Taika Waititi Will Be Directing ‘Thor 4’

Good news for Marvel fans! Thor 4 is going into pre-production – and Taika Waititi is directing.

The New Zealand actor-director will be helming the upcoming sequel and Chris Hemsworth is expected to return as the God of Thunder, according to multiple outlets.

Waititi directed 2017’s Thor Ragnaork while also stealing scenes as the minor character Korg. The film received rave reviews and grossed over $800 million worldwide, making him the ideal candidate for another outing with the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Prior to this new appointment, Waititi had been on a worldwide search for talent to star in the Akiraadaptation, which will now be put on hold as he goes back to work for Disney.

In May, Hemsworth discussed the prospect of once again taking on Thor, a proposition that was largely left up in the air in Avengers Endgame.

“I’d still love to do more, to be honest,” he told Variety. “And I don’t know what the plan is. I feel like we’ve opened up such a different character. I feel more energized for the possibility of where it could go. But I’ll use that in other places and other characters if it’s the end here.”

In Endgame‘s final scenes, Thor left Earth with the Guardians of the Galaxy, which includes Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), Drax (Dave Bautista), Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and Mantis (Pom Klementieff). Quill and Thor were locked in a power struggle, paving the way for plenty of comedy and drama.

He also discussed “Fat Thor,” as his character was dubbed after gaining a large amount of weight following the (first) death of Thanos (Josh Brolin) in the blockbuster’s first scenes.

“I enjoyed that version of Thor,” he shared. “It was so different than any other way I played the character. And then it took on a life of its own.”