In 2017's Thor: Ragnarok, filmmaker Taika Waititi arguably saved the God of Thunder by delivering a fresh spin on the character that was a far cry from his first two solo adventures in the MCU. Given what the hero went through in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, fans are understandably excited to see what the director now has planned for the Odinson in Thor: Love and Thunder.
Talking to Entertainment Weekly, Waititi had plenty of exciting details to share and said the sequel is very much a "midlife crisis film" for Thor. However, it's his comments about Valkyrie and her newfound role as King of Asgard that jumped out to us. "She's got to do all the things that they never tell you about when you're supposed to rule the people, which is deal with all of the infrastructure and figure out the economy and have delegates visit from other countries," he explains. "So, she's spending a lot of her time not fighting, and all of her new battles have to do with ruling her people."
There are major new additions to this corner of the MCU as well, of course, including Christian Bale's sinister Gorr the God Butcher. Comic book fans will be familiar with this big bad, but all Waititi would say about the actor is that he's "very formidable," adding, "I think personally, [Gorr is] probably one of the best villains that's Marvel's had in their films. He's very layered."
The director wouldn't give much away about Russell Crowe's Zeus, either, but promised fans he plays the role in "a way you've never seen Russell before. I consider Russell a friend, and I forget that there are some friends I have who are really incredible at what they do. When I was on set with Russell, I was like, 'Oh shit, that's right! You're Russell Crowe! You're a really amazing actor!'"
So, we have plenty to be excited about and it hopefully won't be long before another trailer is released. In the meantime, you can check out a new look at Chris Hemsworth's Thunder God below.
Thor: Love and Thunder arrives in theaters on July 8!