While film production has been essentially ground to a halt due to the menace that is COVID-19, one hotly anticipated film is pressing forward, slowly but surely. Oscar winner Taika Waititi took to his Instagram Live on Thursday evening to give fans a surprise update on the status of Thor: Love and Thunder, the fourth film in the franchise starring Natalie Portman as Thor and the second directed by Waititi after his beloved Thor: Ragnarok.
Waititi, joined by Ragnarok stars Tessa Thompson and Mark Ruffalo, confirmed that he’s finished four or five drafts of the film — the latest of which Thompson has read — and that Love and Thunder would be even more ridiculous and out of this world than Ragnarok. “It’s so over-the-top now in the very best way. It makes Ragnarok seem like a really run-of-the-mill, really safe film,†says Waititi to Thompson’s genuine surprise. “This new film feels like we asked a bunch of 10-year-olds what should be in a movie and we said yes to every single thing.â€
While Waititi promises that the film won’t be safe or conventional, he doesn’t see any romance brewing for the character he plays in the franchise, Korg, who is gay in the comics. Thompson, who plays Marvel’s first queer superhero, Valkyrie, in Ragnarok, asked Waititi if Korg would have a love interest in the film. Waititi said no because, apparently, Korg was “deeply in love and lost that love along the line.†He added, “He doesn’t feel brave enough to find love again.†So, no gay love interest for Korg, but a lot of outlandish hijinks to look forward to when Thor: Love and Thunder hits theaters on [fingers crossed] November 5, 2021.