Thor: Love and Thunder is set for a release date of November 5, 2021, and will reportedly start filming early next year, but it's never too early to start speculating what Taika Waititi, the film’s writer and director, has planned for the plot.
There’s always the possibility that Waititi could adapt the comic book version that inspired Love and Thunder, which tells the story of Jane Foster, the character who will be reprised by Natalie Portman, battling breast cancer when she happens upon Thor’s hammer Mjolnir. Even though she’s able to access the power that comes with being in possession of Mjolnir, Jane’s condition worsens as the hammer begins to hinder the effect of chemotherapy on her cancer.
"I think that's a really powerful part of the books, Waititi said. "I think it's really cool that she's fighting this thing and there's two battles going on. Personally I really love that storyline. But whether it ends up in the film is yet to be seen."
"We're not sure if we’re going to do a complete lift of that whole storyline. These things change through the shoot and even when we’re editing sometimes," he continued. "Like, 'Let's get rid of that storyline where she's got breast cancer. We'll change it to something else, or maybe she's fine.'"
In wake of Wolverine coming to grips with aging in 2017's Logan, and Arthur Fleck battling a laundry list of issues in Joker, comic book movies are increasingly becoming unafraid to tackle grittier plots where the story itself overshadows the fantastical elements synonymous with their superhero characters.
On October 18, Waititi will release his latest film Jojo Rabbit where he plays a cartoonish version of Adolf Hitler who happens to be the imaginary friend of a little kid during World War II. The movie will show the child's crumbling view of Nazism after getting to know a young Jewish girl hiding in his family's attic with the aid of his mother. The film won the People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival last month.
