Taika Waititi will be writing and directing Thor 4.
The Hollywood Reporter is revealing that the Thor: Ragnarok writer/director is returning to the franchise to script and helm the fourth installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise.
Waititi’s return is a good move on the part of Marvel. While the first Thor film starring Chris Hemsworth as the thunder god-turned-superhero faired well, the second, Thor: The Dark World, did not fare well with critics or fans. Waititi’s more lighthearted take, Thor: Ragnarok, revived the franchise’s prospects and took in approximately $845 million at the box office.
With Waititi returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he has to drop out of Warner Brothers’ long in development live action adaptation of the classic anime Akira. Waititi had been working on casting the film which was set to start filming later this year for a March 2021 release.
The Reporter states that script concerns were starting to push the shooting start date of Akira back a bit too much to where it was getting close to when Marvel wanted to get cameras rolling on Thor 4. The Reporter’s sources indicate that Warners would like to keep Waititi involved with Akira, and maybe have him step up to direct after his Thor 4 duties are done.
There is no word yet as to when the film is set for release. Given that at the end of this summer’s Avengers: Endgame we saw Thor heading out into space with the Guardians Of The Galaxy, there most likely will be some crossover between the Thor and Guardians franchise depending on where the two films fall on Marvel Studios’ release calendar.
We expect more information this awekend feom Marvel Studios’ panel at San Diego Ccomic Con.
