There aren’t a lot of good things coming out of the pandemic that has us all tucked away in our homes, but Taika Waititi hosting a watch party and live commentary of Thor: Ragnarok is one. The director hosted it on Instagram Live, and of course, he made a joke of the whole thing and seemed to barely be paying attention. He did, through the course of it, reveal a few things about Thor: Love and Thunder. A lot of it is pretty minor, but he does drop a few details worth noting.
First and foremost is that Silver Surfer, who I guess fans had been speculating on (?), will NOT appear in Thor: Love and Thunder. The wielder of the Power Cosmic is a character a lot of people have been hoping to see ever since Disney’s acquisition of Fox. With Waititi saying he’s now on the “fifth or sixth” script draft, if he ain’t in it now, he never will be.
Also uncertain is a role for Tom Hiddleston’s Loki, who could be busy with his Disney+ series. The trickster god could be traveling through time and unavailable to be part of Thor’s latest adventure. Waititi says he had no idea Loki would get choked out in Avengers: Infinity War, either.
It’s “up in the air” whether another popular Mjolnir-wielder will appear, the alien Beta Ray Bill. He was glimpsed briefly as a past gladiator champion in Thor: Ragnarok, but fans have been eager for a full appearance and it may happen. Personally, I feel like there’s already too much going on with the return of Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie, and whoever Christian Bale turns out to be.
The scope of Love and Thunder will be much bigger than Ragnarok, with Waititi saying “it felt like the film that was just a list of things a ten year-old would ask for and he’d said yes to everything.” Part of that could be the inclusion of Star Sharks, creatures often used by the Brood and Chitauri as vicious flying vehicles. Don’t be surprised to see Thor riding one at some point in the film.
Waititi also teased concept art for Thor and Korg’s buddy Miek, who is actually female and will sport new battle armor. Valkyrie’s reign of New Asgard has led to an expansion of the newly-rebuilt homeland, and Waititi thinks Fat Thor is “done and over”. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.
Finally, if you see people claiming Waititi is bringing back Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark, don’t believe them. The script page he shared with Iron Man’s return as part of “The Avengerers” is blatantly bogus!
Thor: Love and Thunder opens February 18th 2022.
