in the hands of someone else. It’s no longer his hammer. It’s the idea that someone’s taking his place.” 

So obviously people are going to assume this is a passing of the torch situation, but according to the director that’s not the case.

“I think a lot of fans are gonna potentially assume, ‘Oh, OK, this is the passing on of the torch’… I’m not privy to any plans Marvel has for the future, but I don’t think that’s the case.” 

Thor: Love and Thunder smashes into theaters on July 8.